Items related to West of Sunset
A rich, sometimes heartbreaking (Dennis Lehane) novel of F. Scott Fitzgerald s last years in Hollywood
Look out for" City of Secrets" coming from Viking on April 26, 2016
Look out for" City of Secrets" coming from Viking on April 26, 2016
In 1937, F. Scott Fitzgerald was a troubled, uncertain man whose literary success was long over. In poor health, with his wife consigned to a mental asylum and his finances in ruins, he struggled to make a new start as a screenwriter in Hollywood. By December 1940, he would be dead of a heart attack.
Those last three years of Fitzgerald s life, often obscured by the legend of his earlier Jazz Age glamour, are the focus of Stewart O Nan s gorgeously and gracefully written novel. With flashbacks to key moments from Fitzgerald s past, the story follows him as he arrives on the MGM lot, falls in love with brassy gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, begins work on "The Last Tycoon," and tries to maintain a semblance of family life with the absent Zelda and daughter, Scottie.
Fitzgerald s orbit of literary fame and the Golden Age of Hollywood is brought vividly to life through the novel s romantic cast of characters, from Dorothy Parker and Ernest Hemingway to Humphrey Bogart. A sympathetic and deeply personal portrait of a flawed man who never gave up in the end, even as his every wish and hope seemed thwarted, "West of Sunset "confirms O Nan as possibly our best working novelist ("Salon")."
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
Praise for "West of Sunset"
""West of Sunset" is a rich, sometimes heartbreaking journey through the disintegration of an American legend. O'Nan captures the fire and frailty of F. Scott Fitzgerald with an understated grace that would have made Fitzgerald himself stand up and applaud."--Dennis Lehane
"An achingly nuanced love story and one of the best biographical novels to come along in years. O'Nan's great achievement here is in so convincingly inhabiting the character of Scott Fitzgerald and of the people surrounding him during his descent into the clarifying depths of 1930s Hollywood."--T.C. Boyle
"O'Nan is an incredibly versatile and charming writer. This novel, which imagines F. Scott Fitzgerald's troubled time in Hollywood (with cameos by Dorothy Parker, Bogie, and Hemingway), takes up (like much of O'Nan's work) that essential conundrum of grace struggling with paucity. One brilliant American writer meditating on another--what's not to love?"--George Saunders
"I'll direct my enthusiasm for "West of Sunset" to writers who revere Fitzgerald's short story 'Babylon Revisited.' Stewart O'Nan captures Fitzgerald's mood of spiritual reflection, without trying to imitate Fitzgerald's voice. This book is an inoculation against self-pity. It's not a mock Fitzgerald novel, but an original portrait of a writer struggling to keep his dignity while trying to make a living. It's one of the best books I've read in years and it deserves a cheering crowd."--Michael Tolkin
Praise for "West of Sunset"
""West of Sunset" is a rich, sometimes heartbreaking journey through the disintegration of an American legend. O'Nan captures the fire and frailty of F. Scott Fitzgerald with an understated grace that would have made Fitzgerald himself stand up and applaud."--Dennis Lehane
"An achingly nuanced love story and one of the best biographical novels to come along in years. O'Nan's great achievement here is in so convincingly inhabiting the character of Scott Fitzgerald and of the people surrounding him during his descent into the clarifying depths of 1930s Hollywood."--T.C. Boyle
"O'Nan is an incredibly versatile and charming writer. This novel, which imagines F. Scott Fitzgerald's troubled time in Hollywood (with cameos by Dorothy Parker, Bogie, and Hemingway), takes up (like much of O'Nan's work) that essential conundrum of grace struggling with paucity. One brilliant American writer meditating on another--what's not to love?"--George Saunders
"I'll direct my enthusiasm for "West of Sunset" to writers who revere Fitzgerald's short story 'Babylon Revisited.' Stewart O'Nan captures Fitzgerald's mood of spiritual reflection, without trying to imitate Fitzgerald's voice. This book is an inoculation against self-pity. It's not a mock Fitzgerald novel, but an original portrait of a writer struggling to keep his dignity while trying to make a living. It's one of the best books I've read in years and it deserves a cheering crowd."--Michael Tolkin
Praise for "West of Sunset"
"It would appear to be a daunting task to write a biographical novel of one of our most iconic writers, yet O'Nan avoids every pitfall. . .O'Nan renders a heartbreaking portrait of an artist soldiering on in the face of personal and professional ruin. . .O'Nan's convincing characterization of a man burdened by guilt and struggling to hold onto his dignity is, at once, a moving testament to grace under pressure and an intimate look at legend."--"ALA Booklist"
