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Boys and Girls Together: A Novel
Written with Saroyan's trademark clarity and compassion, Boys and Girls Together is a richly comedic portrayal of a couple caught in the toils of marriage with children. A masterful novel of human folly, it focuses on the eagerness of men and women to be something other than themselves. Saroyan is a startlingly honest writer with an uncluttered style and a uniquely distanced vision of American life. His work gave rise to a new word, "Saroyanesque," and influenced Jack Kerouac and Sean Penn, among others.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
About the author
William Saroyan
361 books666 followersWilliam Saroyan was an Armenian-American writer, renowned for his novels, plays, and short stories. He gained widespread recognition for his unique literary style, often characterized by a deep appreciation for everyday life and human resilience. His works frequently explored themes of Armenian-American immigrant experiences, particularly in his native California, and were infused with optimism, humor, and sentimentality.
Saroyan's breakthrough came with The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (1934), a short story that established him as a major literary voice during the Great Depression. He went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940 for The Time of Your Life, though he declined the award, and in 1943, he won an Academy Award for Best Story for The Human Comedy. His novel My Name Is Aram (1940), based on his childhood, became an international bestseller.
Though celebrated for his literary achievements, Saroyan had a tumultuous career, often struggling with financial instability due to his gambling habits and an unwillingness to compromise with Hollywood. His later works were less commercially successful, but he remained a prolific writer, publishing essays, memoirs, and plays throughout his life.
Saroyan's legacy endures through his influence on American literature, his contributions to Armenian cultural identity, and the honors bestowed upon him, including a posthumous induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame. His remains are divided between Fresno, California, and Armenia, reflecting his deep connection to both his birthplace and ancestral homeland.
Saroyan's breakthrough came with The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (1934), a short story that established him as a major literary voice during the Great Depression. He went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940 for The Time of Your Life, though he declined the award, and in 1943, he won an Academy Award for Best Story for The Human Comedy. His novel My Name Is Aram (1940), based on his childhood, became an international bestseller.
Though celebrated for his literary achievements, Saroyan had a tumultuous career, often struggling with financial instability due to his gambling habits and an unwillingness to compromise with Hollywood. His later works were less commercially successful, but he remained a prolific writer, publishing essays, memoirs, and plays throughout his life.
Saroyan's legacy endures through his influence on American literature, his contributions to Armenian cultural identity, and the honors bestowed upon him, including a posthumous induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame. His remains are divided between Fresno, California, and Armenia, reflecting his deep connection to both his birthplace and ancestral homeland.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 13, 2021
Dec 13, 11am ~~ Review asap.
Dec 13, 130pm ~~ I have read a couple of other Saroyan titles, but this was the first that did not involve a young man on the threshold of adulthood.
And this was what I would call an adult book overall, with mature themes, phrases, and a few disturbing scenes between 'the man' and his wife 'the woman'. (We don't learn their names until nearly the end of the story.)
I checked the Wiki article about Saroyan while I was reading this, because I was curious. The story seemed so intensely personal that I thought surely he must have based it on some phase of his own life. I saw from Wiki that Saroyan liked to gamble (so did 'the man') and according to claims in his ex-wife's memoir he was abusive in their relationship (as was 'the man').
'The man' was a writer who had been unable to create anything at all since becoming involved with the woman he married. Six years later they have two children, many debts, and neither of them are very happy with the way their lives have turned out. I don't know how close to Saroyan's real life that scenario really was (wiki says that in his many memoirs his approach to autobiographical fact contained a fair bit of poetic license.)
It was not easy to like 'the man', and since he was the narrator, the reader has to listen to his thoughts more than to 'the woman's'. But I didn't much care for him. His impatience with his wife was tinged with lurking violence and abrupt orders, and his gambling certainly got in the way of any real solutions to their problems. 'The woman' was indeed an insecure mess in many ways, but was she as incompetent as she seemed or was he merely trying to gain the reader's sympathy? This is the question that sent me to Wiki to learn more about his personal life. The book was written 10 years after Saroyan's second divorce from the mother of his two children, so I am going to say that this book was perhaps a reflection on what might have gone wrong. Heavily weighted against 'the woman', of course.
So I was not as thrilled with this book as I was with others of his, but I cannot deny the compelling intensity on the pages. I had to find out how (or if) this couple worked out their problems, even though the whole book felt like a train wreck about to happen and I wanted to close my eyes more than once.
Whether this book was a glimpse into Saroyan's own life or not, it is an intimate look behind the closed doors of a relationship that might to an outsider appear perfect, something which happens very often in life. 'The Perfect Couple' are always the ones who have the messiest divorces, aren't they.
Dec 13, 130pm ~~ I have read a couple of other Saroyan titles, but this was the first that did not involve a young man on the threshold of adulthood.
And this was what I would call an adult book overall, with mature themes, phrases, and a few disturbing scenes between 'the man' and his wife 'the woman'. (We don't learn their names until nearly the end of the story.)
