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Format: Hardcover
ISBN-10: 1565122178
ISBN-13: 9781565122178
Oct 1998
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
180 pages
Edition: 1
Language: English |
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* ML=ships from multiple locations, AE/AP/AA=ships from U.S. Military location.
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* ML=ships from multiple locations, AE/AP/AA=ships from U.S. Military location.
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rhe4765
(269 ) 98%
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Discarded library book. Stickers and stamps, wear on page corners. |
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Synopsis
The hero of this appealing novel reports the death of his larger-than-life father in four different versions, trying in the process to understand the old man and his legacy.
| Size | | Length: | 180 pages | | Height: | 7.5 in | | Width: | 5.3 in | | Thickness: | 0.8 in | | Weight: | 11.2 oz |
Industry Reviews
"People mess things up, forget and remember all the wrong things. What's left is fiction," writes Wallace in his refreshing, original debut, which ignores the conventional retelling of the events and minutiae of a life and gets right to the poetry of a son's feelings for and memories of his father. William Bloom's father, Edward, is dying. He dies in fact in four different takes, all of which have William and his mother waiting outside a bedroom door as the family doctor tells them it's time to say their goodbyes. He intersperses the four takes with stories (all filtered through William's mind and voice) about the elusive Edward, who spent long periods of time on the road away from home and admitted once to his son that he had yearned to be a great man. The father and son deathbed conversations have son William playing earnest straight man, while his father is full of witticisms and jokes. In a plainspoken style dotted with transcendent passages, Wallace mixes the mundane and the mythical. His chapters have the transformative quality of fable and fairy tale, and the novel's roomy structure allows the mystery and lyricism of the story to coalesce. Agent, Joe Regal; author tour. (Oct.) FYI: Wallace is an illustrator who designs T-shirts, refrigerator magnets and greeting cards.
Bukey
Wallace says that he wrote in between the large and small tasks in his life, and in between the large and small tasks in ours we should all take the time to read his first novel. Who among us hasn't created myths about our parents, building them up or tearing them down to create a secondhand version in order to understand ourselves better? In Big Fish, William Bloom re-creates his father's life in fits and starts. Edward Bloom was a man of legends, and sifting through them is the only way for William to get to know this frequently absent man of mystery. As his father lies dying in the guest room (perhaps the only fitting place in the house), William frantically attempts to chronicle his death in four separate versions of a deathbed conversation, interspersed with tall tales, imaginative journeys through the South, and humorous attempts to make up for lost time. The result is a great read from a great writer; highly recommended. Shannon Haddock, BellSouth Corporate Lib. & Business Research Ctr., Birmingham, AL
Kolchin
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