"A sympathetic portrayal of a troubled genius. . .O'Nan has masterfully re-created the feel and ambience of the Hollywood studio system in the late 1930s. . .he has crafted an insightful glimpse into a sad period in Fitzgerald's life."--"Kirkus Reviews"
"A realistic piece of historical fiction. . .we get zinging repartee from the likes of Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchly, and Humphrey Bogart. . .Fitzgerald comes across as a haunting, multifaceted, sympathetic character. . .Fitzgerald fans will mourn his loss all over again."--"Library Journal"
""West of Sunset" is a rich, sometimes heartbreaking journey through the disintegration of an American legend. O'Nan captures the fire and frailty of F. Scott Fitzgerald with an understated grace that would have made Fitzgerald himself stand up and applaud."--Dennis Lehane
"An achingly nuanced love story and one of the best biographical novels to come along in years. O'Nan's great achievement here is in so convincingly inhabiting the character of Scott Fitzgerald and of the people surrounding him during his descent into the clarifying depths of 1930s Hollywood."--T.C. Boyle
"Our contemporary master Stewart O'Nan - the king of the quotidian - has changed his brush stroke and given us a picture of another American master, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in the last years of his life. This is an amazing book, book one great writer about another, just an amazement."--Elizabeth Strout
"O'Nan is an incredibly versatile and charming writer. This novel, which imagines F. Scott Fitzgerald's troubled time in Hollywood (with cameos by Dorothy Parker, Bogie, and Hemingway), takes up (like much of O'Nan's work) that essential conundrum of grace struggling with paucity. One brilliant American writer meditating on another--what's not to love?"--George Saunders
"I'll direct my enthusiasm for "West of Sunset" to writers who revere Fitzgerald's short story 'Babylon Revisited.' Stewart O'Nan captures Fitzgerald's mood of spiritual reflection, without trying to imitate Fitzgerald's voice. This book is an inoculation against self-pity. It's not a mock Fitzgerald novel, but an original portrait of a writer struggling to keep his dignity while trying to make a living. It's one of the best books I've read in years and it deserves a cheering crowd."--Michael Tolkin
Praise for "West of Sunset"
"[The] grim yet undeniably fascinating last act of Fitzgerald's life is the subject of Stewart O'Nan's gorgeous new novel. . ."West of Sunset" is a pretty fine Hollywood novel, too, but it's an even finer novel about a great writer's determination to keep trying to do his best work."--Maureen Corrigan, "The Washington Post"
"There's a certain romance to the tortured genius mythology, but Stewart O'Nan makes quick work of dispelling it in this beautifully written historical novel which follows Fitzgerald's stint as a screenwriter during the 1930s, captures that era of Hollywood well, offering juicy scenes with Humphrey Bogart, Dorothy Parker, Ernest Hemingway, and other Fitzgerald friends and hangers-on, while lending witty dialogue to his affair with gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, a doomed romance that's worthy of a classic film."--"Entertainment Weekly"
"Just as O'Nan succeeded in drawing readers inside the heads of such ordinary people as the elderly widow Emily in "Emily, Alone," or Manny DeLeon, the hapless chain-restaurant manager in "Last Night at the Lobster," he inhabits Fitzgerald's very being and authentically depicts the writer's fluctuating mind-sets during the final years of his life...an intimate portrayal of a flawed man who never gave up."--"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"O'Nan, an accomplished, award-winning writer who has clearly done his biographical homework, polishes this saga to a seductive sheen, populates it with persuasive incarnations of Dorothy Parker, Humphrey Bogart, Ernest Hemingway, and others, and takes us to a very dark place indeed."--"Elle"
"It would appear to be a daunting task to write a biographical novel of one of our most iconic writers, yet O'Nan avoids every pitfall. . .O'Nan renders a heartbreaking portrait of an artist soldiering on in the face of personal and professional ruin. . .O'Nan's convincing characterization of a man burdened by guilt and struggling to hold onto his dignity is, at once, a moving testament to grace under pressure and an intimate look at legend."--"ALA Booklist"
""West of Sunset" is a rich, sometimes heartbreaking journey through the disintegration of an American legend. O'Nan captures the fire and frailty of F. Scott Fitzgerald with an understated grace that would have made Fitzgerald himself stand up and applaud."--Dennis Lehane
"An achingly nuanced love story and one of the best biographical novels to come along in years. O'Nan's great achievement here is in so convincingly inhabiting the character of Scott Fitzgerald and of the people surrounding him during his descent into the clarifying depths of 1930s Hollywood."--T.C. Boyle
