The Extra Man (Contemporary Classics (Washington Square Press))
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.37 (909 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0671015583 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-08-17 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
From Publishers Weekly When he comes to New York City, having been fired from his job at a Princeton prep school, Louis Ives, the confused young hero of Ames's comic new novel, finds that his first challenge is the search for an affordable apartment and an acceptable roommate. (Aug.) FYI: Ames, a columnist for the New York Press, is also a stand-up comic.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. If the resolution is a bit mechanical, the novel's comic atmosphere is otherwise admirably sustained. Ames balances Henry's arch if not camp lifestyle, peppered throughout with Noel Cowardish observations, with Ives's tentative exploration of New York's transvestite underworld. Henry is a dedicated eccentric, unsuccessful playwright, gentleman freeloader and ageless senior citizen whose vocation is escorting elderly rich women as an "extra man." As Henry introduces him to some peculiar delights of city living?how to sneak into Broadway plays and piss in the street un
“A storyteller of refreshing inventiveness and subtlety” (San Francisco Chronicle), Jonathan Ames has won critical raves for this delightful “comedy of impeccable manners with a debauched '90s spin” (Elle).Meet Louis Ives: well-groomed, romantic, and as captivating as an F. What can this ageless Don Quixote of the Upper East Side have to offer a young gentleman such as Louis? What, indeed.Well, the answer lies somewhere between the needs of an irascible mentor and the education of his eager apprenticebetween cocktails on the Upper East Side and an even more intoxicating treat along the secret fringes of Times Squareand between friendship and longing.. Only this hero has a penchant for ladies clothes, and he's lost his teaching post at Princeton’s Pretty Brook Day School after an unfortunate incident involving a colleague’s brassiere.Meet Henry Harrison: former actor, failed but brilliant playwright, and a well-seasoned escort for New York City’s women of means. Scott Fitzgerald hero. He dances alone to Ethel Merman records, second-acts operas, and performs his scrappy life with the dignity befitting a
Effective Martha Mckie I read this book because I read a review that made the character of Henry Harrison sound interesting. I was expecting descriptions of parties and dates with rich people that would fill me in on a side of society I don't have contact with. It was not like that at all, but instead it was very true-to-life in comparison with my own experiences of being in new places.Ives' inner fancies of himself as the young gentleman are drawing him into an odd acquaintance with Henry Harrison. And Harrison is just exactly like some peopl. "Can't Believe This Is A "Contemporary Classic"" according to FateJacketX. Johnathon Ames is a great writer. His prose and direct style definitely make for easy reading. His ability to create everyday people who get into the wildest situations make way for only slight suspension of disbelief.We have Louis, a femmy but otherwise "straight" teacher in Princeton, NJ who loses his job after being caught dancing around his office in a lady coworker's undergarments. For some reason or another, he gets it into his head to move to New York City. His new roommate is Henry, an elderly but spry male escor. NEUROTIC FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY A Customer The Extra Man would send an extra line up Freud's nosekeep him up late enough to read it againthen do some rethinking!"So I saw that strap dangling out of the bag like a snake and I was alarmed," Louis Ives, the protagonist, reports on the first page of the novel. He's at a day school in Princeton, on break in the teacher's lounge when he notices the strap, which turns out to be a colleague's brassiere. A combination of curiosity and something else in the character of Ives that can only be understood by reading the follo