Author of greatest 20th century novel is dead

[CD Boogie]

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 **** you want to read, marketplace and censors be damned.

This guy had balls.

 

[Big Circus]

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]

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.

Yup. Pretty sure it's a chain now

 

[Songbird]

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 **** you want to read, marketplace and censors be damned.

This guy had balls.

I know the protagonist well.

I'll check the book out. Thanks.

 

[Dick Whitman]

The thread title is accurate, as Joseph Heller died in 1999.

 

[Buck]

James Joyce Dies; Wrote 'Ulysses'

 

[Michael_ Gee]

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

 

[heyabbott]

Philip Roth lives

 

[QYFW]

Was there any first person in it?

 

[Jake_Taylor]

Franklin W. Dixon can't be dead. He never actually existed.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Franklin W. Dixon can't be dead. He never actually existed.

OK but Carolyn Keene and Victor Appleton and Laura Lee Hope are all alive and still prolific, right?

 

[CD Boogie]

James Joyce Dies; Wrote 'Ulysses'

Overrated garbage IMHO

 

[CD Boogie]

The thread title is accurate, as Joseph Heller died in 1999.

Fine, ya board Yossarian. It was a tie with Catch 22

 

[Neutral Corner]

“There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed.

"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.”