"Our contemporary master Stewart O'Nan - the king of the quotidian - has changed his brush stroke and given us a picture of another American master, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in the last years of his life. This is an amazing book, book one great writer about another, just an amazement."--Elizabeth Strout
"O'Nan is an incredibly versatile and charming writer. This novel, which imagines F. Scott Fitzgerald's troubled time in Hollywood (with cameos by Dorothy Parker, Bogie, and Hemingway), takes up (like much of O'Nan's work) that essential conundrum of grace struggling with paucity. One brilliant American writer meditating on another--what's not to love?"--George Saunders
Praise for "West of Sunset"
"A mesmerizing and haunting novel. . .O'Nan's prodigious power as a novelist asserts itself, which is to say you forget utterly that he's behind the curtain and pulling a dazzling number of strings. . .Above all, O'Nan delivers - whole-body - the sensation that you are deep inside a living, breathing, suffering consciousness. . .Another triumph of the novel surfaces in O'Nan's wily insinuation into Fitzgerald's creative life, how it breathes through his everyday existence. Movingly and believingly, the manner in which a writer works - thinks, processes, assimilates, envies - is given life. And that is ultimately what makes the book so special."--"The Boston Globe"
"[The] grim yet undeniably fascinating last act of Fitzgerald's life is the subject of Stewart O'Nan's gorgeous new novel. . ."West of Sunset" is a pretty fine Hollywood novel, too, but it's an even finer novel about a great writer's determination to keep trying to do his best work."--Maureen Corrigan, "The Washington Post"
"There's a certain romance to the tortured genius mythology, but Stewart O'Nan makes quick work of dispelling it in this beautifully written historical novel which follows Fitzgerald's stint as a screenwriter during the 1930s, captures that era of Hollywood well, offering juicy scenes with Humphrey Bogart, Dorothy Parker, Ernest Hemingway, and other Fitzgerald friends and hangers-on, while lending witty dialogue to his affair with gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, a doomed romance that's worthy of a classic film."--"Entertainment Weekly"
"Just as O'Nan succeeded in drawing readers inside the heads of such ordinary people as the elderly widow Emily in "Emily, Alone," or Manny DeLeon, the hapless chain-restaurant manager in "Last Night at the Lobster," he inhabits Fitzgerald's very being and authentically depicts the writer's fluctuating mind-sets during the final years of his life...an intimate portrayal of a flawed man who never gave up."--"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"O'Nan, an accomplished, award-winning writer who has clearly done his biographical homework, polishes this saga to a seductive sheen, populates it with persuasive incarnations of Dorothy Parker, Humphrey Bogart, Ernest Hemingway, and others, and takes us to a very dark place indeed."--"Elle"
"It would appear to be a daunting task to write a biographical novel of one of our most iconic writers, yet O'Nan avoids every pitfall. . .O'Nan renders a heartbreaking portrait of an artist soldiering on in the face of personal and professional ruin. . .O'Nan's convincing characterization of a man burdened by guilt and struggling to hold onto his dignity is, at once, a moving testament to grace under pressure and an intimate look at legend."--"ALA Booklist"
""West of Sunset" is a rich, sometimes heartbreaking journey through the disintegration of an American legend. O'Nan captures the fire and frailty of F. Scott Fitzgerald with an understated grace that would have made Fitzgerald himself stand up and applaud."--Dennis Lehane
"An achingly nuanced love story and one of the best biographical novels to come along in years. O'Nan's great achievement here is in so convincingly inhabiting the character of Scott Fitzgerald and of the people surrounding him during his descent into the clarifying depths of 1930s Hollywood."--T.C. Boyle
"Our contemporary master Stewart O'Nan - the king of the quotidian - has changed his brush stroke and given us a picture of another American master, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in the last years of his life. This is an amazing book, book one great writer about another, just an amazement."--Elizabeth Strout
"O'Nan is an incredibly versatile and charming writer. This novel, which imagines F. Scott Fitzgerald's troubled time in Hollywood (with cameos by Dorothy Parker, Bogie, and Hemingway), takes up (like much of O'Nan's work) that essential conundrum of grace struggling with paucity. One brilliant American writer meditating on another--what's not to love?"--George Saunders
Praise for "West of Sunset"
