 |
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Christopher Isherwood Edition: Paperback Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published) Published: 2001-04 ISBN: 0816638624 Number of pages: 186 Publisher: University of Minnesota Press Product features:
Book Reviews of A Single ManBook Review: "Overwhelming Sloth of Sadness" Summary: 3 StarsThis was the most poignant phrase in the book to me - the "overwhelming sloth of sadness." Isherwood's portayal of George, a gay man in California in the '60s going about his life after the sudden death of his partner Jim, lets us glimpse into that mirror of that pervasive sadness veiled by normality; it forces anyone who has ever lost someone important to them to remember that life does go on, despite the fact that it now seems like a facade. And George does remind me of a sloth, albeit a self-medicated one - he is wading through the jungle of his "same old" life as if nothing changed, trying to survive just this one day, and then he'll see what the next one brings, if anything. Who hasn't felt like they are watching themselves just go through the motions after such a deep and affecting grief event? I have seen the ads for the movie that is out now - I haven't seen it yet, and wanted to read the book first; but from what I heard about the movie, the plot line differs significantly. SPOILER: Nowhere in the book does it mention that George is contemplating or planning suicide, although the end result at the book's conclusion is the same (which although fittingly tragic was a disappointingly quick and too-convenient ending for me). I kept waiting for something in the pages to pop up alarmingly regarding the movie's subtext, but it didn't happen, and I closed the book disturbed.
Summary of A Single ManFiction The author's favorite of his own novels, now back in print! When A Single Man was originally published, it shocked many by its frank, sympathetic, and moving portrayal of a gay man in midlife. George, the protagonist, is adjusting to life on his own after the sudden death of his partner, and determines to persist in the routines of his daily life; the course of A Single Man spans twenty-four hours in an ordinary day. An Englishman and a professor living in suburban Southern California, he is an outsider in every way, and his internal reflections and interactions with others reveal a man who loves being alive despite everyday injustices and loneliness. Wry, suddenly manic, constantly funny, surprisingly sad, this novel catches the texture of life itself. "A testimony to Isherwood's undiminished brilliance as a novelist." Anthony Burgess "An absolutely devastating, unnerving, brilliant book." Stephen Spender "Just as his Prater Violet is the best novel I know about the movies, Isherwood's A Single Man, published in 1964, is one of the first and best novels of the modern gay liberation movement." Edmund White
Gay Books
|
 |
Vintage: A Ghost Storyby Steve Berman Haworth Positronic Press; Published: 2007-03-01; Paperback; BookBest price: $11.99Price in other shops: $12.95
She Slipped and Fellby Shonda AuthorHouse; Published: 2008-10-13; Paperback; BookBest price: $11.65Price in other shops: $14.75
Maybe the Moon: A Novelby Armistead Maupin Harper Perennial; Published: 1993-08-04; Paperback; BookBest price: $0.95Price in other shops: $14.00
Flight of Aquavit (Russell Quant Mysteries)by Anthony Bidulka Insomniac Press; Published: 2000-09-01; Paperback; BookBest price: $6.00Price in other shops: $15.95
The Hell You Say: The Third Adrien English Mysteryby Josh Lanyon iUniverse, Inc.; Published: 2006-03-06; Paperback; BookBest price: $20.00
Tigers and Devilsby Sean Kennedy Dreamspinner Press; Published: 2009-03-09; Paperback; BookBest price: $15.29Price in other shops: $16.99
IMby Rick R. Reed Quest; Published: 2007-05-10; Paperback; BookBest price: $11.31Price in other shops: $17.95
Common Sonsby Ronald L. Donaghe Commonwealth Pubns Inc; Published: 1997-08; Paperback; Book
Damagesby Bazhe Writer's Showcase Press; Published: 2002-08-01; Paperback; BookBest price: $45.35
Brokeback Mountain: Story to Screenplayby Annie Proulx, Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana Scribner; Published: 2005-12-01; Paperback; BookBest price: $3.49Price in other shops: $16.00
|
What Makes Sammy Run?by Budd Schulberg Vintage; Published: 1993-12-06; Paperback; BookBest price: $8.06Price in other shops: $14.95
Down There on a Visitby Christopher Isherwood University of Minnesota Press; Published: 1999-02; Paperback; BookBest price: $10.89Price in other shops: $17.95
The Republic of East LA: Storiesby Luis J. Rodriguez Harper Perennial; Published: 2003-03-01; Paperback; BookBest price: $7.00Price in other shops: $12.95
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunnedby Walter Mosley Washington Square Press; Published: 1998-10-01; Paperback; BookBest price: $4.00Price in other shops: $14.00
Half and Half: Writers on Growing Up Biracial and Biculturalby Claudine C. O'Hearn Pantheon; Published: 1998-06-09; Paperback; BookBest price: $7.29Price in other shops: $13.95
Locas: A Novelby Yxta Maya Murray Grove Press; Published: 1998-04-01; Paperback; BookBest price: $7.64Price in other shops: $13.00
Mildred Pierceby James M. Cain Vintage; Published: 1989-05-14; Paperback; BookBest price: $8.55Price in other shops: $14.95
A Single Man: Original Motion Picture SoundtrackRelease date: 2010-01-05; Music CDBest price: $11.98Price in other shops: $13.98
The Berlin Storiesby Christopher Isherwood New Directions; Published: 2008-10-29; Paperback; BookBest price: $10.06Price in other shops: $15.95
Christopher and His Kindby Christopher Isherwood University of Minnesota Press; Published: 2001-10; Paperback; BookBest price: $11.48Price in other shops: $18.95
|