1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Author of greatest 20th century novel is dead

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by CD Boogie, Sep 14, 2017.

  1. CD Boogie

    CD Boogie Well-Known Member

    J.P. Donleavy, Acclaimed Author of ‘The Ginger Man,’ Dies at 91

    "The Ginger Man" is one of the few novels I have re-read several times. It's about a boozing, violent, unfaithful spendthrift, and so on the face of it Sebastian Dangerfield has little to recommend him. Stylistically, the writing is choppy and sometimes vague. But the protagonist is so self-defeating and out of sorts, that Donleavy's descriptions of an unexpected bacon and eggs breakfast or an afternoon sipping beers (on someone else's dime) on a sun-splashed outdoor patio can pop off the page.

    I've tried to sell the reading of this novel to others, but everyone to a person bailed before finishing it. Conversely, Hunter S Thompson said it was his favorite novel and The Modern Library in 1999 ranked it 99 on the top 100 novels of the 20th century.

    My avatar here for a time was the cover of this book. It meant a lot to me, in terms of pushing things to the edge, living with the consequences, bucking convention and writing the shit you want to read, marketplace and censors be damned.

    This guy had balls.
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2017
  2. Big Circus

    Big Circus Well-Known Member

    Great book. Also was the name of a pretty decent NYC bar a decade or so ago. Don't know if it's still there.
     
    CD Boogie likes this.
  3. CD Boogie

    CD Boogie Well-Known Member

    Yup. Pretty sure it's a chain now
     
  4. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    I know the protagonist well.

    I'll check the book out. Thanks.
     
    Big Circus and QYFW like this.
  5. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    The thread title is accurate, as Joseph Heller died in 1999.
     
    Donny in his element and HC like this.
  6. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

  7. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    The Ginger Man was a book I enjoyed to the max. Bar/restaurant wasn't bad, either. But greatest of 20th century? A stretch.
     
  8. heyabbott

    heyabbott Well-Known Member

    Philip Roth lives
     
  9. QYFW

    QYFW Well-Known Member

    Was there any first person in it?
     
  10. Jake_Taylor

    Jake_Taylor Well-Known Member

    Franklin W. Dixon can't be dead. He never actually existed.
     
  11. BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo

    BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo Well-Known Member

    OK but Carolyn Keene and Victor Appleton and Laura Lee Hope are all alive and still prolific, right?
     
    Jake_Taylor likes this.
  12. CD Boogie

    CD Boogie Well-Known Member

Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page