- Hardcover: 148 pages
- Publisher: Random House; First THUS edition
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0000607681
- ISBN-13: 978-0000607683
- ASIN: B0007DKCF8
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
When not tending New York holdings, Guy Grand was generally, as he expressed it, "on the go." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
When not tending New York holdings, Guy Grand was generally, as he expressed it, "on the go." Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Cutesy and obvious
Feb 23 2003
Format:Paperback
I just don't get the sixties guys sometimes. Maybe forty years ago pointing out the flaws in the American experience was novel, although coming twenty years after Henry Miller and others, it was probably not that shocking to anyone that payed attention to the various literature. This is a smug book, with its smugness somewhat masked by Southern's cutesy tones and farcical situations that he sets up. Maybe it was groundbreaking then, but it comes off as a bit dated and ineffectual now.
One of the funniest books I have ever read.
July 20 2006
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I was introduced to Terry Southern by the late Pepper Adams, one of the jazz world's greatest baritone saxophone players. I began reading the book in a Tavern in Montreal where I drank and dined prior to picking up a date to go hear the Woody Herman band. At that point I was stifling my laughter. My date was 1) Not ready when I arrived 2) playing a recording of the "Seven Last Words of Christ" and 3) didn't believe that the printed word could by funny. By this point holding back laughter was impossible and the more I laughed the angrier she got. Actually the scene was almost as funny as the book. I've lost this one, "Flash and Filigree" and "Blue Movie" over the years and I guess it's time to order from Amazon and reacquaint myself with this very funny author - the other night I watched "Dr. Strangelove" - I had forgotten that Terry had contributed to that one as well as "Barbarella".
lendobbin@sympatico.ca
lendobbin@sympatico.ca
Word up!
Jan 10 2003
Format:Paperback
A decade after the demise of the award winning show "The Word", it's about time that someone reappraised the career of it's anchorman, Terry Christian. Southern bravely steps into this contentious breach, and thankfully for all fans of the show, the book is a triumph.
Christian is well described - his rise from Mancunian gobmeister in the dole queue to Mancunian gobmeister on TV is presented in excellent detail, and the reader really feels they are gaining insight into his character.
Perhaps the only downside to the book is the chapter in which is takes time out from talking about Christian to profile some of the other presents. Obviously, one can never have too many photo's of Amanda de Cadenet, but Hufty's inclusion is definitely a step too far...Thankfully, the nadir of the show, "Bruiser" de Cadenet doesn't get a look in on the technicality he was a stand in and never a full time presenter.
All in all, a fascinating read, and an excellent retrospective of one of TV's most enduring stars.
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Most recent customer reviews
This book isn't the usual 6-and-7--it's a 7 or 11all the way
Roughly ten years before the movie was made, came the book by Terry Southern, a look at the world of Guy Grand, that eccentric billionaire who concocts outrageous schemes in order... Read more
Published on Jan 4 2002 by Daniel J. Hamlow
Magic Christian lacks any real magic
While Guy Grand's pranks are amusing, the book lacks any real satirical center or dramatic structure, which would give it some meaning (and some real bite). Read more
Published on April 2 2001 by john salonia
Classic American Satire
What would you do if you had the resources to buy anyone or anything you wished? Guy Grand acts immediately and directly on this premise, and the results are, on the surface... Read more
Published on Feb 28 2001 by Sir Charles Panther
Sporadically funny
Getting this book on a lark my motivations had been these: 1) seeing that southern wrote it and knowing his reputation intrigued me; 2) being a conniseur of religious literature,... Read more
Published on July 26 2000 by Larry Darrell
Amusing but dated effort to 'epater les bourgeois'
This book was a slight disappointment after the movie, but I'd still say it's often funny, though a little bit dated. Read more
Published on Oct 14 1999 by rampageous_cuss
An American classic
The Magic Christian is an American classic - a model of elegant yet taut storytelling on par with The Great Gatsby and The Sheltering Sky (and as boldly original and enduring as... Read more
Published on Jun 9 1999
Gut-smashingly funny!
"Every man has a price," says Terry Southern's gonzo big-spender protagonist Guy Grand, and he proceeds to prove this theory with a series of increasingly-hilarious and... Read more
Published on Mar 15 1999
Don't believe the hype
The real victims of this book are not the (mostly) innocent dupes of Guy Grand's schemes, but the poor readers who wade doggedly through this miasma of humorless pranks in hopes of... Read more
Published on Jun 29 1998
A Visual Delight!
Terry Southern was, among other things, a writer of humorous screen plays (e.g., Dr. Strangelove, The Loved One). Read more
Published on Jun 20 1998
This is the worst book I have ever read!
I cannot begin to relate how much I hated this book. The main character was needlessly cruel to people who do not deserve such treatment. Read more
Published on Jun 8 1998
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