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As literary events go, Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow is an absolute miracle of prose. Clocking in at almost 800 pages, occurring in a post WWII geography that sprawls over several continents, and featuring a cast of over 400 characters, each hustling and busting for whatever attention they can get (or in some cases, get away from), Gravity’s Rainbow is a work so wide-eyed in its vision and relentlessly thorough in its execution that it does not deny the reader anything except maybe the chance to catch a breath. Often lauded as one of the greatest books of the 20th century, and widely regarded as Pynchon’s best, Gravity’s Rainbow is the post-modern novel par excellence: it is a collision of worlds seen and unseen, a rumpus of ideas high and low brow, and a tumult of things deathly, humorous, and erotic.
For the sustained screaming that comes across the novel’s epic length, Gravity’s Rainbow is a novel without compassion. Easily the best book I’ve ever read, it is a reading experience no reader should pass up.
Recommended by Dale
The Garner Files: A Memoir (Hardcover)
Description
After suffering physical abuse at the hands of his stepmother, Garner left home at fourteen. He became Oklahoma’s first draftee of the Korean War and was awarded with two Purple Hearts before returning to the United States and settling in Los Angeles to become an actor. Working alongside some of the most renowned celebrities, including Julie Andrews, Marlon Brando, and Clint Eastwood, Garner became a star in his own right, despite struggles with stage fright and depression. In The Garner Files, this revered actor and quintessential self-made man recalls “trying to decipher” William Wyler with Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine, breaking Doris Day’s ribs, having a “heart-to-heart and eyeball-to-eyeball” with Steve McQueen, being “a card-carrying liberal—and proud of it,” and much more
About the Author
Jon Winokur is the author of various nonfiction books, including The Portable Curmudgeon, Zen to Go, and Advice to Writers. He lives in Los Angeles.
Praise for The Garner Files: A Memoir…
“Garner tells his life story with the same wry, self-effacing charm that characterized his classic TV characters: the laidback cowboy Bret Maverick and the down-on-his-heels gumshoe Jim Rockford…Garner comes across as likable on the page as he does on screen.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“…the narrative is genuine, candid, and more informative than usual for a Hollywood bio…Truly a cut above most actor bios, this is prime stuff for film and television collections.”
—Booklist
“Laid-back charm and a sense of humor fuel such memories, two qualities shared by the characters Garner often played in a career of 50-plus years…Full of funny stories and observations, The Garner Files offers the kind of clubhouse banter you might expect from a hardworking, successful guy who doesn't take himself too seriously — and doesn't want you to, either.”
—Associated Press
“James Garner stepped into two of TV's most calcified genres — the western and the detective series — and set a new standard that others have been chasing down since…having made up his mind to write [a memoir]…Garner follows his own heroic dictum: Plenty of self-deprecating, humor, a general air of live-and-let-live, but when it comes down to it, no pulled punches. For Garner fans, The Garner Files is catnip…[Garner] is unfailingly candid about his own desires…it is a fine, frank and fun collection.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Stand aside for Maverick! Stand aside again for Jim Rockford!...Let this neatly written and well-supplemented little book—all of [Garner’s] friends provide relevant stories and fond judgments—set a new standard of integrity for the genre…You could hand this book as a primer on ethics to any young man just reaching the age of choosing his way in life.”
—Clive James, The Atlantic
“[an] enjoyable memoir…there's plenty to love in this book. Garner…has a knack for telling a story and finding the perfect quote to tie it all together…charming…[It] resembles a conversation with an old friend who loves to tell colorful stories.”
—PublishersWeekly.com
“James Garner's memoir is as easygoing and plain-spoken as his acting persona…[He] wouldn’t have it any other way.”
—USAToday.com
“The Garner Files is a classic tale of making it in Hollywood fueled…with Garner’s good looks, fortune, charm, and sense of humor.”
—ChristianScienceMonitor.com
“If you buy one cranky celebrity memoir this fall, might we suggest James Garner's The Garner Files?”
—TheAtlanticWire.com
“Garner follows his own heroic dictum: Plenty of self-deprecating, humor, a general air of live-and-let-live, but when it comes down to it, no pulled punches. For Garner fans, ‘The Garner Files’ is catnip…it is a fine, frank and fun collection.”
—LOS ANGELES TIMES