Oh What a Paradise It Seems: Amazon.ca: John Cheever: Books

Product Description

Ingram

"A luminous epiphany of life . . . engaging and complex . . . vivid and alive."--Washington Post Book World. An old man falls madly in love and does valiant battle against polluters in this ineffably joyful novel--Cheever's last. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

Customer Reviews

3 Reviews

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars An old man's quest, April 28 2002

By	Michael J. Mazza (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Oh What a Paradise It Seems (Paperback)

"Oh What a Paradise It Seems," by John Cheever, is a short novel (100 pages in the paperback edition) about an elderly man named Lemuel Sears. He sets out to save Beasley's Pond, in the town of Janice, from destruction by polluters. The story follows both his quest and his active love life, weaving his life together with those of a number of other people: an environmental crusader, an amorous doorman, and more.

The book has a pretty straightforward story, but throughout there is a slightly weird feeling; some parts of the book have a quality that reminds me of a David Lynch film. The book takes a brief and oddly unsatisfying detour into the subject of bisexuality. Overall the book is OK--it held my attention, but didn't do much more than that, although Cheever's prose style is often quite lovely. Give it a try.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

5.0 out of 5 stars oh what a good start to reading john cheever, Sep 15 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Oh What a Paradise It Seems (Paperback)

This book is only a 100 pages and their is so much in a few words. "She was as women go relatively punctual and He had come to believe that punctuality in engagements was an infallible gauge of sexual spontaneity. He had observed that,without exception, women who were tardy for dinner engagements were unconsciously delayed in their erotic transports and that women who were early for lunch or dinner would sometimes climax in the taxi on the way home." IF you like that passage you will enjoy this book. Read more John Cheever.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

5.0 out of 5 stars A finely crafted novel by an American master., Sep 2 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Oh What a Paradise It Seems (Paperback)

Oh, What A Paradise It Seems is John Cheever's last novel, published just before his death in June 1982. It differs from his previous works, which mainly focused on suburban commuters, as it tells the story of an older man, but it still retains Cheever's wit and surrealness. The astonishing thing about this book is how deep the story goes, and yet it is only 100 pages long. It would take other authors 400 pages to write this story. It is, as the first sentence says, "A story to be read in bed in an old house on a rainy night."

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 3 customer reviews...

Look for similar items by category

Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( C ) > Cheever, John
Books > Literature & Fiction > United States

Look for similar items by subject

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Oh What a Paradise It Seems (Hardcover)

Product Details

Product Description

Ingram

Tag this product

Customer Reviews

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject

Feedback

Your Recent History