Synopses & Reviews
Will Lightbody is a man with a stomach ailment whose only sin is loving his wife, Eleanor, too much. Eleanor is a health nut of the first stripe, and when in 1907 she journeys to Dr. John Harvey Kellogg's infamous Battle Creek Spa to live out the vegetarian ethos, poor Will goes too.
So begins T. Coraghessan Boyle's wickedly comic look at turn-of-the-century fanatics in search of the magic pill to prolong their lives--or the profit to be had from manufacturing it. Brimming with a Dickensian cast of characters and laced with wildly wonderful plot twists, Jane Smiley in the New York Times Book Review called The Road to Wellville "A marvel, enjoyable from beginning to end."
Review
"[A] perfect fit....[M]ost fittingly, for a book about the body, Boyle is one of those gloriously physical writers who can describe a simple walk on a cold night in a way that makes your blood tingle. Big, smart, exciting, and often wildly funny." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"[T]his time [Boyle] has hit the bull's-eye....Truth and fiction are invisibly blended in Boyle's splendid novel, in which a loving concern for the innocent at heart touchingly prevails." Publishers Weekly
Review
"[A] comic tour de force....Boyle...has a genius for envisioning his scenes in such delicious detail and for presenting his characters with such subtle insight that The Road to Wellville is rich and delightful." Playboy
Review
"In Wellville, Boyle brings his exhilaratingly bombastic style and virtuoso language to an old-fashioned adventure tale." People
Review
"Boyle's lightest, least fierce novel. But in the end, as a reassurance to those of us who have savored the sharpness, complexity and bitterness of his previous works, the animals still bite, the fecal matter still flies and foolishness is still on ample display." Jane Smiley, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"In this inventive and highly entertaining story, Boyle's proven talents are again displayed in rare form." Library Journal
Review
"A funny, thoughtful, immaculately written novel, The Road to Wellville eviscerates the gullible pilgrims and conniving hucksters who rubbed shoulders in turn-of-the-century Battle Creek." Newsweek
Review
"T. C. Boyle may be the most entertaining writer in America....The Road To Wellville is a superbly plotted entertainment....[M]ay be the most fun book of the season." Boston Globe
Synopsis
Will Lightbody is a man with a stomach ailment whose only sin is loving his wife, Eleanor, too much. Eleanor is a health nut of the first stripe, and when in 1907 she journeys to Dr. John Harvey Kellogg's infamous Battle Creek Spa to live out the vegetarian ethos, poor Will goes too.
So begins T. Coraghessan Boyle's wickedly comic look at turn-of-the-century fanatics in search of the magic pill to prolong their lives or the profit to be had from manufacturing it. Brimming with a Dickensian cast of characters and laced with wildly wonderful plot twists, The Road to Wellville is "a marvel, enjoyable from beginning to end" (Jane Smiley, New York Times Book Review).
About the Author
T. C. Boyle is the
New York Times bestselling author of ten novels and has published seven collections of short fiction. He received the PEN/Faulkner Award for his novel
World's End and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction. His stories appear regularly in the
New Yorker,
GQ,
Esquire, and
Playboy.
Visit his Web site at www.tcboyle.com.