"[The] grim yet undeniably fascinating last act of Fitzgerald's life is the subject of Stewart O'Nan's gorgeous new novel. . ."West of Sunset" is a pretty fine Hollywood novel, too, but it's an even finer novel about a great writer's determination to keep trying to do his best work."--Maureen Corrigan, "The Washington Post"
"A mesmerizing and haunting novel. . .O'Nan delivers - whole-body - the sensation that you are deep inside a living, breathing, suffering consciousness. . .Another triumph of the novel surfaces in O'Nan's wily insinuation into Fitzgerald's creative life, how it breathes through his everyday existence. Movingly and believingly, the manner in which a writer works - thinks, processes, assimilates, envies - is given life. And that is ultimately what makes the book so special."--"The Boston Globe"
"[An] almost unbearably bittersweet portrait of the once-great novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald's sad yet glittering final years in Hollywood. . .the repartee gleams with malicious wit."--"USA Today"
"Engrossing. . .O'Nan skillfully pulls us into Fitzgerald's gilded and yet familiar world. He brings the Hollywood legends to life. By the end, they feel like friends. . .A story well-told about interesting people in interesting times."--"The Chicago Tribune"
"There's a certain romance to the tortured genius mythology, but Stewart O'Nan makes quick work of dispelling it in this beautifully written historical novel which follows Fitzgerald's stint as a screenwriter during the 1930s, captures that era of Hollywood well, offering juicy scenes with Humphrey Bogart, Dorothy Parker, Ernest Hemingway, and other Fitzgerald friends and hangers-on, while lending witty dialogue to his affair with gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, a doomed romance that's worthy of a classic film."--"Entertainment Weekly"
"Just as O'Nan succeeded in drawing readers inside the heads of such ordinary people as the elderly widow Emily in "Emily, Alone," or Manny DeLeon, the hapless chain-restaurant manager in "Last Night at the Lobster," he inhabits Fitzgerald's very being and authentically depicts the writer's fluctuating mind-sets during the final years of his life...an intimate portrayal of a flawed man who never gave up."--"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"O'Nan, an accomplished, award-winning writer who has clearly done his biographical homework, polishes this saga to a seductive sheen, populates it with persuasive incarnations of Dorothy Parker, Humphrey Bogart, Ernest Hemingway, and others, and takes us to a very dark place indeed."--"Elle"
""West of Sunset" is ...
Book Description:
Praise for "West of Sunset"
""West of Sunset" is a rich, sometimes heartbreaking journey through the disintegration of an American legend. O'Nan captures the fire and frailty of F. Scott Fitzgerald with an understated grace that would have made Fitzgerald himself stand up and applaud."--Dennis Lehane
"An achingly nuanced love story and one of the best biographical novels to come along in years. O'Nan's great achievement here is in so convincingly inhabiting the character of Scott Fitzgerald and of the people surrounding him during his descent into the clarifying depths of 1930s Hollywood."--T.C. Boyle
"O'Nan is an incredibly versatile and charming writer. This novel, which imagines F. Scott Fitzgerald's troubled time in Hollywood (with cameos by Dorothy Parker, Bogie, and Hemingway), takes up (like much of O'Nan's work) that essential conundrum of grace struggling with paucity. One brilliant American writer meditating on another--what's not to love?"--George Saunders
"I'll direct my enthusiasm for "West of Sunset" to writers who revere Fitzgerald's short story 'Babylon Revisited.' Stewart O'Nan captures Fitzgerald's mood of spiritual reflection, without trying to imitate Fitzgerald's voice. This book is an inoculation against self-pity. It's not a mock Fitzgerald novel, but an original portrait of a writer struggling to keep his dignity while trying to make a living. It's one of the best books I've read in years and it deserves a cheering crowd."--Michael Tolkin
Praise for "West of Sunset"
""West of Sunset" is a rich, sometimes heartbreaking journey through the disintegration of an American legend. O'Nan captures the fire and frailty of F. Scott Fitzgerald with an understated grace that would have made Fitzgerald himself stand up and applaud."--Dennis Lehane
"An achingly nuanced love story and one of the best biographical novels to come along in years. O'Nan's great achievement here is in so convincingly inhabiting the character of Scott Fitzgerald and of the people surrounding him during his descent into the clarifying depths of 1930s Hollywood."--T.C. Boyle
"O'Nan is an incredibly versatile and charming writer. This novel, which imagines F. Scott Fitzgerald's troubled time in Hollywood (with cameos by Dorothy Parker, Bogie, and Hemingway), takes up (like much of O'Nan's work) that essential conundrum of grace struggling with paucity. One brilliant American writer meditating on another--what's not to love?"--George Saunders
