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  $12.95
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More copies of this ISBN:Other titles in the New York Review Books Classics series:
A Way of Life, Like Any Other (New York Review Books Classics)by Darcy O'brien
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:The hero of Darcy O'Brien's A Way of Life, Like Any Other is a child of Hollywood, and once his life was a glittery dream. His father starred in Westerns. His mother was a goddess of the silver screen. The family enjoyed the high life on their estate, Casa Fiesta. But his parents' careers have crashed since then, and their marriage has broken up too.
Lovesick and sex-crazed, the mother sets out on an intercontinental quest for the right — or wrong — man, while her mild-mannered but manipulative former husband clings to his memories in California. And their teenage son? How he struggles both to keep faith with his family and to get by himself, and what in the end he must do to break free, makes for a classic coming-of-age story — a novel that combines keen insight and devastating wit to hilarious and heartbreaking effect. Review:"Darcy O'Brien grew up in Beverly Hills in the 1940s and '50s, the son of Hollywood stars in their days of glory and sunset. He wrote one of the very best novels to come out of that world. A Way of Life, Like Any Other is a triumphant miracle of style, with a narrator at once deadly and compassionate, capable of farce and heartbreak, lyricism and irony. He tells us how to live in such a life, or at least how he did, and how to emerge from it ready for anything." Thomas Flanagan Review:"A hilarious addition to the fabulous Hollywood novel, this time laconic, understated, deadpan, ruthlessly cutting from scene to scene and character to character, and both witty and moving. I enjoyed it enormously, and recommend it unreservedly as a funny, serious, literate, and intelligent book." The Guardian Synopsis:Growing up in Hollywood as the son of former stars isn't easy. Once a glamorous movie queen, the mother is now an aging divorced femme fatale whose hobbies are heavy drinking and seducing men. The father, a silver screen cowboy in better days, spends his time answering fan mail, reliving his days in the navy, and pining for his ex-wife. As told by the son, A Way of Life, Like Any Other is the story of a boy's efforts to come to terms with his parents' divorce, forgotten fame, and lost wealth. The story moves to the rapid rhythm of Hollywood but with a young boy's keen sense of irony and humanity. Author Darcy O'Brien has created an enduring portrait of the American family and a son's struggle to make a life of his own. Synopsis:The troubled son of two aging Hollywood stars struggles with his parents' divorce and the agony that accompanies fame in this powerful coming-of-age story. Reprint. 35,000 first printing. About the AuthorDarcy O'Brien (1939-1998) was born in Los Angeles, the son of the movie stars George O'Brien and Marguerite Churchill. He attended Princeton and the University of California, Berkeley, and taught at the University of Tulsa. O'Brien's first novel, A Way of Life, Like Any Other, won the PEN/Hemingway award. His books include the novels The Silver Spooner and Margaret in Hollywood, critical studies of James Joyce and Patrick Kavanagh, and several other works of nonfiction, among them Two of a Kind: The Hillside Stranglers and The Hidden Pope. Table of ContentsIntroduction — Casa fiesta — Growth — Wrigley Field — Hollywood — Encore Hollywood — Paris — Brentwood — Beverly hills — Las Vegas — Palm Springs — Encore Brentwood — The old Hollywood — Santa Monica — Bel-air — The beach — Self-deception — Mulholland Drive — Loss. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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