|
List Price: $15.00Amazon.com's Price: $10.20 You Save: $4.80 (32%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780374529499
ISBN: 0374529493
Label: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: September 13, 2004
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Release Date: August 26, 2004
Sales Rank: 399084
Studio: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
'An overlooked masterpiece. It may still be undervalued as Malamud's funniest and most embracing novel.' --Jonathan Lethem
In A New Life, Bernard Malamud--generally thought of as a distinctly New York writer--took on the American myth of the West as a place of personal reinvention.
When Sy Levin, a high school teacher beset by alcohol and bad decisions, leaves the city for the Pacific Northwest to start over, it's no surprise that he conjures a vision of the extraordinary new life awaiting him there: 'He imagined the pioneers in covered wagons entering this valley for the first time. Although he had lived little in nature Levin had always loved it, and the sense of having done the right thing in leaving New York was renewed in him.' Soon after his arrival at Cascadia College, however, Levin realizes he has been taken in by a mirage. The failures pile up anew, and Levin, fired from his post, finds himself back where he started and little the wiser for it.
A New Life--as Jonathan Lethem's introduction makes clear--is Malamud at his best: with his belief in luck and new beginnings Sy Levin embodies the thwarted yearning for transcendence that is at the heart of all Malamud's work.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - An average story.
As a Northwesterner, I was interested in reading this book because of its setting. The descriptions of Washington State (my home state) were done pretty well, but the dialogue between the unrealistic characters was less than satisfactory. Malamud chose to ramble on, sometimes in two page segments, in inneffective attempts at a sort of social statement. The ending of this book was absolutely ridiculous.
Rating: - The Scorpion and the Frog
Sy moves away from a disintegrating life in NY to rebuild and recreate himself in the mid west. But like the scorpion in the fable;he just can't help being who he is! Malamud seemed to move into this area of exploration with more contemporary characters in his latter books-this is broadly similar to 'Dubins Lives'-where are lives are influenced by our natures and the moment in history we exist in,yet we continually try to satisfy the falsehoods of society,or other peoples expectations.
Read More
Rating: - A great look at academia in the 1950's
Bernard Malamud is known for creating deeply flawed characters with strong ideals, and Seymour Levin - known interchangeably as S, Sy, Seymour, Levin and Lev - the central character in this wonderful novel, is no exception. A thirty year old masters graduate, down on his luck, but with the backing of an NYU education, he lands a job as a college instructor in the English department of a fictional mid-western state (Cascadia) college. This opens up an interesting cast of characters who view him with ... Read More
Rating:  - Hollow core
I am a long-time admirer of Malamud. In my view, "The Assistant" and "The Natural" are two of the outstanding novels of the 20th Century. I can still recall my gratification upon finishing "The Magic Barrel."
In the case of first-time exposure to a book,play,or movie, I believe that expectation frequently colors reaction. Given my experience with Malamud, I began to read "A New Life: with a sanguine attitude. The first page, carefully calculated to entice the reader's interest, validated ... Read More
Rating:  - Another Malamud gem
'A New Life' by Bernard Malamud is the fifth novel I've read by him and with each book I am further convinced of his genious. He was a master at the novel (not just short story). Though his works are funny they are also deeply humane and, from a literary standpoint, subtle. I can't think of anything more difficult in writing than subtlety. Time and again, while reading this book I'd have to pause and reread a line or paragraph because of his subtle and miraculous use of language. The main character, Levin, ... Read More
|
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780374529499
ISBN: 0374529493
Label: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: September 13, 2004
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Release Date: August 26, 2004
Sales Rank: 399084
Studio: Farrar, Straus and Giroux