Malcolm
by James Purdy
On This Page
Description
Malcolm is a classic innocent, led from one protective personality to another in the search for his missing father. He becomes involved in a series of poignant and wildly comic adventures as he is taken under the wing of an astrologer, an undertaker, a jazz queen and other eccentric characters.Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Malcolm is a young man who appears on a bench outside a hotel where he’s staying in New York City. Professor Cox, the leading astrologer of his time, seems to feel this state of affairs is wrong. A teenager with no apparent history, no goals, no friends – who claims to be waiting for his father – shouldn’t be spending his days on a bench. Professor Cox provides Malcolm with “addresses” of people in the city to get him off the bench.
Malcolm meets with the various eccentric acquaintances of the Professor, all of whom are smitten with the young man and want to keep him for themselves. His beauty, innocence and lack of guile endear him to almost everyone. He becomes involved in their silly doings – and is sometimes the cause. show more Eventually things turn dark for Malcolm and his innocence is incrementally lost. This is a humorous and sad book, touching and filled with absurdity. show less
Malcolm meets with the various eccentric acquaintances of the Professor, all of whom are smitten with the young man and want to keep him for themselves. His beauty, innocence and lack of guile endear him to almost everyone. He becomes involved in their silly doings – and is sometimes the cause. show more Eventually things turn dark for Malcolm and his innocence is incrementally lost. This is a humorous and sad book, touching and filled with absurdity. show less
Raramente ho preso cantonate più dolorose con un libro. E l'ho pure ordinato perché in libreria non l'avevano!
INSULSO, MONOTONO, NOIOSO, STRAMPALATO, popolato da personaggi sgradevoli che si spupazzano 'sto Malcolm che ha la vitalità di una alice in scatola.
Quando ho letto le recensioni entusiaste mi sono sentito in dovere di abbassare la media di quella che io reputo (e non è possibile che solo a me abbia fatto quest'impressione) una PORCHERIA SUPREMA!
EVITATELO COME LA PESTE, date i soldi del libro in beneficenza piuttosto, buttateli al vento ché tanto ci guadagnereste comunque, se non altro per il TEDIO che vi sarete risparmiati!
[ah! l'ho detta, mi sono sfogato, scusatemi. E capitemi però :-P]
INSULSO, MONOTONO, NOIOSO, STRAMPALATO, popolato da personaggi sgradevoli che si spupazzano 'sto Malcolm che ha la vitalità di una alice in scatola.
Quando ho letto le recensioni entusiaste mi sono sentito in dovere di abbassare la media di quella che io reputo (e non è possibile che solo a me abbia fatto quest'impressione) una PORCHERIA SUPREMA!
EVITATELO COME LA PESTE, date i soldi del libro in beneficenza piuttosto, buttateli al vento ché tanto ci guadagnereste comunque, se non altro per il TEDIO che vi sarete risparmiati!
[ah! l'ho detta, mi sono sfogato, scusatemi. E capitemi però :-P]
This 1959 novel was extemely weird. The cover blurbs portray it as so shocking and outre at the time, but it was way too tame for me. There was hardly any overt homosexuality in it, nor really any overt sexuality of any kind. There were a bunch of weird artists and musicians and the plot seemed to kind of wimp out on making any kind of conclusion by having the main character die. Still, it was so weird that I couldn't stop reading it to see what would happen, although if I had known that there would be so little gayness, and so little resolution/satisfaction, perhaps I would have.
Malcolm, about fifteen years of age, has spent every day for the last year sitting on the bench in front of his plush hotel, where he has a suite, waiting for his father to return, but now his money is in danger of running out. One day Mr Cox approaches him, and offers help; he provides Malcolm with a series of address and people to meet who might help him and get him away from his bench. This leads Malcolm to come into contact with among others a retired undertaker, and midget, talented but unrecognised artist who refuses to believe he is a midget, a less talented artist with a passion for music, an extremely wealthy and influential couple, a tattooist and a world famous singer.
The story follows Malcolm through his various encounters show more has he builds his new circle of friends, and as the various new friends interact with each other and vie for Malcolm's attention, often with very funny, near farcical results.
Malcolm the boy is a strange creation, supposedly well traveled with his father before his disappearance, he is socially well adjusted but rather naive and apparently more or less uneducated, leading to the assumption by some that he is a little dump. He is described often as beautiful and all who encounter him desire him in one way or another.
Malcolm the book is an unusual and at times bizarre account, at times hilarious, at times touching; the outcome almost inevitable show less
The story follows Malcolm through his various encounters show more has he builds his new circle of friends, and as the various new friends interact with each other and vie for Malcolm's attention, often with very funny, near farcical results.
Malcolm the boy is a strange creation, supposedly well traveled with his father before his disappearance, he is socially well adjusted but rather naive and apparently more or less uneducated, leading to the assumption by some that he is a little dump. He is described often as beautiful and all who encounter him desire him in one way or another.
Malcolm the book is an unusual and at times bizarre account, at times hilarious, at times touching; the outcome almost inevitable show less
Gloriously funny, slightly surreal narrative about an innocent unusual boy who meets a series of credibly outrageous characters in a search for his missing father.
Gore Vidal calls Purdy a true "American genius", so that was a good enough recommendation to pick up this dog-eared paperback bought years ago for a quarter. Purdy packs a punch, and as far as a happy ending...?
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Favourite Books
1,817 works; 316 members
Pre-1969 LGBTQ Literature
182 works; 67 members
National Book Award Finalists - Fiction
377 works; 12 members
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
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Original title
- Malcolm
- Original publication date
- 1959, Farrar, Straus and Cudaly, New York
- First words
- Davanti a uno degli hotel più grandhotel del mondo, un giovinetto aveva l'abitudine di sedere su una panchina che, quando la luce batteva in un certo modo, brillava come l'oro.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Madame Girard, comunque, sebbene non nominasse mai Malcolm - a dir la verità non avrebbe saputo con chi parlarne, perché tutti i suoi nuovi amici, compreso il biochimico italiano, non sapevano nemmeno chi fosse - Madame Girard continuò a leggere con grande attenzione e meraviglia le trecento pagine manoscritte che Malcolm aveva lasciato in inglese e in francese, e per quanto fossero state scritte con la febbre alta e a volte nel delirio, non mancarono mai d'interessarla e di farle rimpiangere che il ragazzo non fosse vissuto abbastanza per scrivere tutte le sue «conversazioni» con tutta la gente che aveva conosciuto.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 311
- Popularity
- 102,394
- Reviews
- 6
- Rating
- (3.58)
- Languages
- 7 — Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 14
- ASINs
- 11
