Carpenter's Gothic

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"EVERYTHING IN THIS COMPELLING AND BRILLLyVT VISION OF AMERICA— THE PACKAGED SLEAZE, THE INCIPIENT VIOLENCE, THE FUNDAMENTALIST FUROR, THE CONSTRICTED SEXUALITY—IS CHARGED WITH THE FORCE OF A VOLCANIC ERUPTION. CARPENTER'S GOTHIC Will. REENERGIZE AND GIVE SHAPE TO CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE.' —WALTER ABISH
This story of raging comedy and despair centers on the tempestuous marriage between a redhaired heiress and a Vietnam veteran out for the main chance. From their "carpenter gothic" rented house, Paul sets himself up as a media consultant for Reverend Ude, an evangelist mounting a grand crusade that nicely suits a mining combine bidding to take over an ore strike on the site of Ude's African mission.
At the still center of the breakneck action—revealed in Gaddis's inimitable virtuoso dialogue—is Paul's wife Liz, and over it all looms the shadowy figure of McCandless, a geologist, from whom Paul and Liz rent their house. Problems mount; Paul mishandles the situation; Liz takes... Tovább

Fülszöveg

"EVERYTHING IN THIS COMPELLING AND BRILLLyVT VISION OF AMERICA— THE PACKAGED SLEAZE, THE INCIPIENT VIOLENCE, THE FUNDAMENTALIST FUROR, THE CONSTRICTED SEXUALITY—IS CHARGED WITH THE FORCE OF A VOLCANIC ERUPTION. CARPENTER'S GOTHIC Will. REENERGIZE AND GIVE SHAPE TO CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE.' —WALTER ABISH
This story of raging comedy and despair centers on the tempestuous marriage between a redhaired heiress and a Vietnam veteran out for the main chance. From their "carpenter gothic" rented house, Paul sets himself up as a media consultant for Reverend Ude, an evangelist mounting a grand crusade that nicely suits a mining combine bidding to take over an ore strike on the site of Ude's African mission.
At the still center of the breakneck action—revealed in Gaddis's inimitable virtuoso dialogue—is Paul's wife Liz, and over it all looms the shadowy figure of McCandless, a geologist, from whom Paul and Liz rent their house. Problems mount; Paul mishandles the situation; Liz takes McCandless into her bed; a fire and aborted assassination occur; Ude issues a call to arms in the literal terms of Biblical prophecy—and Armageddon comes rapidly closer. |
. "An unholy landmark of a novel—an extra turret added on "s
to the ample, ingenious, audacious Gothic mansion Gaddis f>
has been building in American letters." f.
—Cynthia Ozick, The New York Times Book Review c
"With marvelous stylistic precision and a sharp satirical bite, | this fine and tightly made book shows again that Gaddis is | among the first rank of contemporary American writers." b —Malcolm Bradbury, Washington Post Book World u
"Like a fine jazz musician, Gaddis knows how to improvise | within a tightly controlled framework." —R. Z. Sheppard, Time =
A PENGUIN BOOK i
Fiction it Vissza