- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Crown (Nov 12 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0609610147
- ISBN-13: 978-0609610145
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 15.1 x 2.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 435 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,127,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Not since Chief Bromden has there been a misfit narrator as large and compelling as 315-pound Anthony, the voice of this captivating debut novel by LaValle, author of the story collection Slapboxing with Jesus. At the book's outset, Anthony's family finds him "living wild" in his apartment, expelled from Cornell University and suffering bouts of dementia. They bring him home to his African-American Queens neighborhood, which, like Anthony himself, threatens to tip from middle-class propriety to a state of shabby but colorful disrepair. There's the local loan shark, Ishkabibble; white-collar neighbors concerned about their lawns; a pack of roving dogs with keen noses for human weakness. Most important, there's Anthony's family: grandmother, mother and sister, "three versions of the same woman-past, present and future," who are usually at war with one another. Anthony isn't the first mentally ill member of his family. His mother, unstable in her youth, becomes erratic again just as Anthony tries to parlay his vigor for housecleaning and his encyclopedic knowledge of low-budget horror movies into some sort of promising future. Throughout, Anthony reflects on his own condition and that of those around him in a smart, sad and honest voice. The narrative shimmers with his self-deprecating wit and unexpected images ("Her hair was a big loose spray of black semi-curls emanating from her skull like the sound waves of her rollicking conversation"). LaValle's first book left critics divided over whether it had the substance to match its mannered style. Similar questions may be raised this time around, but LaValle's sympathetic and original narrator is a remarkable creation.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Lavalle (Slapboxing with Jesus) creates a memorable hero in Anthony James, a 318-pound, 23-year-old, Cornell-educated schizophrenic. In order to keep a semblance of order in his unstable mind, he narrates his family's slow road to destruction. Stops along the way include a small-town beauty pageant in Virginia, a weight-loss clinic, and a McDonald's besieged by protesting college students. Throughout, Anthony remains sarcastic, intelligent, and conscious of his condition, though control of it increasingly eludes him. His experience is brought to life by Lavalle's acute sensory details and hyperbolic wordplay. The novel's events are well-conceived and pertinent to the story being told. One does wish, however, that Lavalle would have spent more time developing Anthony's 93-year-old grandmother, schizophrenic mother, and teenage sister Nabisase, whose histories and personality traits are not given quite enough room to breathe. There are also points in the narrative when explanation bails out similes that should be permitted to speak for themselves. Nevertheless, The Ecstatic is a thought-provoking debut and recommended for literary collections. Julia LoFaso, New York City
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very good novel.,
By
This review is from: The Ecstatic: A Novel (Hardcover)
I read this bood after hearing a short interview with Lavalle on NPR, so I may have had more information about the characters (and Lavalle's own life) than is actually in the book, but I really liked it. The book is first person from the perspective of Anthony, not just his thoughts and observations, but his deepest thoughts, the ones that we don't usually share. In Anthony's case, he often shares those thoughts not only with the reader, but also with other characters due to his speaking his mind unintentionaly and due to Lavalle's wonderful writting talents, which make this fit without giving the reader pryor notice as to the fact that Anthony is speaking and not just thinking.
5.0 out of 5 stars
but some fat people are clearly stupid.,
By Stones (Out here) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Ecstatic: A Novel (Hardcover)
What exactly do people expect from literature? To be portrayed in a "positive" light. To be made to look good to the rest of the world? How terribly insecure. While there have probably been "nicer" fat main characters than Anthony from this novel, there have rarely been more complex ones. See, people sometimes treat novels like they're supposed to be cheerleaders. One of the points that was made in a bunch of articles about Victor LaValle is that he used to be over three hundred pounds. So if he doesn't know what it's like to be a fatso, who does? Just because he makes it seem funny sometimes doesn't mean that he's being insulting. While I've never met Oprah (what on earth does that have to do with anything?) I can say that I've read a great novel about a complicated, wise and powerfully developed character. I notice that this person below, who was so offended by the portrayal of fat people, didn't really pipe up about the portrayal of the mentally ill. Perhaps he or she hasn't ever struggled with that problem and therefore feels free to laugh at them, but heaven forbid we laugh at her. (And I'll out myself, I'm a former student of Victor's--class of 99!-and want to defend a great book from simple minds.) Congratulations Professor LaValle
1.0 out of 5 stars
What?!!!!,
By Boop "caramelchocolate" (Aiken, South Carolina United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Ecstatic: A Novel (Hardcover)
This book pissed me off!!!!I didn't get that the character was suffering from a mental disorder I just thought he was plain...straight up stupid. The book truly made no sense to me. The only reason I finished the book because the back drop was my home Jamaica, Queens and I love to read books that take place around my way. Please do not waste your time with this book. I can't even explain it it was so....uuuggghhhh!!!
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