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The man in the grey flannel suit, II
  
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The man in the grey flannel suit, II (Paperback)

by Sloan Wilson (Author) "BY THE TIME they had lived seven years in the little house on Greentree Avenue in Westport, Connecticut, they both detested it ..." (more)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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From Publishers Weekly

Though it's cited in nearly every book and article about the culture of the 1950s, few readers under 65 know Sloan Wilson's The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit firsthand. The 1955 bestseller is being reissued with a new introduction by Jonathan Franzen-and, indeed, the story of disappointed Westport, Conn., strivers Tom and Betsy Rath anticipates the novels of suburban anomie by Franzen and his contemporaries. Dreaming of a bigger house for his wife and three kids, WWII veteran Tom leaves his job with an arts foundation to be a well-paid public relations executive at the United Broadcasting Corporation. But corporate ladder climbing and consumer rewards leave him miserable. Though his sentimental conclusion now seems dated, Wilson's portrait of the martini-soaked malcontents is sharp, memorable and still resonant today.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


From the Inside Flap

"One of the most influential American novels of the 1950s." --David Halberstam

"A consequential novel . . . by a mature writer who knows unwaveringly what he is about." --Saturday Review

"A thoughtful, searching novel." --New York Herald Tribune

"Masterful." --Detroit News

"Excellent . . . sure, bright, and alive." --Chicago Tribune

"Delightful . . . beautifully plotted." --Boston Herald

"[An] excellent novel." --Kansas City Star

"Exact in its account of the pressures, problems and tribal customs of the men in gray flannel suits. . . . Wilson is an observer, a sympathetic one. . . . He has written an entertaining social comedy." --New York Times

"Wilson has something to say." --Time

"Interesting and enjoyable . . . [Wilson] has important things to say about security, expediency, responsibility, and integrity." --Pittsburgh Press

"Memorable . . . Wilson shows a rare insight into human nature." --Charlotte Observer

"Wilson is an expert. . . . His dialogue could have been piped from any of thousands of offices or living rooms. . . . He has done more than take a trip to Brooks Brothers to find out what makes a gray flannel suit. He knows much of what makes the men who wear them." --Christian Science Monitor

"In his calm way, Wilson brings to the mind’s eye a man we all know, and most of us rather like." --San Francisco Chronicle

"A perceptive story of . . . the generation who came of age in World War II." --Miami Herald

"Brilliant . . . Wilson has captured the feeling of outright war and the ensuing 'peace' with admirable perception and veracity." --Vancouver Sun --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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BY THE TIME they had lived seven years in the little house on Greentree Avenue in Westport, Connecticut, they both detested it. Read the first page
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4.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant find, Jun 18 2004
By Thomas Stamper (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Man In The Gray Flannel Suit (Paperback)
With so much being written about the "Greatest Generation" the story generally ends sometime around V-J day. Sloan Wilson's insightful novel gives readers an opportunity to see how a World War II veteran might handle the rat race in 1950s New York City.

Tom and Betsey Rath are married with three kids trying to keep up with the Joneses in their Connecticut suburb while Tom climbs the corporate ladder in Manhatten. The day to day conflicts are pretty interesting, but about halfway through the novel, Tom sees someone that brings his war past into the present.

The title of the book has come to mean the bland working man of the 1950s, but our hero Tom Rath is not bland. He has enough inner conflicts to field an Olympic team. Tom isn't some sycophant trying to get ahead, but a guy who killed and watched his friends get killed in the war. I wasn't expecting the depth of character.

The novel is written in clear direct language that makes it easy to follow the story and the real complexities of life. Stylistically, the omnipotent narrator is usually in the head of our hero Tom, but he occasionally jumps around to other minds for variation. Just as you've made up your mind about a simple character the narrator jumps into their skin and they too become a flesh and blood person.

The modern day criticism is that the novel has a happy ending, especially since happy endings are frowned upon in post-modern literature. But the important part of the book is not the resolution but the journey and Wilson gets the journey just right. I'm glad I gave the book a chance.

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4.0 out of 5 stars The man in the gray flannel suit, Oct 14 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Man In The Gray Flannel Suit (Paperback)
Being young as I am it's difficult to imagine a time prior to one I currently live. The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit gives vivid portrayal of a time sterotyped so much it's true image is blurred beyond actual recognition. Wilson overcomes this splendidly and shows sides of the fifties that is often forgot. This is due to his actual experience of the subject, and not to mention he wrote it then and not decades after. I really enjoyed the character Ralph Hopkins, Tom's boss. He was so hardworking and misunderstood. The technique of showing the story from several points of view (the worker, the housewife, the boss, ect...) adds a lot more depth, it gives you several angles of the time without seeming like too much info. This book has become one of my favorites, mainly due to it's perfect mirror image of our time (if some more modern updates were made), it really is a reminder of how history repeats itself. It also contains a subject that I'm quite fond of, psychology. Every character has his or her own special reasons for doing what they do, it really is interesting...
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