Want Not - Couverture rigide

Miles, Jonathan

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0547352204 ISBN 13 : 9780547352206

Editeur : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013

Synopsis

A compulsively readable, deeply human novel that examines our most basic and unquenchable emotion: want.  

With his critically acclaimed first novel, Jonathan Miles was widely praised as a comic genius “after something bigger” (David Ulin, Los Angeles Times) whose fiction was “not just philosophically but emotionally rewarding” (Richard Russo, New York Times Book Review, front cover).

Now, in his much anticipated second novel, Want Not, Miles takes a giant leap forward with this highly inventive and corrosively funny story of our times, a three-pronged tale of human excess that sifts through the detritus of several disparate lives—lost loves, blown chances, countless words and deeds misdirected or misunderstood—all conjoined in their come-hell-or-high-water search for fulfillment.

As the novel opens on Thanksgiving Day, readers are telescoped into three different worlds in various states of disrepair—a young freegan couple living off the grid in New York City; a once-prominent linguist, sacked at midlife by the dissolution of his marriage and his father’s losing battle with Alzheimer’s; and a self-made debt-collecting magnate, whose brute talent for squeezing money out of unlikely places has yielded him a royal existence, trophy wife included.

Want and desire propel these characters forward toward something, anything, more, until their worlds collide, briefly, randomly, yet irrevocably, in a shattering ending that will haunt readers long after the last page is turned.

With a satirist’s eye and a romantic’s heart, Miles captures the morass and comedy of contemporary life in all its excess. Bold, unblinking, unforgettable in its irony and pathos, Want Not is a wicked, bighearted literary novel that confirms the arrival of a major voice in American fiction.

A propos du livre

Revue de presse

 “I loved this book...Jonathan Miles can write, and here he’s written a wonderful book, and there’s no one I would not urge to read it....This is the work of a fluid, confident and profoundly talented writer who gets more fluid, more confident and seemingly more talented even within the book itself. As it progresses, ‘Want Not’ so assuredly accumulates power and profundity and momentum that I read the last 200 pages without pause.” – Dave Eggers, New York Times Book Review

"[a] shrewd, funny, and sometimes devastating new novel....What WANT NOT does best, though, isn't plotting but portraits of humanity: the small epiphanies and private hurts of every person whose life, like the detritus they produce, is as beautifully mundane and unique as a fingerprint. A-" – Entertainment Weekly

"Panoramic...For readers who relish extravagant language, scathing wit and philosophical heft, Want Not wastes nothing." – Kirkus, STARRED

"With forthright wit and stunning intimacy, Miles doesn’t hesitate to broach the uncomfortable consequences of unchecked abundance and desire. The result is a wild tangle of high-octane, entertaining prose, an astonishing leap for this accomplished novelist." – Booklist

"With a light Midas touch, Miles turns all the glut and ache of late America into pure gold. If you're in that soul-hunt up the food chain and down the dial for something more satisfying than the hollow abundance of our contemporary lives, read this book. It is warm, complex, comic, honest, and never flinching. Want Not wastes not a word, while its pleasures are endless." – Joshua Ferris, author of The Unnamed and Then We Came to the End

"In this powerful, blisteringly funny novel, Jonathan Miles makes a startling discovery: We are what we throw away. It's in our castoff goods, edibles, chances and people that our authentic selves are revealed; or, as one of his many memorable characters puts it, 'garbage [is] the only truthful thing civilization produced.' Miles mines the depths of waste so artfully that by the end of this extraordinary novel, we're left with the suspicion that redemption may well be no more, and no less, than an existential salvage operation." – Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk and Brief Encounters with Che Guevara "Want Not, Jonathan Miles’ brilliant and original take on a culture–ours–that mindlessly seems to squander all that is dear, is as witty as it is mind-blowing and eye-opening. The combination of high-octane prose and Miles' compassion for his characters make for a novel that stirs the collective conscience. A clear-eyed, exuberant entertainment." – Helen Schulman, author of This Beautiful Life and A Day at the Beach

"Dear American Airlines    is a flinty, funny, irreverent, and heartbreaking first novel. The writing reminded me of a brilliant, early-days Martin Amis novel -- except with redemption and hope. It’s not easy to write a book this good, but Jonathan Miles makes it seem effortless." --Elizabeth Gilbert "There are a few simple rules for writing an effective letter of complaint. Keep it simple and straightforward. Never apologize. Include a possum trapping scene. And always make it novel-length. Anyone can do this, but only Jonathan Miles can also make it boozy and profane, honest to the glorious wretched bone, and beautiful, just beautiful." --John Hodgman,
“Dear American Airlines is a fine novel, a rough and wild ride, at times so excoriating that you put it aside for a more pleasant experience like a trip to the dentist, and at other times so funny you laugh loudly--though the perfect fool of a hero has enough of Everyman to make your laughter a tad uncomfortable. I loved this novel, which is strong medicine indeed.” --Jim Harrison "A powerful and hilarious fugue from whine to eloquent tragedy.  It is an easy and happy read.  Miles is a rare original who has pity and sympathy for almost everybody.  Bravo." -- Barry Hannah "[A] letter of helpless outrage inspires one of America's most exciting debuts, "Dear American Airlines" , by Jonathan Miles, a book whose conceit — a canceled flight, a man stranded in Chicago — should be enough to win it millions of readers." --New York Sun "This first novel is a tale of loss and regret that allows a hint of hope and forgiveness to beckon from the final pages."  --Library Journal"hilarious and disarming."  -- Porter Shreve, Chicago Tribune "Hilarious...A terrifically fun read...One hopes it's available at airports everywhere -- it'd make great layover reading. ' -- John Freeman, Boston Globe "Tender and corrosively funny." A-, Tina Jordan, Entertainment Weekly

