JEREMY'S VERSION

by James Purdy ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 2, 1970

One is apt to suspect Mr. Purdy of a trace of gleeful sadism in his use of an interminable italicized introduction to this stereopticon-slide, mock-Gothic tale of sons and carnivorous women. Fifteen-year-old Jeremy, an orphan, is enlisted by ""Uncle"" Matt Lacey, a retired opera singer, to tell the wide world the story of Matt, the Ferguses and Summerlads--long-gone families in the vaguely Southern town of Boutflour (and this is certainly a flowering of ""endings""). Even before Uncle Matt, among his mirrors and ""naked marble gods,"" rushes an unannounced Jeremy with a knife, one has hints of a rich joke which kids all sagas of dark halls and darker secrets. Beautiful Elvira Fergus (nee Summerlad) finally became estranged from ne'er-do-well husband Wilders and she settled down on her three boys like a brooding hen, rendering them flightless. The other Female Principle is represented by the formidable Winifred, Wilders' sister, and between the two women, men and boys are reduced to impotence. There is a divorce trial; one son gives a public denunciation; and another (keeper of a smutty journal) attempts to shoot the Earth Mother, who, in the end forgives him and sails off to marry again. In spite of Purdy's tidy skills in dialogue and witty overview, this story of desire under the poisoned sumac is overly oblique.

Pub Date: Oct. 2, 1970

ISBN: 0786716703

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1970

Categories: FICTION