A career-spanning selection of James Purdy's fiction, including the titular short novel, Purdy's first. Not to be confused with 63 Dream Palace and Other Stories .
James Purdy Books
July 17, 1914 – March 13, 2009
James Purdy is an author whose dark, often savagely comic fiction evokes a psychic American landscape of deluded innocence, sexual obsession, violence, and isolation. His work, translated into over 30 languages, delves into complex relationships and unearths hidden aspects of human nature. Purdy's distinctive style captures the raw realities of life with keen intelligence and a satirical eye, offering readers unsettling yet compelling narratives.
The Complete Short Stories of James Purdy
- 726 pages
- 26 hours of reading
Celebrate an authentic American genius (Gore Vidal) in James Purdy's first complete short story collection.
Out with the Stars
- 200 pages
- 7 hours of reading
Following the discovery of an anonymous libretto, a composer comes out of retirement to write an opera based on the life of the infamous novelist-turned-photographer Cyril Vane. A dazzling novel by one of America’s most underrated writers.
Malcolm
- 158 pages
- 6 hours of reading
Long out of print, James Purdy's novel Malcolm, first published in 1959, established Purdy as "one of the greatest writers produced in America during the past hundred years" (Dame Edith Sitwell). Malcolm is the bizarre story of an innocent young man of 'exceptional beauty' who becomes involved in a series of comic and poignant adventures. Taken under the wing of a famous astrologer, an undertaker, a billionaire, a midget painter, a jazz queen, America's foremost chanteuse, and a tattoo artist, among others, Malcolm is led endlessly from protector to protector in search of his missing father, until the journey itself becomes his undoing.
Sechs Erzählungen von Purdy zeigen Figuren, die als "Kannibalen der Liebe" agieren. Sie finden keine ausgewogene Beziehung zu ihren Begierden und erleben kurzfristige Ruhe an verschiedenen Orten, sei es in einem Abbruchhaus oder einem Salon. Ihr Streben führt zu flüchtigem Glück, das jedoch nicht von Dauer ist.