I checked the Wiki article about Saroyan while I was reading this, because I was curious. The story seemed so intensely personal that I thought surely he must have based it on some phase of his own life. I saw from Wiki that Saroyan liked to gamble (so did 'the man') and according to claims in his ex-wife's memoir he was abusive in their relationship (as was 'the man').
'The man' was a writer who had been unable to create anything at all since becoming involved with the woman he married. Six years later they have two children, many debts, and neither of them are very happy with the way their lives have turned out. I don't know how close to Saroyan's real life that scenario really was (wiki says that in his many memoirs his approach to autobiographical fact contained a fair bit of poetic license.)
It was not easy to like 'the man', and since he was the narrator, the reader has to listen to his thoughts more than to 'the woman's'. But I didn't much care for him. His impatience with his wife was tinged with lurking violence and abrupt orders, and his gambling certainly got in the way of any real solutions to their problems. 'The woman' was indeed an insecure mess in many ways, but was she as incompetent as she seemed or was he merely trying to gain the reader's sympathy? This is the question that sent me to Wiki to learn more about his personal life. The book was written 10 years after Saroyan's second divorce from the mother of his two children, so I am going to say that this book was perhaps a reflection on what might have gone wrong. Heavily weighted against 'the woman', of course.
So I was not as thrilled with this book as I was with others of his, but I cannot deny the compelling intensity on the pages. I had to find out how (or if) this couple worked out their problems, even though the whole book felt like a train wreck about to happen and I wanted to close my eyes more than once.
Whether this book was a glimpse into Saroyan's own life or not, it is an intimate look behind the closed doors of a relationship that might to an outsider appear perfect, something which happens very often in life. 'The Perfect Couple' are always the ones who have the messiest divorces, aren't they.
November 29, 2016
Написано хорошо. Все время напрашивалась мысль, что это должно быть пьесой. Монологи, диалоги уж очень на сцену просятся.
Не сказать, чтоб шедевр. Но правдиво. Одним словом: о слабости человека. Об одиночестве. О вечном ребенке внутри, который хочет, чтоб его любили и позволяли делать то, что хочется. Чтобы кто-то важный и нужный был рядом, но в то же время не претендовал на нечто большее. О несбыточных обещаниях, которые мы сами себе даем. О планах, которым вряд ли суждено осуществиться. О смерти и о том - вот за эту мысль Сарояну благодарен - как человек во внезапный момент умирания может быть озабочен тем, как он выглядит, продолжать играть роль, еще не осознавая, что она окончена.
Не сказать, чтоб шедевр. Но правдиво. Одним словом: о слабости человека. Об одиночестве. О вечном ребенке внутри, который хочет, чтоб его любили и позволяли делать то, что хочется. Чтобы кто-то важный и нужный был рядом, но в то же время не претендовал на нечто большее. О несбыточных обещаниях, которые мы сами себе даем. О планах, которым вряд ли суждено осуществиться. О смерти и о том - вот за эту мысль Сарояну благодарен - как человек во внезапный момент умирания может быть озабочен тем, как он выглядит, продолжать играть роль, еще не осознавая, что она окончена.
September 1, 2020
Սարոյանի այս վիպակը առաջին անգամ էի կարդում: Վեպը ամուսնացած երիտասարդ զույգի մասին է, որի 39-ամյա գրող ամուսինը փորձում է նորից գրել, իսկ 23-ամյա կինը` հասկանալ իր կյանքը նոր քաղաքում և նոր տանը: Վեպի հրապարակումից անցել է ավելի քան 50 տարի, բայց մարդկային հարաբերություններում, ընտանեկան հարցերում, սիրո ու երեխաների դաստիարակության հարցերում ոչինչ չի փոխվել` ոչ պրոբլեմները, ոչ էլ դրանք լուծելու ուղիները: Սարոյանի վիպակը ինչ որ իմաստով ինքնակենսագրական է, և կան դրվագներ, որոնք վերցվել են դերասանուհի Քերըլ Մարկուսի հետ համատեղ կյանքից: Անկախ ամեն ինչից, սա վիպակ է, որ կարդում ես հաճույքով, թեթև, արագ, բայց հաստատ իմանալով, որ մի օր վերընթերցելու ես: Շատ կուզենայի, որ սա թարգմանվեր հայերեն, կամ գուցե կա, ես չգիտեմ: Ամեն դեպքում, հրաշալի վիպակ էր` սարոյանական ոճին ու տաղանդին հավատարիմ:
June 1, 2015
Take pravdive, cynicke, a vystihujuce zivot, ze Saroyan sa vysplhal u mna v rebriceku najsuperskejsich autorov na popredne miesto. Uplny protipol jeho, ani o stipku menej uzasneho, idealistickeho Tracyho tigra len dokazuje, aky je genialny, ze sa na skutocnst vie divat srdcom aj mozgom, zhora aj zdola, a vie vidiet pohar polopny aj poloprazdny, ze nic nie je len cierno-biele a ludia budu vzdy len ludia. S chybami. A tuzbami.
