Author | Richard Ford |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Novel |
Publisher | Atlantic Monthly Press |
Publication date | January 01, 1990 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
Pages | 177 p. |
ISBN | 9780871133489 |
OCLC | 490863611 |
Preceded by | Rock Springs |
Followed by | Independence Day |
Wildlife is the fourth novel by American author Richard Ford. It was first published in 1990.
The story is set in Great Falls, Montana in 1960. It is narrated by 16-year-old Joe Brinson, as he observes his parents' marriage dissolve right in front of eyes, and as his mother begins an affair.
Since the action and plot are set in Montana, it’s been called one of Ford’s “Montana books,” along with his story collection Rock Springs , and his novel Canada . [1]
Upon its release in 1990, the novel received mixed —though generally laudatory— reviews. Publishers Weekly was impressed with “Ford's remarkable ability to capture distinctive voices […] and again proves Ford to be a gifted chronicler of the down-and-out.” [2] Meanwhile, The New York Times reviewer —Christopher Lehmann-Haupt —expressed concerns that sometimes Ford’s style devolves into "sententious baby talk." [3]
Kirkus Reviews observed that as the narrator relates his hard won wisdom to the reader, it can sound like “K-Mart pearls […] the kind that country-and-western songs are strung with, and here especially they appear to be the only things Ford's high lonesome sound is after.” [4]
Joseph Coates, writing in the Chicago Tribune, found Wildlife to be “a beautifully modulated full-length novel” and believed that Ford “accomplishes the most thoroughly worked-out expression of human feeling I’ve read since James Agee`s A Death in the Family, which also was about a boy’s loss of parenthood…” [5]
The novel was adapted into a film of the same name in 2018, with Paul Dano making his directorial debut from a script he co-wrote with Zoe Kazan. [6]
Richard Ford is an American novelist and short story author, and writer of a series of novels featuring the character Frank Bascombe.
Cujo is a 1981 horror novel by American writer Stephen King about a rabid Saint Bernard. The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1982 and was made into a film in 1983. Cujo's name was based on the alias of Willie Wolfe, one of the men responsible for orchestrating Patty Hearst's kidnapping and indoctrination into the Symbionese Liberation Army. King discusses Cujo in On Writing, referring to it as a novel he "barely remembers writing at all." King wrote the book during the height of his struggle with alcohol addiction. King goes on to say he likes the book and wishes he could remember enjoying the good parts as he put them on the page.
Larry Jeff McMurtry was an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas. His novels included Horseman, Pass By (1962), The Last Picture Show (1966), and Terms of Endearment (1975), which were adapted into films. Films adapted from McMurtry's works earned 34 Oscar nominations. He was also a prominent book collector and bookseller.
The Certificate is a novel by Isaac Bashevis Singer, published in English in 1992. David Bendinger, a poor, young Yiddish writer wishes to emigrate to Palestine from Poland, and because married couples are given preference, he tries to arrange for a marriage certificate to be purchased for him by a wealthy woman whose fiancee lives in Palestine. The narrative deals with the abject poverty of David, as well as his Jewish heritage, and details the rise of both Communism and Zionism.
Harold Brodkey, born Aaron Roy Weintraub, was an American short-story writer and novelist.
The Alienist is a crime novel by Caleb Carr first published in 1994 and is the first book in the Kreizler series. It takes place in New York City in 1896, and includes appearances by many famous figures of New York society in that era, including Theodore Roosevelt and J. P. Morgan. The story follows Roosevelt, then New York City police commissioner, and Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, as their investigative team attempts to solve gruesome murders through new methods including fingerprinting and psychology. The first murder victim investigated is a 13-year-old immigrant who has had his eyes removed, his genitals removed and stuffed in his mouth, and other injuries. The investigators deal with various interest groups that wish to maintain the status quo regarding the poor immigrant population in New York City. The sequel to the novel is The Angel of Darkness.
Christopher Lehmann-Haupt was an American journalist, editor of the New York Times Book Review, critic, and novelist, based in New York City. He served as senior Daily Book Reviewer from 1969 to 1995.
