Orphans and other children,

by Charles Webb

This rare and vintage book is a perfect addition to any bibliophile's collection

251 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Charles Webb (born in San Francisco, California) was the author of several novels, mainly known for his most famous work, The Graduate. The novel was eventually made into an enormously successful film.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished reading Charles Webb's book ORPHANS AND OTHER CHILDREN, published in 1973. This is my first go at reading Webb, who is most famous for his debut novel, THE GRADUATE, which was made into a very famous film in 1967. This book is actually a collection of three novellas. "Gwen", "The Last Usher" and "Mediterranean Estates" Because this is Webb, who wrote THE GRADUATE, it came as no surprise that these novellas were a bit out there to read. The best one was "Gwen" about an underaged girl who meets this older couple one day while walking her dog and they invite her in and tell her that they're nudists and invite her to a nudist colony the following weekend. Gwen is staying with her neglectful aunt while her parents go through a divorce. She accepts their invitation to the colony. I won't divulge any more of the plot, but it was really wrong, but interesting at the same time and I couldn't stop reading it. The ending was shocking, too. The next novella, "The Last Usher," was the weakest of the three. It was about a poor guy who owns a laundromat and a young guy who is about to get married, who the poor guy doesn't know, asks him to be an usher at his wedding, then invites him to meet his fiancee who then, after meeting the poor laundromat owner, says she's leaving her fiance and moving in with the guy in the backroom at the laundromat. It was a strange story that had a unique setup but didn't deliver towards the end. The last novella "Mediterranean Estates," was also a good story, about an old man in a retirement community who is sexually assaulted by an old lady, Lottie, in the unit down from his. When the old man goes to the switch villas, to get away from the woman, the man doesn't believe him. That's when he meets a newcomer to the community, Vera, but soon Lottie starts in on the old man while he's trying to pursue Vera. It all ends with an accident and a satisfying ending. All three novellas were interesting. I think the one downfall of Webb's writing, for me, with these stories, is that although they were cinematic, they were all told in the first person, but never went into the inner thoughts. It was all what people said and what they did, never an inner dialogue and I thought that was odd since they were told in the first-person narration. But other than that they were fun reads and I'll definitely be reading more of Webb. He just tells the story, and I appreciate that. I really felt like I was watching a film happen in front of me while reading. The title, I assume, comes from the three phases of life each novella takes on. The first is a girl's story who's missing both parents in her life, the second is a middle-aged man's story who is single, and the third is an old man's story who is a widower. Quirky stories and fast-paced. Definitely worth the read. But I have weird tastes in books.

[Cody Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first story is really, really great. The second two are okay.