false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg 7594 8 "This author was determined," says the apparently autobiographical narrator of <I>Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man</I>. "He often appropriated as his own personal infirmity the concluding words of the unnameable voice in Samuel Beckett's <I>The Unnameable</I>, 'I must go on. I can't go on. I'll go on.'" And on his last day on Earth, Joseph Heller was still polishing this, his last and strangest novel. It is essentially an essay about a writer who's exactly like him--old and stuck for an idea for his next book. Seeking inspiration, he chats with his wife, his editors, and his friends, and floats one high-concept scheme after another.<p> How about a novel about the gangsters who ran Coney Island, the enchanted land of his childhood? Nah, too much plot to concoct. Perhaps he could update a classic: Tom Sawyer as a Harvard MBA, or Kafka's <I>The Metamorphosis</I> transposed to Manhattan. When these don't pan out, Heller takes a stab at mythology, done in the manner of his old pal Mel Brooks. Here Zeus's wife complains about his flagging ardor: <blockquote> I try to put myself in Leda's place. It could be kind of thrilling, I guess, being overpowered by a huge male swan, especially after realizing it was Zeus.... I'd like to see him take the trouble to surprise me like that, even once. But that doesn't happen. He won't waste tricks like that on me. He never does, he knows he doesn't have to. When he comes to me it's never with anything new, it's always just the same, always just the same old god. </blockquote> Increasingly desperate, the author tries out titles on his friends, and <i>A Sexual Biography of My Wife</i> stirs some interest. Still, his tentative fictions don't grab you the way the novel's sad, searing reminiscences do. When Heller--I mean, the narrator--has a tearful reunion with his adulterous old flame (who's now stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease), or asks another female acquaintance whether she regrets turning down his long-ago offer of romance, we get a privileged glimpse into the private mind of a very public author. "I want to cap my career with a masterpiece of some kind," the narrator tells his editor. This poignantly discursive book is not a masterpiece, but Joseph Heller did go on trying to the end. <I>--Tim Appelo</I> 68652 2000 Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man total:278|5:26|4:74|3:110|2:51|1:17| 278 875 408 20 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 5 1 false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 24 18:31:04 -0700 2007 Fri Nov 02 08:27:27 -0700 2007 Catch 22, is incorrect. Portrait is an excellent book with as chaotic a narrative as one might hope for from Heller. The story of an old author who desperately wants to write a bo...more...]]> 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 4 1 false Mon May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2000 Wed Jul 04 11:34:27 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 04 11:38:42 -0700 2007 Portrait is the story of Helle...more...]]> 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 4 1 false Tue Nov 11 02:11:49 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 11 02:13:57 -0800 2008 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 2 0 true Mon Dec 29 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Oct 12 23:39:34 -0700 2008 Tue Jan 13 01:04:32 -0800 2009
The book is organized as a series of starts for st...more...]]> 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 3 0 false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 26 11:23:44 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 26 11:23:44 -0700 2007 more...]]> 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 5 0 false Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2002 Mon Mar 02 11:05:01 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 06 15:56:14 -0800 2009 more...]]> 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 5 0 false Mon Aug 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 03:45:02 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 03:46:33 -0700 2009 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 2 0 false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 23 15:22:43 -0700 2009 Sun May 24 21:29:26 -0700 2009 1 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 1 0 false Mon May 19 15:39:51 -0700 2008 Mon May 19 15:57:48 -0700 2008 more...]]> 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 2 0 false Mon Feb 11 22:44:09 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 11 22:49:51 -0800 2008 more...]]> 1080920 0743202007 9780743202008 11 2 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180825049m/1080920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1080920.Portrait_of_an_Artist_As_an_Old_Man 0 0 false Mon Sep 14 12:20:34 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 14 12:20:34 -0700 2009 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 4 0 false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Wed Oct 31 12:31:05 -0700 2007 Thu Nov 01 11:02:46 -0700 2007 more...]]> 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 3 0 false Sun May 06 13:16:00 -0700 2007 Mon May 07 15:33:38 -0700 2007 more...]]> 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 4 0 false Tue Jan 01 20:30:16 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 02 13:16:39 -0800 2008 more...]]> 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 4 0 false Fri Jan 05 17:14:28 -0800 2007 Fri Jan 05 17:16:49 -0800 2007 more...]]> 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 2 0 false Sat Feb 02 13:19:38 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 02 13:20:49 -0800 2008 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 0 0 false Thu Feb 14 17:28:25 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 14 17:29:23 -0800 2008 1080920 0743202007 9780743202008 11 2 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180825049m/1080920.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1080920.Portrait_of_an_Artist_As_an_Old_Man 1 0 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Mon Jun 23 07:12:14 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 23 07:13:03 -0700 2008 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 3 0 false Sat Sep 27 18:00:25 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 27 18:00:43 -0700 2008 7594 074320848X 9780743208482 247 18 3.15 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165636913m/7594.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7594.Portrait_of_an_Artist_as_an_Old_Man 0 0 false Fri Sep 11 06:49:58 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 11 06:50:07 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=7594