Judith Rossner was an American novelist, best known for her acclaimed best sellers Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1975) and August (1983).
The Russia House is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré published in 1989. The title refers to the nickname given to the portion of the British Secret Intelligence Service that was devoted to spying on the Soviet Union. A film based on the novel was released in 1990 starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer, and directed by Fred Schepisi. The BBC produced a radio play starring Tom Baker.
Brothers is a thriller novel by William Goldman. It is the sequel to his 1974 novel Marathon Man and is Goldman's final novel.
Kathryn Harrison is an American author. She has published seven novels, two memoirs, two collections of personal essays, a travelogue, two biographies, and a book of true crime. She reviews regularly for The New York Times Book Review. Her personal essays have been included in many anthologies and have appeared in Bookforum, Harper's Magazine, More Magazine, The New Yorker, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Vogue, Salon, and Nerve.
Jurassic Park is a 1990 science fiction novel written by Michael Crichton; it is a cautionary tale about genetic engineering that presents the collapse of a zoological park which showcases genetically recreated dinosaurs to illustrate the mathematical concept of chaos theory and its real-world implications. A sequel titled The Lost World, also written by Crichton, was published in 1995. Two years later, both novels were republished as a single book titled Michael Crichton's Jurassic World.
Young Men and Fire is a 1992 non-fiction book written by Norman Maclean. It is Maclean's story of his quest to understand the Mann Gulch fire of 1949 and how it led to the deaths of 13 wildland firefighters, 12 of them members of the USFS Smokejumpers. The fire occurred in Mann Gulch in Montana's Gates of the Mountains Wilderness on August 5. The book was a national bestseller and won the 1992 National Book Critics Circle Award for general non-fiction.
Nevermore is a 1994 historical mystery novel by American author William Hjortsberg. In the novel, Harry Houdini joins forces with Arthur Conan Doyle to solve a series of murders, which eerily re-enact the stories of Edgar Allan Poe.
Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho is a 1990 non-fiction book by Stephen Rebello. It details the creation of director Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 thriller Psycho. The 2012 American biographical drama film based on this non-fiction book is titled Hitchcock. The film was released on November 23, 2012.
Keir Graff is an American novelist and literary editor.
Plus is Joseph McElroy's fifth novel. Set in some unspecified future, it tells the story of Imp Plus, a disembodied brain controlling IMP, the Interplanetary Monitoring Platform, in earth orbit. The novel consists of Imp Plus's thoughts as he tries to comprehend his limited existence, while struggling with language, limited memories, and communicating with Ground Control. The plot is driven by Imp Plus's recall of fragments of his past and of language, his improving comprehension of his present, all while his medical condition gradually deteriorates.
Tough Guys Don't Dance (1984) is a noir thriller and murder mystery novel by American writer Norman Mailer reminiscent of the works of Dashiell Hammett, Mickey Spillane, and Raymond Chandler. The novel was written in only two months in order to fulfill a contractual obligation. The book was adapted into a film, directed by Mailer, in 1987.
The Miracle Game is a Czech novel by Josef Škvorecký published in 1972 by Sixty Eight Publishers in Toronto, Canada. It was translated into English in 1990 by Paul Wilson, and according to The Times is Skvorecky's masterpiece. It was his response to Prague Spring events of 1968 Czechoslovakia. and contains unflattering references to real people, Future Czech President Václav Havel becomes "the world-famous playwright Hejl", the writer Vladimír Páral appears as the "gifted non-party novelist Nabal".
The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys is a 1987 book written by Doris Kearns Goodwin and published by Simon & Schuster. It covers two Boston Irish American families, the Kennedys and the Fitzgeralds, from John F. Fitzgerald's baptism to John Fitzgerald Kennedy's inauguration. Upon its release, the book's insightfulness and detail were generally praised by several publications. However, in 2002, The Weekly Standard determined that the book plagiarised three other books, which were subject to criticism.