"For readers who relish extravagant language, scathing wit and philosophical heft, Want Not wastes nothing." – Kirkus, STARRED

"With forthright wit and stunning intimacy, Miles doesn’t hesitate to broach the uncomfortable consequences of unchecked abundance and desire. The result is a wild tangle of high-octane, entertaining prose, an astonishing leap for this accomplished novelist." – Booklist

"With a light Midas touch, Miles turns all the glut and ache of late America into pure gold. If you're in that soul-hunt up the food chain and down the dial for something more satisfying than the hollow abundance of our contemporary lives, read this book. It is warm, complex, comic, honest, and never flinching. Want Not wastes not a word, while its pleasures are endless." – Joshua Ferris, author of The Unnamed and Then We Came to the End

"In this powerful, blisteringly funny novel, Jonathan Miles makes a startling discovery: We are what we throw away. It's in our castoff goods, edibles, chances and people that our authentic selves are revealed; or, as one of his many memorable characters puts it, 'garbage [is] the only truthful thing civilization produced.' Miles mines the depths of waste so artfully that by the end of this extraordinary novel, we're left with the suspicion that redemption may well be no more, and no less, than an existential salvage operation." – Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk and Brief Encounters with Che Guevara "Want Not, Jonathan Miles’ brilliant and original take on a culture–ours–that mindlessly seems to squander all that is dear, is as witty as it is mind-blowing and eye-opening. The combination of high-octane prose and Miles' compassion for his characters make for a novel that stirs the collective conscience. A clear-eyed, exuberant entertainment." – Helen Schulman, author of This Beautiful Life and A Day at the Beach

"With a light Midas touch, Miles turns all the glut and ache of late America into pure gold. If you're in that soul-hunt up the food chain and down the dial for something more satisfying than the hollow abundance of our contemporary lives, read this book. It is warm, complex, comic, honest, and never flinching. Want Not wastes not a word, while its pleasures are endless." – Joshua Ferris, author of The Unnamed and Then We Came to the End

"In this powerful, blisteringly funny novel, Jonathan Miles makes a startling discovery: We are what we throw away. It's in our castoff goods, edibles, chances and people that our authentic selves are revealed; or, as one of his many memorable characters puts it, 'garbage [is] the only truthful thing civilization produced.' Miles mines the depths of waste so artfully that by the end of this extraordinary novel, we're left with the suspicion that redemption may well be no more, and no less, than an existential salvage operation." – Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk and Brief Encounters with Che Guevara “Want Not, Jonathan Miles’ brilliant and original take on a culture–ours–that mindlessly seems to squander all that is dear, is as witty as it is mind-blowing and eye-opening. The combination of high-octane prose and Miles' compassion for his characters make for a novel that stirs the collective conscience. A clear-eyed, exuberant entertainment.” – Helen Schulman, author of This Beautiful Life and A Day at the Beach

Présentation de l'éditeur

A compulsively readable, deeply human novel that examines our most basic and unquenchable emotion: want.   With his critically acclaimed first novel, Jonathan Miles was widely praised as a comic genius “after something bigger” (David Ulin, Los Angeles Times) whose fiction was “not just philosophically but emotionally rewarding” (Richard Russo, New York Times Book Review, front cover).

Now, in his much anticipated second novel, Want Not, Miles takes a giant leap forward with this highly inventive and corrosively funny story of our times, a three-pronged tale of human excess that sifts through the detritus of several disparate lives—lost loves, blown chances, countless words and deeds misdirected or misunderstood—all conjoined in their come-hell-or-high-water search for fulfillment.

As the novel opens on Thanksgiving Day, readers are telescoped into three different worlds in various states of disrepair—a young freegan couple living off the grid in New York City; a once-prominent linguist, sacked at midlife by the dissolution of his marriage and his father’s losing battle with Alzheimer’s; and a self-made debt-collecting magnate, whose brute talent for squeezing money out of unlikely places has yielded him a royal existence, trophy wife included.

Want and desire propel these characters forward toward something, anything, more, until their worlds collide, briefly, randomly, yet irrevocably, in a shattering ending that will haunt readers long after the last page is turned.

With a satirist’s eye and a romantic’s heart, Miles captures the morass and comedy of contemporary life in all its excess. Bold, unblinking, unforgettable in its irony and pathos, Want Not is a wicked, bighearted literary novel that confirms the arrival of a major voice in American fiction.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Date d'édition: 2013
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0547352204
• ISBN 13: 9780547352206
• Reliure: Relié
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 400
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
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