"I'll direct my enthusiasm for "West of Sunset" to writers who revere Fitzgerald's short story 'Babylon Revisited.' Stewart O'Nan captures Fitzgerald's mood of spiritual reflection, without trying to imitate Fitzgerald's voice. This book is an inoculation against self-pity. It's not a mock Fitzgerald novel, but an original portrait of a writer struggling to keep his dignity while trying to make a living. It's one of the best books I've read in years and it deserves a cheering crowd."--Michael Tolkin
Praise for "West of Sunset"
"It would appear to be a daunting task to write a biographical novel of one of our most iconic writers, yet O'Nan avoids every pitfall. . .O'Nan renders a heartbreaking portrait of an artist soldiering on in the face of personal and professional ruin. . .O'Nan's convincing characterization of a man burdened by guilt and struggling to hold onto his dignity is, at once, a moving testament to grace under pressure and an intimate look at legend."--"ALA Booklist"
"A sympathetic portrayal of a troubled genius. . .O'Nan has masterfully re-created the feel and ambience of the Hollywood studio system in the late 1930s. . .he has crafted an insightful glimpse into a sad period in Fitzgerald's life."--"Kirkus Reviews"
"A realistic piece of historical fiction. . .we get zinging repartee from the likes of Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchly, and Humphrey Bogart. . .Fitzgerald comes across as a haunting, multifaceted, sympathetic character. . .Fitzgerald fans will mourn his loss all over again."--"Library Journal"
""West of Sunset" is a rich, sometimes heartbreaking journey through the disintegration of an American legend. O'Nan captures the fire and frailty of F. Scott Fitzgerald with an understated grace that would have made Fitzgerald himself stand up and applaud."--Dennis Lehane
"An achingly nuanced love story and one of the best biographical novels to come along in years. O'Nan's great achievement here is in so convincingly inhabiting the character of Scott Fitzgerald and of the people surrounding him during his descent into the clarifying depths of 1930s Hollywood."--T.C. Boyle
"Our contemporary master Stewart O'Nan - the king of the quotidian - has changed his brush stroke and given us a picture of another American master, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in the last years of his life. This is an amazing book, book one great writer about another, just an amazement."--Elizabeth Strout
"O'Nan is an incredibly versatile and charming writer. This novel, which imagines F. Scott Fitzgerald's troubled time in Hollywood (with cameos by Dorothy Parker, Bogie, and Hemingway), takes up (like much of O'Nan's work) that essential conundrum of grace struggling with paucity. One brilliant American writer meditating on another--what's not to love?"--George Saunders
"I'll direct my enthusiasm for "West of Sunset" to writers who revere Fitzgerald's short story 'Babylon Revisited.' Stewart O'Nan captures Fitzgerald's mood of spiritual reflection, without trying to imitate Fitzgerald's voice. This book is an inoculation against self-pity. It's not a mock Fitzgerald novel, but an original portrait of a writer struggling to keep his dignity while trying to make a living. It's one of the best books I've read in years and it deserves a cheering crowd."--Michael Tolkin
Praise for "West of Sunset"
"[The] grim yet undeniably fascinating last act of Fitzgerald's life is the subject of Stewart O'Nan's gorgeous new novel. . ."West of Sunset" is a pretty fine Hollywood novel, too, but it's an even finer novel about a great writer's determination to keep trying to do his best work."--Maureen Corrigan, "The Washington Post"
"There's a certain romance to the tortured genius mythology, but Stewart O'Nan makes quick work of dispelling it in this beautifully written historical novel which follows Fitzgerald's stint as a screenwriter during the 1930s, captures that era of Hollywood well, offering juicy scenes with Humphrey Bogart, Dorothy Parker, Ernest Hemingway, and other Fitzgerald friends and hangers-on, while lending witty dialogue to his affair with gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, a doomed romance that's worthy of a classic film."--"Entertainment Weekly"
"Just as O'Nan succeeded in drawing readers inside the heads of such ordinary people as the elderly widow Emily in "Emily, Alone," or Manny DeLeon, the hapless chain-restaurant manager in "Last Night at the Lobster," he inhabits Fitzgerald's very being and authentically depicts the writer's fluctuating mind-sets during the final years of his life...an intimate portrayal of a flawed man who never gave up."--"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"O'Nan, an accomplished, award-winning writer who has clearly done his biographical homework, polishes this saga to a seductive sheen, populates it with persuasive incarnations of Dorothy Parker, Humphrey Bogart, Ernest Hemingway, and others, and takes us to a very dark place indeed."--"Elle"
