A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE

by Morley Callaghan ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1975

Does Morley Callaghan, lean, hard writer of the '30's and '40's, live in retirement in Canada? Does he remind you at all of the recluse Eugene Shore, ignored in his native city until rediscovered by Starkey Kunitz in a New York Review of Books piece as an ""obscure, underdog"" writer? This redirects Al (spurred on by his girl Lisa) to do his book on Shore instead of Mailer. But Shore proves to be as evasive on paper as he is in person although Lisa establishes a liaison, and alienates Al. in fact there are all kinds of disturbing elements in Shore, who attracts the attention of a punitive cop and later is killed -- his death at least serving in the interests of Al, his book and his love affair. More than just a story of a crime because of its a clef aspects of retaliation and reclamation, and somewhere between an attention-getter (that it does) and a hype which pulls your leg and twists your arm simultaneously.

Pub Date: May 1, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Mason/Charter

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1975

Categories: FICTION