Set at a boardinghouse in rural New Jersey in the summer of 1939, this novel revolves around four people who experience the comedies, torments and rare pleasures of family, romance and sex while on vacation from Brooklyn and the Depression. Billy Recco, an eager ten-year-old in search of a father . . . Marie nee McGrath, an attractive divorcee caught between her son and father, without a life of her own . . . John McGrath, dignified in manner yet brutally soured by life, insanely fearful of his daughter's restlessness . . . ...
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Set at a boardinghouse in rural New Jersey in the summer of 1939, this novel revolves around four people who experience the comedies, torments and rare pleasures of family, romance and sex while on vacation from Brooklyn and the Depression. Billy Recco, an eager ten-year-old in search of a father . . . Marie nee McGrath, an attractive divorcee caught between her son and father, without a life of her own . . . John McGrath, dignified in manner yet brutally soured by life, insanely fearful of his daughter's restlessness . . . Tom Thebus, a rakish salesman who precipitates the conflict between Marie's hopes and her father's wrath. We follow these individuals through the events of thirty-six hours, culminating in Tom's disastrous near seduction of Marie. As the novel's perspective shifts to each of these characters, four discrete stories take form, stories that Sorrentino further enriches by using a variety of literary methods--fantasies, letters, a narrative question-and-answer, fragments of dialogue and memory. Strong and unforgettable, each voice is compelling in itself, yet in the end is only part of a complex, painful pattern in which dreams go unfulfilled and efforts unrewarded. What emerges is a sure understanding of four people who are occasionally ridiculous, but whose integrity and good intentions are consistently, and tragically, frustrated. Combining humor and feeling, balancing the details and the rhythms of experience, Aberration of Starlight re-creates a time and a place as it captures the sadness and value of four lives. First published by Random House in 1980, it is widely considered one of Sorrentino's finest novels.
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Seller's Description:
Near Fine in Very Good jacket. New York: Random House, 1980. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Very Good. 8vo-over 7¾-9¾" tall. In fine order throughout bar remainder stamp to base edge of block. VG+ unclipped d/j. 8vo. 214pp.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good in Very Good jacket. First edition. Very good in very good dustwrapper. Remainder mark. Dustwrapper rubbed with smudge marks. Please Note: This book has been transferred to Between the Covers from another database and might not be described to our usual standards. Please inquire for more detailed condition information.
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Seller's Description:
Near Fine in Very Good jacket. First edition. A bit of rubbing on top edge of boards, tiny soil mark on cover, near fine in a very good dust jacket with a short tear and crease on the cover, and faint scratch marks on the rear panel. Signed by the author on the front fly.