January 12, 2015
This is so good but it made me so sad.
March 8, 2010
I guess I have a knack for finding books that sound like they're filled with kiddie porn, but so far this has nothing to do with that and is quite enjoyable. I think I heard about Saroyan from reading Kerouac.
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[The barber:] was pretty well gone now, but he was trying not to be, and his talk was slowing down and getting serious and a little self-conscious. He seemed in fact to be a little unhappy in a kind of vague way, the way it is when the top of the alcohol happiness has been reached and a man knows he's sinking fast, sinking into the lonely sleep of a small boy who expects a lot some day and is pretty sure he expects too much.
You live love, you don't talk it, you live it every minute, work at it, you never let it get away, you live it because there's no other decent way to live. The saying of the words embarrassed him, for they stank, they lied, they had always lied, they oversimplified, they made a gag out of the only decent way to stay alive, loving, no matter what, loving in spite of the lies, in spite of the truth, in spite of the ugliness, in spite of the hatred, in spite of the madness, the damned unbalance, the incalculable difference, the alienations, the irresponsibilities, the malicious mischief, the arrogance, the scheming, the pretending, the deceiving.
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[The barber:] was pretty well gone now, but he was trying not to be, and his talk was slowing down and getting serious and a little self-conscious. He seemed in fact to be a little unhappy in a kind of vague way, the way it is when the top of the alcohol happiness has been reached and a man knows he's sinking fast, sinking into the lonely sleep of a small boy who expects a lot some day and is pretty sure he expects too much.
You live love, you don't talk it, you live it every minute, work at it, you never let it get away, you live it because there's no other decent way to live. The saying of the words embarrassed him, for they stank, they lied, they had always lied, they oversimplified, they made a gag out of the only decent way to stay alive, loving, no matter what, loving in spite of the lies, in spite of the truth, in spite of the ugliness, in spite of the hatred, in spite of the madness, the damned unbalance, the incalculable difference, the alienations, the irresponsibilities, the malicious mischief, the arrogance, the scheming, the pretending, the deceiving.
September 20, 2016
Какая депрессия и безнадега
Read
July 29, 2021Read it in one day, which Orono told me I would do if I started. We had read a few pages together in her bunk on a tour bus in Indio, California for Coachella. I liked it then, and I like it now. I didn't like it as much as I liked The World According To Garp, but the bickering and fights between the man and the woman were so relatable. This is what it feels like to love someone and hate them at the same time, which is many relationships.
Many parts in this book scared me, and many made me laugh. I should live my life and do something somehow. This book didn't give me any answers, but it helped.
Many parts in this book scared me, and many made me laugh. I should live my life and do something somehow. This book didn't give me any answers, but it helped.
December 3, 2018
ты пойми, что, когда спрашиваешь кого-то, любит он тебя или нет, тем самым ты делаешь его любовь к тебе невозможной. сам твой дурацкий вопрос это делает. но это вовсе не значит, что кто-то не может кого-то иногда действительно любить. может, и очень даже по-настоящему, но утверждать это, отвечая на заданный вот так вот вдруг вопрос, он не может. потому что при таком раскладе любой его ответ будет представлять собой либо ложь, либо бессмыслицу.
November 15, 2020
Ей-богу, не знаю, зачем продолжаю попытки читать Сарояна. Как будто чей-то дедушка тебя пытается насмешить несмешными шутками, а тебе и слушать надоело, и неловко попросить, чтоб перестал.
Читается как не очень хорошая пьеса - когда видишь, что диалоги очень хотят быть острыми и остроумными, но получается только много/пустословие и бесцельность.
Читается как не очень хорошая пьеса - когда видишь, что диалоги очень хотят быть острыми и остроумными, но получается только много/пустословие и бесцельность.
November 21, 2020
Personal opinion: Strong in atmosphere, enjoyable. I was not very convinced at the beginning, but at some point I realized pieces of human relationship poetry and dynamics are magically encapsulated there. Reading it I thought of In Watermelon sugar by Richard Brautigan and The hitchhiking game by Milan Kundera. Bringing me the same catharsis and making me sad in the same way.
October 12, 2019
I loved the writing of this. Saroyan has the perfect touch with the STRIVING of postmodernist Americans. I probably should have rated it better, but ultimately, I hated the characters. Anyone who began making his/her living in the 1960s has no right to whine about millennials. They're pikers as complainers compared to these folks, who care about nothing but the superficial.
December 16, 2020
Personally, this book feels slower than slow. There is nothing i could say that would count as a spoiler because nothing happens in this book.
July 16, 2021
Saroyan!
March 3, 2025
nothing happened in this book and the nothingness really had nothing to do with my own, but i found it compelling and tragic and beautiful nonetheless. i love books where nothing happens
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews