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Tepper Isn't Going Out: A Novel by Calvin…
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Tepper Isn't Going Out: A Novel (original 2001; edition 2002)

by Calvin Trillin

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
5002548,632 (3.66)25
Murray Tepper would say that he is an ordinary New Yorker who is simply trying to read the newspaper in peace. But he reads while sitting behind the wheel of his parked car, and his car always seems to be in a particularly desirable parking spot. Not surprisingly, he is regularly interrupted by drivers who want to know if he is going out. Tepper isn’t going out. Why not? His explanations tend to be rather literal: the indisputable fact, for instance, that he has twenty minutes left on the meter. Tepper’s behavior sometimes irritates the people who want his spot. (“Is that where you live? Is that car rent-controlled?”) It also irritates the mayor—Frank Ducavelli, known in tabloid headlines as Il Duce—who sees Murray Tepper as a harbinger of what His Honor always calls “the forces of disorder.” But once New Yorkers become aware of Tepper, some of them begin to suspect that he knows something they don’t know. And an ever-increasing number of them are willing to line up for the opportunity to sit in his car with him and find out. Tepper Isn’t Going Out is a wise and witty story of an ordinary man who, perhaps innocently, changes the world around him.… (more)
Member:jldrake
Title:Tepper Isn't Going Out: A Novel
Authors:Calvin Trillin
Info:Random House (2002), Edition: 1st ed, Hardcover, 224 pages
Collections:Your library
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Work Information

Tepper Isn't Going Out: A Novel by Calvin Trillin (2001)

  1. 10
    Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn (amysisson)
    amysisson: Both are deceptively simple stories that highlight absurdity in human behavior.
  2. 10
    The Line by Olga Grushin (LynnB)
    LynnB: Both of these books deal with reactions to something new: a kiosk or a person who sits in his parked car. Both show how a sense of community develops around the new feature of the environment. Tepper is much lighter than The Line.
  3. 10
    The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill (bluehighlighter)
    bluehighlighter: Featuring a similar, slyly comic writing style, that "New York" feeling in the prose and dialogue, and some form of rebellion against a large and cantankerous foe.
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» See also 25 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 25 (next | show all)
Smartly and deftly written, I rather enjoyed it. ( )
  mimo | Dec 18, 2023 |
When it comes to movies, there's a certain kind of movie that my partner and I say is really great on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Usually not an Oscar winner, often not even widely known but one that brings a smile to your face and makes you glad you spent the time to relax and enjoy it.

This book is the literary equivalent. "Comfortable" to read and brought a smile to my face. ( )
  toddtyrtle | Dec 28, 2022 |
A mild-mannered New Yorker raises all kinds of disturbances by simply choosing to sit in his legally-parked car and read his paper. Echoes of the Peter Sellers movie "Being There" as various people attempt to interpret his actions in different ways. ( )
  LyndaInOregon | Aug 5, 2022 |
Fieldnotes:
New York City, 1990s

1 Somewhat Eccentric Everyman
1 Dying Mailing List Advertising Business
Several (Legal) Parking Spots - Mostly Metered
1 Newspaper Column, which spirals into
General Advice-Seeking Hullabaloo

1 Order-Obsessed Mayor
1 Hapless Pollster
1 "Quirky" Mayoral Has-Been and Seeks-to-be-Again
1 Obscure City Ordinance, trotted out for
Several Citations, and
Escalating Court Cases

1 Twist Ending? ( )
  Caramellunacy | Mar 10, 2021 |
This was a funny, enjoyable book. ( )
  baruthcook | Aug 26, 2020 |
Showing 1-5 of 25 (next | show all)
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Murray Tepper would say that he is an ordinary New Yorker who is simply trying to read the newspaper in peace. But he reads while sitting behind the wheel of his parked car, and his car always seems to be in a particularly desirable parking spot. Not surprisingly, he is regularly interrupted by drivers who want to know if he is going out. Tepper isn’t going out. Why not? His explanations tend to be rather literal: the indisputable fact, for instance, that he has twenty minutes left on the meter. Tepper’s behavior sometimes irritates the people who want his spot. (“Is that where you live? Is that car rent-controlled?”) It also irritates the mayor—Frank Ducavelli, known in tabloid headlines as Il Duce—who sees Murray Tepper as a harbinger of what His Honor always calls “the forces of disorder.” But once New Yorkers become aware of Tepper, some of them begin to suspect that he knows something they don’t know. And an ever-increasing number of them are willing to line up for the opportunity to sit in his car with him and find out. Tepper Isn’t Going Out is a wise and witty story of an ordinary man who, perhaps innocently, changes the world around him.

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