|
|
|
|
||
|
HELP | |
|
  $5.95 List price:
Used Trade Paper
Usually ships in 5 to 7 business days
 available for shipping or prepaid pickup only
More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:Other titles in the Contemporary Classics series:The Extra Manby Jonathan Ames
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:"A storyteller of refreshing inventiveness and subtlety" (San Francisco Chronicle), Jonathan Ames has won critical raves for this delightful "comedy of impeccable manners with a debauched '90s spin" (Elle). Meet Louis Ives: well-groomed, romantic, and as captivating as an F. Scott Fitzgerald hero. Only this hero has a penchant for ladies clothes, and he's lost his teaching post at Princeton's Pretty Brook Day School after an unfortunate incident involving a colleague's brassiere. Meet Henry Harrison: former actor, failed but brilliant playwright, and a well-seasoned escort for New York City's women of means. He dances alone to Ethel Merman records, second-acts operas, and performs his scrappy life with the dignity befitting a self-styled man of the world. What can this ageless Don Quixote of the Upper East Side have to offer a young gentleman such as Louis? What, indeed. Well, the answer lies somewhere between the needs of an irascible mentor and the education of his eager apprentice...between cocktails on the Upper East Side and an even more intoxicating treat along the secret fringes of Times Square...and between friendship and longing. Review:"A sure-footed exploration of sexual confusion and a loopily elegant, surprisingly moving urban comedy of manners." The New York Times Book Review Review:"Ames makes it clear that his protagonist's sexual tentativeness and anxiety are really just flimsy covers for his passion and warmth. That's what makes The Extra Man work so well. Louis may feel as awkward as Milton Berle in drag, but inside he's really Fred Astaire — he just doesn't know it yet." The New York Times Review:"Ames follows I Pass Like Night with a gentle account of a burgeoning friendship between two likable oddballs....Henrys unpredictability and benign theatricality make [their] outings hum, but Louis is also winning on his own terms — up-front about his hunger to be liked, unfazed by squalor, endlessly appreciative of Henry's spirit and kindness. The sexual-confusion subplot is murky and entirely lacking in resolution, but who cares? It's just plain fun to watch these quasi-misfits fall for each other." Kirkus Reviews Review:"An endearing, entertaining story." The San Francisco Chronicle Review:"Makes verbal high jinks look almost as easy as pie in the face....An urban confection." The New Yorker Review:"A miracle....This novel is not to be missed." Booklist (starred review) Review:"Ames has the one thing Fitzgerald lacked: a sense of humor...The Extra Man wins us over with its sheer energy and good will, its confidence in the ability of its own humor and intelligence to widen our ideas about the possibilities of love, and about the permissible range of inner and outer lives to which today's young gentleman may properly aspire." Francine Prose, The New York Observer Review:"The Louis and Henry show is honest, funny, and original, making the meaning of 'human' deep and strange in the best way." The Village Voice About the AuthorJonathan Ames is and a columnist for New York Press. He lives in New York City, where he performs frequently as a storyteller in theaters and nightclubs. He is the winner of a Transatlantic Review award and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. He is also the author of I Pass Like Night, available from Washington Square Press. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
Other books you might like
Related Aisles
| |||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Don't Miss
