GOING PLACES

by Leonard Michaels ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 10, 1969

Ferocious, funny, perverse, plaintive, these twelve short stories are executed with immaculate precision and they are all totally distinctive. . . operating out of nihilistic eruptions that come off with joy. This is Mr. Michael's first official collection although some have been picked up for the annual O. Henry Awards and The American Literary Anthology. Mr. Michaels deals with, terror-the (im)possible worst that can and usually does happen to someone like his running character, Philip-discovered cavorting sexually with an uptight father's daughter; lost and impotent in an orgy; losing a best friend in a love-hate relationship. In the ""Mannikin,"" a college girl is raped and subsequently loses her virtuous fiance; in ""Isaac"" an old man takes a fall and tries, unsuccessfully, to force his bones back together; in the title story a man tries to adjust after a disfiguring accident and freezes on the point of a second; when a woman tries ""The Deal"" with a gang of young New York toughs, there are vicious consequences. Yet within the context there is instant satire. Mr. Michaels has charisma and he is definitely Going Places.

Pub Date: March 10, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1969

Categories: FICTION