We see that javascript is disabled or not supported by your browser - javascript is needed for important actions on the site. Read more

What's New - Home - Login

Member $avings: $81,586,519.91 | Books Available: 791,885 | Members Online: 311

Swap Used Books - Buy New Books at Great Prices!

How To Swap Books Sign Up Search submenu

PBS Market (New Books)

Gift Buying Guide

Book Browser Advanced Search Books Posted Today Member Book Reviews Award Winning Books NYT Best Sellers Amazon Best Sellers Most Traveled Copies Club Wish List

Discussion Forums Book Lists

Club Lists My Book Lists My Watched Lists Create a List

Blog Donations

School Donation Program In Memory of... Military Donation Program Friends of PBS

Box-O-Books Maps The Eclectic Pen Fun Stuff

20 Questions Sudoku Bookmark Creator

Top 100

Requests Posts Swappers Referrers Reviewers

Pulse of PBS Spread The Word

Invite Friends Bookmarks Facebook Page Facebook App More Ways...

Photo Gallery Recipes Club Tag Cloud Member Testimonials

Help Center submenu

How To Swap Books Browse Help Docs Ask the Librarian PBS Member Icons Live Help

Kiosk

PBS Market (New Books) Go Shopping Buy Credits Buy PBS Money Upgrade Membership Gift Certificates Transfer Credits

Need Help?

Search - Portrait of an Artist, As an Old Man

Portrait of an Artist As an Old Man
Author: Joseph Heller

In a front-page obituary, The New York Times described Joseph Heller as "the darkly surreal novelist who spoke to a generation." Heller, whose famous bestseller Catch-22 brought him universal acclaim as a literary icon, finished his final novel just before his death in 1999. Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man is a poignant... more » and fascinating foray into the mind of an artist as he examines his life, seeking a source of inspiration for his last book. Imagine an author -- primarily a novelist -- who has become a legend...no, more than that -- an icon! In his own lifetime, all because of the first novel he wrote, many years before. Imagine that the novelist -- his name here is Eugene Pota -- realizes that the days are dwindling and he needs to come up with one more novel. But what should he write about? There's a kind of futility to his search for a subject, of course, because, like so many noted novelists before him, all of Pota's output since that first landmark novel has been scrutinized and dissected and poked at -- and found wanting. That first novel, the one that launched him, the one that made him into the cultural icon that he seems fated to remain, has become a touchstone for his life, and his life since has been pretty much a critical failure. Oh, there were some financial successes, some New York Times bestsellers, but nothing anyone seemed to like half as much as that first one. And now, when he's faced with the need, the compulsion to write one more novel, take one final stab at the even bigger one, what should it be? Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man follows the journey that Eugene Pota undertakes in his effort to settle on the subject of his final work. In his quest, he talks to his wife, Polly; he talks to his agent; he talks to his editor; he talks to old lovers; he even talks to his doctor. But while everyone has ideas, no one offers any real answers. Along the way in his search, Heller -- through Pota -- pays homage to a number of favorite authors, including Samuel Clemens and Franz Kafka, and discusses the problems that have plagued so many writers in the past who enjoyed early successes and who then fell out of favor (among them, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, Jack London, and Joseph Conrad). And at one point Pota almost convinces himself of the futility of trying again, as he speaks to a college gathering on the subject "The Literature of Despair." Written with sections that alternate between Eugene Pota's real-life efforts to settle on what novel to write and his many and various false starts on writing that novel, Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man is a rare and enthralling look into the artist's search for creativity.

ISBN-13: 9780743202008
ISBN-10: 0743202007
Publication Date: 6/12/2000
Pages: 240
Rating:

Currently 3/5 Stars.

3 stars, based on 2 ratings

Publisher: Simon Schuster
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 1
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Read All 1 Book Reviews of "Portrait of an Artist As an Old Man"

Genres:

Literature & Fiction >> Humor & Satire
Literature & Fiction >> General >> Contemporary
Literature & Fiction >> General >> Literary
Literature & Fiction >> Authors, A-Z >> ( H ) >> Heller, Joseph

Back to the Top ↑

Search - Portrait of an Artist, As an Old Man

Loading...