"It would appear to be a daunting task to write a biographical novel of one of our most iconic writers, yet O'Nan avoids every pitfall. . .O'Nan renders a heartbreaking portrait of an artist soldiering on in the face of personal and professional ruin. . .O'Nan's convincing characterization of a man burdened by guilt and struggling to hold onto his dignity is, at once, a moving testament to grace under pressure and an intimate look at legend."--"ALA Booklist"
""West of Sunset" is a rich, sometimes heartbreaking journey through the disintegration of an American legend. O'Nan captures the fire and frailty of F. Scott Fitzgerald with an understated grace that would have made Fitzgerald himself stand up and applaud."--Dennis Lehane
"An achingly nuanced love story and one of the best biographical novels to come along in years. O'Nan's great achievement here is in so convincingly inhabiting the character of Scott Fitzgerald and of the people surrounding him during his descent into the clarifying depths of 1930s Hollywood."--T.C. Boyle
"Our contemporary master Stewart O'Nan - the king of the quotidian - has changed his brush stroke and given us a picture of another American master, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in the last years of his life. This is an amazing book, book one great writer about another, just an amazement."--Elizabeth Strout
"O'Nan is an incredibly versatile and charming writer. This novel, which imagines F. Scott Fitzgerald's troubled time in Hollywood (with cameos by Dorothy Parker, Bogie, and Hemingway), takes up (like much of O'Nan's work) that essential conundrum of grace struggling with paucity. One brilliant American writer meditating on another--what's not to love?"--George Saunders
Praise for "West of Sunset"
"A mesmerizing and haunting novel. . .O'Nan's prodigious power as a novelist asserts itself, which is to say you forget utterly that he's behind the curtain and pulling a dazzling number of strings. . .Above all, O'Nan delivers - whole-body - the sensation that you are deep inside a living, breathing, suffering consciousness. . .Another triumph of the novel surfaces in O'Nan's wily insinuation into Fitzgerald's creative life, how it breathes through his everyday existence. Movingly and believingly, the manner in which a writer works - thinks, processes, assimilates, envies - is given life. And that is ultimately what makes the book so special."--"The Boston Globe"
"[The] grim yet undeniably fascinating last act of Fitzgerald's life is the subject of Stewart O'Nan's gorgeous new novel. . ."West of Sunset" is a pretty fine Hollywood novel, too, but it's an even finer novel about a great writer's determination to keep trying to do his best work."--Maureen Corrigan, "The Washington Post"
"There's a certain romance to the tortured genius mythology, but Stewart O'Nan makes quick work of dispelling it in this beautifully written historical novel which follows Fitzgerald's stint as a screenwriter during the 1930s, captures that era of Hollywood well, offering juicy scenes with Humphrey Bogart, Dorothy Parker, Ernest Hemingway, and other Fitzgerald friends and hangers-on, while lending witty dialogue to his affair with gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, a doomed romance that's worthy of a classic film."--"Entertainment Weekly"
"Just as O'Nan succeeded in drawing readers inside the heads of such ordinary people as the elderly widow Emily in "Emily, Alone," or Manny DeLeon, the hapless chain-restaurant manager in "Last Night at the Lobster," he inhabits Fitzgerald's very being and authentically depicts the writer's fluctuating mind-sets during the final years of his life...an intimate portrayal of a flawed man who never gave up."--"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"O'Nan, an accomplished, award-winning writer who has clearly done his biographical homework, polishes this saga to a seductive sheen, populates it with persuasive incarnations of Dorothy Parker, Humphrey Bogart, Ernest Hemingway, and others, and takes us to a very dark place indeed."--"Elle"
"It would appear to be a daunting task to write a biographical novel of one of our most iconic writers, yet O'Nan avoids every pitfall. . .O'Nan renders a heartbreaking portrait of an artist soldiering on in the face of personal and professional ruin. . .O'Nan's convincing characterization of a man burdened by guilt and struggling to hold onto his dignity is, at once, a moving testament to grace under pressure and an intimate look at legend."--"ALA Booklist"
""West of Sunset" is a rich, sometimes heartbreaking journey through the disintegration of an American legend. O'Nan captures the fire and frailty of F. Scott Fitzgerald with an understated grace that would have made Fitzgerald himself stand up and applaud."--Dennis Lehane
