Oh the Glory of it All - Hardcover

Wilsey, Sean

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670916013 ISBN 13: 9780670916016

Publisher: Viking, 2005

Synopsis

"In the beginning we were happy. And we were always excessive. So in the beginning we were happy to excess." With these opening lines Sean Wilsey takes us on an exhilarating tour of life in the strangest, wealthiest, and most grandiose of families.

Sean's blonde-bombshell mother (one of the thinly-veiled characters in Armistead Maupin's bestselling "Tales of the City") is a 1980s society page staple. His enigmatic father uses a jet helicopter to drop Sean off at the video arcade. When Sean, "the kind of child who sings songs to sick flowers," turns nine-years old, his father divorces his mother and marries her best friend. Sean's life blows apart.

With its multiplicity of settings and kaleidoscopic mix of preoccupations-sex, Russia, jet helicopters, seismic upheaval, boarding schools, Middle Earth, skinheads, home improvement, suicide, skateboarding, massage, Christian fundamentalism, dogs, Texas, truth, evil, masturbation, hope, eventual salvation (abridged list)-"Oh the Glory of it All" is memoir as bildungsroman as explosion.

About this title

Review:

"The clichE 'truth is stranger than fiction' may well have been coined to describe Sean Wilsey's wild, wise, and whip-smart memoir." --Elle

"[An] irreverent and remarkably candid memoir about growing up in wealthy eighties San Francisco . . . rollicking, ruthless . . . ultimately generous-hearted." --Vogue

"A vivid mix of brio, self-awareness and sophistication . . . writing well is indeed the best revenge." --The New York Times Book Review

"Sean Wilsey's magnificent memoir spares no one but forgives almost everything; it's a kindly act of retribution that's sure to ring a bell with any adult survivor of parental narcissism. A bell, hell. Oh the Glory of It All becomes a veritable carillon of remembered pain, never once losing its wise and worldly sense of humor. I couldn't stop reading the damn thing." --Armistead Maupin

"Exuberant, honest, and unforgettable. Wilsey shows that great privilege doesn't guarantee bliss, but also doesn't preclude it. I'm glad he survived this odd/epic youth and emerged from it such a sane, generous, and funny narrator. My only regret is that he's not older than he is, since there would be more to read." --George Saunders

"[A] startlingly honest tale.... the writing is vivid, detailed, deep, and filled with fresh metaphors." --Publishers Weekly

"Honest to a fault, richly veined with indelible images: a monumental piece of work." --Kirkus Reviews

The cliche truth is stranger than fiction may well have been coined to describe Sean Wilsey s wild, wise, and whip-smart memoir. Elle

[An] irreverent and remarkably candid memoir about growing up in wealthy eighties San Francisco . . . rollicking, ruthless . . . ultimately generous-hearted. Vogue

A vivid mix of brio, self-awareness and sophistication . . . writing well is indeed the best revenge. The New York Times Book Review

"Sean Wilsey's magnificent memoir spares no one but forgives almost everything; it's a kindly act of retribution that's sure to ring a bell with any adult survivor of parental narcissism. A bell, hell. Oh the Glory of It All becomes a veritable carillon of remembered pain, never once losing its wise and worldly sense of humor. I couldn't stop reading thedamn thing." Armistead Maupin

"Exuberant, honest, and unforgettable. Wilsey shows that great privilege doesn't guarantee bliss, but also doesn't preclude it. I'm glad he survived this odd/epic youth and emerged from it such a sane, generous, and funny narrator. My only regret is that he's not older than he is, since there would be more to read." George Saunders

"[A] startlingly honest tale.... the writing is vivid, detailed, deep, and filled with fresh metaphors." Publishers Weekly

"Honest to a fault, richly veined with indelible images: a monumental piece of work." Kirkus Reviews

"

"The cliche 'truth is stranger than fiction' may well have been coined to describe Sean Wilsey's wild, wise, and whip-smart memoir." --Elle

"[An] irreverent and remarkably candid memoir about growing up in wealthy eighties San Francisco . . . rollicking, ruthless . . . ultimately generous-hearted." --Vogue

"A vivid mix of brio, self-awareness and sophistication . . . writing well is indeed the best revenge." --The New York Times Book Review

"Sean Wilsey's magnificent memoir spares no one but forgives almost everything; it's a kindly act of retribution that's sure to ring a bell with any adult survivor of parental narcissism. A bell, hell. Oh the Glory of It All becomes a veritable carillon of remembered pain, never once losing its wise and worldly sense of humor. I couldn't stop reading the damn thing." --Armistead Maupin

"Exuberant, honest, and unforgettable. Wilsey shows that great privilege doesn't guarantee bliss, but also doesn't preclude it. I'm glad he survived this odd/epic youth and emerged from it such a sane, generous, and funny narrator. My only regret is that he's not older than he is, since there would be more to read." --George Saunders

"[A] startlingly honest tale.... the writing is vivid, detailed, deep, and filled with fresh metaphors." --Publishers Weekly

"Honest to a fault, richly veined with indelible images: a monumental piece of work." --Kirkus Reviews

Book Description:

A poor little rich boy memoir, this is The Royal Tenenbaums, meets A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius meets Tales of the City

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0670916013
• ISBN 13: 9780670916016
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 496