By Nightfall
A Novel
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Peter and Rebecca Harris: mid-forties denizens of Manhattan's SoHo, nearing the apogee of committed careers in the arts—he a dealer, she an editor. With a spacious loft, a college-age daughter in Boston, and lively friends, they are admirable, enviable contemporary urbanites with every reason, it seems, to be happy. Then Rebecca's much younger look-alike brother, Ethan (known in thefamily as Mizzy, "the mistake"), shows up for a visit. A beautiful, beguiling twenty-three-year-old with a history of drug problems, Mizzy is wayward, at loose ends, looking for direction. And in his presence, Peter finds himself questioning his artists, their work, his career—the entire world he has so carefully constructed.
Like his legendary, Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, The Hours, Michael Cunningham's masterly new novel is a heartbreaking look at the way we live now. Full of shocks and aftershocks, it makes us think and feel deeply about the uses and meaning of beauty and the place of love in our lives.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Contemplating an affair that never was, SoHo art dealer Peter Harris laments that he "could see it all too clearly." The same holds true for Cunningham's emotionally static and drearily conventional latest (after Specimen Days). Peter and his wife, Rebecca who edits a mid-level art magazine have settled into a comfortable life in Manhattan's art world, but their staid existence is disrupted by the arrival of Rebecca's much younger brother, Ethan known as Mizzy, short for "The Mistake." Family golden child Mizzy is a recovering drug addict whose current whim has landed him in New York where he wants to pursue a career in "the arts." Watching Mizzy whose resemblance to a younger Rebecca unnerves Peter coast through life without responsibilities makes Peter question his own choices and wonder if it's more than Mizzy's freedom that he covets. Cunningham's sentences are, individually, something to behold, but they're unfortunately pressed into the service of a dud story about a well-off New Yorker's existential crisis.
Customer Reviews
An amazing journey of denial and self-discovery
If I hadn't grown up outside of New York, lived there for eight years, then moved back, I don't think I would have appreciated all the things the author was trying to accomplish. Setting the scene with descriptions of city life, of the clothes being worn, the restaurants attended, the parties, may all seem superficial and snobby, but when I lived there, it was so easy to fall into that. I rarely got to hobnob with the higher echelons, but it's utterly believable to hear everything in the voice it was presented in. Especially when Peter, as well off as he is, has the job he has in the art world. He even describes himself as a servant, and how he was keep track of all those things to have his pulse remain on the heart of the city, to find the best and hottest for his gallery, and his clients. He must keep up appearances. It is in this minutiae, of the city, of the city life, the fashion, the food, and especially the art (get that Wikipedia open) that Michael Cunningham brings us into the story.
With every book of his I've read, I am never disappointed in finding sentences, clauses even, that go so deep to the heart of things. He can write like poetry, and never feel pretentious (unless of course, his characters are pretentious, like in this book) But, even then, things still leap off the page at you. The character of Peter is great in this, he loves art, he seeks out art to sell, so he is always searching, reveling, discovering, and loving beauty. But, as we soon find out, when his struggling brother-in-law, comes to stay with him and his wife, or when reaching out to his daughter, living in Boston, we also find out how his artistic temperament leads to mercurial shifts in the dynamics of his relationships with his family members. Also, Michael Cunningham delves into and discovers the events in Peter's past that correlate with his feelings and actions in the present. This type of insight can only be reached in our own lives, if we give our most treasured memories the same care, devotion, and meditation, as Michael Cunningham does in the construction of his main character.
In summary, the ultimate plot of the book might seem conventional, but I gasped aloud at some points, like I was reading a thriller or something. So many things are such a shock, and yet seemed so logical. The way emotions and standpoints shifted or edged one way or the other, but never seemed to be conclusive or settle, reminded me of the book THE ELUSIVE EMBRACE, and how that book describes a subculture of New York, and how the people in it never will and never have to, grow up. They can always reinvent themselves, and sometimes they have to, to stay afloat in the Big Apple.
The only struggle others might find with this book is the pretentiousness of some of its characters. I've known these people, I've sometimes been these people, but that is no reason not to read it. Some readers can't get past what they are reading, no matter how well it's written, due to subject matter, and that's fine. If you are one of those people, then don't read this. But, I found it utterly moving, so specific sometimes, that I found feelings and thoughts of my own articulated in such detailed ways, that it gave me clarity. Truly, an amazing read.
By Nightfall
His novels never end happily, but it never stops me from reading them. I have read no truer depictions of the strengths and frailties of the human condition. ....So who cares if for the rest of the day, once the book is finished, I may want to run the bath water and slit my wrists. Tomorrow I will be better from having read a Cunningham novel.
This is literature
With his gift for words, for painting a story of many layers, The author has given us, the readers, a treasure of true beauty.