"An achingly nuanced love story and one of the best biographical novels to come along in years. O'Nan's great achievement here is in so convincingly inhabiting the character of Scott Fitzgerald and of the people surrounding him during his descent into the clarifying depths of 1930s Hollywood."--T.C. Boyle
"Our contemporary master Stewart O'Nan - the king of the quotidian - has changed his brush stroke and given us a picture of another American master, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in the last years of his life. This is an amazing book, book one great writer about another, just an amazement."--Elizabeth Strout
"O'Nan is an incredibly versatile and charming writer. This novel, which imagines F. Scott Fitzgerald's troubled time in Hollywood (with cameos by Dorothy Parker, Bogie, and Hemingway), takes up (like much of O'Nan's work) that essential conundrum of grace struggling with paucity. One brilliant American writer meditating on another--what's not to love?"--George Saunders
Praise for "West of Sunset"
"[The] grim yet undeniably fascinating last act of Fitzgerald's life is the subject of Stewart O'Nan's gorgeous new novel. . ."West of Sunset" is a pretty fine Hollywood novel, too, but it's an even finer novel about a great writer's determination to keep trying to do his best work."--Maureen Corrigan, "The Washington Post"
"A mesmerizing and haunting novel. . .O'Nan delivers - whole-body - the sensation that you are deep inside a living, breathing, suffering consciousness. . .Another triumph of the novel surfaces in O'Nan's wily insinuation into Fitzgerald's creative life, how it breathes through his everyday existence. Movingly and believingly, the manner in which a writer works - thinks, processes, assimilates, envies - is given life. And that is ultimately what makes the book so special."--"The Boston Globe"
"[An] almost unbearably bittersweet portrait of the once-great novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald's sad yet glittering final years in Hollywood. . .the repartee gleams with malicious wit."--"USA Today"
"Engrossing. . .O'Nan skillfully pulls us into Fitzgerald's gilded and yet familiar world. He brings the Hollywood legends to life. By the end, they feel like friends. . .A story well-told about interesting people in interesting times."--"The Chicago Tribune"
"There's a certain romance to the tortured genius mythology, but Stewart O'Nan makes quick work of dispelling it in this beautifully written historical novel which follows Fitzgerald's stint as a screenwriter during the 1930s, captures that era of Hollywood well, offering juicy scenes with Humphrey Bogart, Dorothy Parker, Ernest Hemingway, and other Fitzgerald friends and hangers-on, while lending witty dialogue to his affair with gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, a doomed romance that's worthy of a classic film."--"Entertainment Weekly"
"Just as O'Nan succeeded in drawing readers inside the heads of such ordinary people as the elderly widow Emily in "Emily, Alone," or Manny DeLeon, the hapless chain-restaurant manager in "Last Night at the Lobster," he inhabits Fitzgerald's very being and authentically depicts the writer's fluctuating mind-sets during the final years of his life...an intimate portrayal of a flawed man who never gave up."--"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"O'Nan, an accomplished, award-winning writer who has clearly done his biographical homework, polishes this saga to a seductive sheen, populates it with persuasive incarnations of Dorothy Parker, Humphrey Bogart, Ernest Hemingway, and others, and takes us to a very dark place indeed."--"Elle"
""West of Sunset" is ...
A dazzling, intimate and wise novel of F. Scott Fitzgerald's final years.
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- PublisherViking Pr
- Publication date2015
- ISBN 10 0670785954
- ISBN 13 9780670785957
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages289
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. 1st Edition. 0670785954 First edition, First Printing. Signed by the author on the title page. Not inscribed, price clipped or otherwise marked. Securely wrapped, dust jacket in protective cover and shipped in a box. Full # line starting with a 1. Book is new only opened for signing. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # SKU1003840
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West of Sunset
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0670785954
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West of Sunset
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0670785954
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Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0670785954
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Buy for Great customer experience. Seller Inventory # GoldenDragon0670785954
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