Riven Rock by T. Coraghessan Boyle (English) Paperback Book

Description: Riven Rock by T. Coraghessan Boyle In his most fully realized and compassionate novel to date, T.C. Boyle transforms two characters straight out of history into rich, mythic creations whose tortured love and epic story is intimate enough to break readers' hearts. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description T. C. Boyle's seventh novel transforms two characters straight out of history into rich mythic figures whose tortured love story is as heartbreaking as it is hilarious. It is the dawn of the twentieth century when the beautiful, budding feminist Katherine Dexter falls in love with Stanley McCormick, son of a millionaire inventor. The two wed, but before the marriage is consummated, Stanley experiences a nervous breakdown and is diagnosed as a schizophrenic sex maniac. Locked up for the rest of his life at Riven Rock, the family's California mansion, Stanley is treated by a series of confident doctors determined to cure him. But his true salvation lies with Katherine who, throughout her career as a scientist and suffragette, continues a patient vigil from beyond the walls of Riven Rock, never losing hope that one day Stanley will be healed.Blending social history with some of the most deliciously dark humor ever written, Boyle employs his hallmark virtuoso prose to tell the story of America's age of innocence—and of a love affair that is as extraordinary as it is unforgettable. Author Biography T. CORAGHESSAN BOYLE was born and raised in New Yorks Hudson Valley and now lives near Los Angeles. He is the author of several novels and short story collections. His 1987 novel, "Worlds End", won the PENlFaulkner Award. Discussion Question for Reading Group Guide INTRODUCTION Poor Stanley McCormick. The depraved son of one of the greatest inventors of the nineteenth century, Stanley is doomed to spend most of his life confined to an enormous estate in Southern California while his wife, Katherine, spares no expense searching for the doctor who can cure him. For two decades Stanley leads a limited existence at Riven Rock, accompanied by a group of well-paid nurses, gardeners, cooks, and psychologists. And as the world outside struggles with war and disease, survives physical and economic disaster, and witnesses dramatic social change, Stanley continues to make diminutive steps toward achieving a normal life while his millions continue to pile up. Unfortunately, even Stanleys considerable wealth wont buy him his sanity or freedom from the luxurious prison that he helped build. But Stanleys palatial prison is just one of many ironies contained in this whimsical work of historical fiction -- and which characterize it as a truly Boyle-esque tale. There is Katherines steadfast fidelity to a marriage that was never consummated; Eddie, the philandering playboy, who tosses his conquests aside as soon as he tires of them, but who hungers for the one woman he cant have; and Stanleys violent, sexual aggression towards women, whom he loves with "an incendiary passion that is indistinguishable from hate." Boyle also manages to inject notes of high hilarity into what is basically a very sad story. The various doctors with their respective theories and styles could have stepped out of a Marx Brothers musical, as could the scene in which Katherine accompanies Julius the ape to an elegant hotel. And Stanleys treatment of the poor German teacher he drags home to please Katherine is as comical as it is heartbreaking. Another technique typically employed by Boyle is hyperbole. The author often populates his novels with larger-than-life figures: the richest man in America, the most clueless of doctors, the most overbearing of mothers, and, in the case of Katherine, a woman possessing the kind of intellectual brilliance and strength of character that, almost by necessity, accompanies a blind insensitivity to the needs of someone as fragile as Stanley. Irony, comedy, and hyperbole render this and Boyles other novels unforgettable, transforming an historic footnote into a luminous, illuminating work of fiction that says as much about contemporary America as it does about the historical figures it depicts. It is the role of the literary historian to paint a vivid picture from the outlines that fact provides. But the writer who chooses to use true life as a springboard toward a largely imagined story faces, perhaps, a greater challenge. He or she must impose on the facts moods and themes that feel organic to the history they represent. T. C. Boyle has a wonderful talent for turning history into