The Great Pretender

by James Atlas

As he makes his way through the 1960s from his suburban Chicago high school to Harvard and on to graduate studies at Oxford, Ben Janis continues to lust after girls and the literary life. (Nancy Pearl)

Genres: Fiction, Novels

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

James Robert Atlas was a writer, especially of biographies, as well as a publisher. He was the president of Atlas & Company, and founding editor of the Penguin Lives Series.
He was born in 1949 outside Chicago, and attended Harvard University, studying under Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop with the intention to become a poet. He later attended Oxford University and studied under Richard Ellmann as a prestigious Rhodes Scholar. Here, he decided that he wanted to become a biographer.

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

**** BOOK REVIEW ****

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

I've had this book on my shelves for the longest time. I figured I'd give this coming-of-age story, set in the late 60s, a try.

Here's the synopsis from the back of the book:

Ben Janis, innocent and erudite, has two fiercely opposed dreams. One is to become a famous writer, and the other is to obey Henry James’s dictum "Live all you can." While he ponders the profundities of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, adolescent temptresses in cut-off jeans lure him into sin. Despite the distractions, Ben sticks to his literary pretensions, attending Harvard, embarking on a fellowship to Oxford, and fumbling through a hilarious series of erotic and literary misadventures until he finally answers the question "What makes Sammy type?"

My thoughts:

This book was written in a style similar to author Philip Roth's book Portnoy's Complaint (look that one up, kiddos!). Unfortunately, it missed its mark on living up to it. It also triggered me a little bit when the C-word was used in a derogatory manner. On the other hand, i applaud Ben's tenacity on his studies for as long as he did. This one will be going in the Little Free Library near me.

To sum up: it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad, either.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book about a horny Jewish college student in the late 60's who has usually 2 things on his mind: poetry and girls. It reminded me of early Roth with a little Saul Bellow mixed in.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended by a friend. Let's just say that friend is no longer batting .1000. Not bad, just not all that good, either. I just realized I"m the first person to review this. Let me just say: It's better than about 2/3 of the crap that gets published in 2007.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

First novel and a very funny coming-of-age story of a boy with literary pretensions.