In a Shallow Grave
by James Purdy
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Description
A marvelous tour de force [about war and reconciliation] that engages as it entertains . . . very impressive.-Publishers WeeklyTags
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Member Reviews
I can't even really say for sure what I just listened to. Part Gothic tale, part love story complete with awkward triangle that seems to pop up out of nowhere, characters I sometimes had a hard time keeping track of who was who, voodoo(?), religious cults(?)... Sorry, this was just a hot mess of a story for me. To be honest, if I hadn't been listening to this as an audiobook, if I'd actually been reading the book, I probably wouldn't have finished it. I do feel like I've missed something here, given all the 5 star reviews, and I appreciate what Valancourt is doing by publishing these lost books of gay fiction, but this one just did not work for me.
Free Audible download from Valancourt Books in exchange for an honest review.
Free Audible download from Valancourt Books in exchange for an honest review.
Haunting, visceral, and gay little sliver of a novel.
A spectacular book. I picked it up years ago, but the beginning was too intense for me. I've since read some of his others and I went back to check it out again. It's off-the-charts great. Vivid characters, surprising contradictions, stellar writing. I rate it a 12 on a scale of 10.
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Author Information
94+ Works 2,658 Members
James Purdy was born in Ohio in 1923. After serving in the Army, he attended the University of Puebla in Mexico before receiving an M.A. in Romance languages at the University of Chicago and spending some time at the University of Madrid. He taught at Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin from 1949 to 1953. During his lifetime he wrote about 20 show more novels as well as numerous short stories and plays. Some of his best-known works include the following: Color of Darkness (1957), Malcolm (1959), The Nephew (1960), Cabot Wright Begins (1964), I Am Elijah Thrush (1972), In a Shallow Grave (1976), and Narrow Rooms (1977). He also wrote the Sleepers in Moon-Crowned Valleys trilogy, which comprised of Jeremy's Version (1970), The House of the Solitary Maggot (1974), and Mourners Below (1981). He died on March 13, 2009 at the age of 94. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
GAY MEN'S PRESS (GMP) (GMP-?)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- In een ondiep graf
- Original publication date
- 1975
- Related movies
- In a Shallow Grave (1988 | IMDb)
- First words*
- 'Wat jij nodig hebt nu je op 't punt staat af te zwaaien,' had mijn kapitein tegen me gezegd toen ik mijn afmonsteringsgeld kwam ophalen, 'is wat men in mijn grootvaders tijd een kamerdienaar of misschien wel een lijfknecht n... (show all)oemde.'
- Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Natuurlijk was het vreselijk laat, en rustig op dit uur van de nacht, en het laatste slechte weer was voorbij.
- Disambiguation notice*
- Original title: In a Shallow Grave
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 231
- Popularity
- 140,481
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.69)
- Languages
- Dutch, English, French, Italian
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 14
- ASINs
- 4