fiction. In Riven Rock, as with his earlier novel, The Road to Wellville, Boyle starts with a germ of fact and a few larger-than-life personalities and spins a marvelous tale -- the details of which can strain credulity. (According to Boyle, some of the most outrageous incidents in this novel are actually true.) But he has chosen to keep his readers in the dark about where history ends and fiction begins. So be it. In his capable hands, deft as a magicians, we are willing to suspend disbelief. ABOUT T.C. BOYLE The award-winning author of seven novels and four collections of short stories, T. Coraghessan Boyle was born in Peekskill, New York and taught high school English there after graduating from the State University of New York at Potsdam. He continued his education at the University of Iowas famed Writers Workshop, where he finished Descent of Man , his first collection of short fiction. He went on to publish three others -- Greasy Lake , If the River Was Whiskey , and Without a Hero -- establishing himself as a master of the genre. Over the past two decades, T. C. Boyle has also written several wonderfully diverse novels: Water Music , an 18th-century picaresque; Budding Prospects , about a group of hapless marijuana farmers; Worlds End , an historical novel about his native upstate New York for which he won the 1988 PEN/Faulkner Award for American Fiction; East Is East , about a Japanese sailor and a southern writers colony; The Road to Wellville , a comic look at a turn-of-the-century health spa; and The Tortilla Curtain , about ethnic strife in Southern California. Praise "A sustained, wise and enthralling portrait of Americas lost past. . . . The authors best and perhaps most unusual book." -- San Francisco Chronicle "Filled with good writing and richly observed scenes; it has humanity and humor in abundance." --D. M. Thomas , The New York Times Book Review "Boyle combines his gift for historical re-creation with his dazzling powers as a storyteller. . . . Riven Rock is as romantic as it is informative, as colorful as it is convincing." -- The Boston Sunday Globe "Boyles most affecting book. . . . His dialogue is tone-perfect. His storytelling . . . is mesmerizing." -- New York Newsday "Deftly plotted. . . The craziest love story imaginable, but a love story nevertheless. . . one that chills the bones as you read . . . . Vintage Boyle." -- Kirkus Reviews Also by T.C. Boyle If you enjoyed Riven Rock, youll want to read these other Penguin works by T. C. Boyle: BUDDING PROSPECTS 0-14-029996-3 Felix Nasmyths dreams of easy money -- from harvesting a crop of marijuana -- soon get nipped in the bud in "a first-rate picaresque adventure" ( Los Angeles Times ). DESCENT OF MAN 0-14-029994-7 A Norse poet overcomes bard-block. Lassie abandons Timmy for a randy coyote. In seventeen slices of life, Boyle shows just what the "evolution" of mankind has wrought. "Madness that hits you where you live." -- Houston Chronicle EAST IS EAST 0-14-013167-1 A young Japanese seaman jumps ship off the Georgia coast and swims into a nest of genteel ladies, rabid rednecks, and the denizens of an artists colony. "A hilarious black farce about racial stereotypes." -- The New York Times GREASY LAKE AND OTHER STORIES 0-14-007781-2 "Satirical fables of contemporary life, so funny and acutely observed that they might have been written by Evelyn Waugh as sketches for . . . Saturday Night Live." -- The New York Times IF THE RIVER WAS WHISKEY 0-14-011950-7 Boyle tears through the walls of contemporary society to reveal a world at once comic and tragic, droll and horrific in sixteen magical, provocative stories. "Writing at its very, very best." -- USA Today THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE 0-14-016718-8 This wickedly comic novel centers around Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his infamous turn-of-the-century health spa in Battle Creek, Michigan. "A marvel, enjoyable from beginning to end." -- The New York Times Book Review THE TORTILLA CURTAIN 0-14-023828-X Boyle illuminates the many potholes along the road to the elusive American Dream. A freak accident brings two couples -- illegal immigrants C Details ISBN014027166X Author T. Coraghessan Boyle Short Title RIVEN ROCK Pages 466 Publisher Penguin Books Language English ISBN-10 014027166X ISBN-13 9780140271669 Media Book Format Paperback DEWEY FIC Year 1999 Publication Date 1999-01-31 Residence Santa Barbara, CA, US Imprint Penguin Books DOI 10.1604/9780140271669 Audience General/Trade We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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