Amazon.com
The surprise winner of the 2003 Man Booker Prize, DBC Pierre's debut novel, Vernon God Little, makes few apologies in its darkly comedic portrait of Martirio, Texas, a town reeling in the aftermath of a horrific school shooting. Fifteen-year-old Vernon Little narrates the first-person story with a cynical twang and a four-letter barb for each of his diet-obsessed townsfolk. His mother, endlessly awaiting the delivery of a new refrigerator, seems to exist only to twist an emotional knife in his back; her friend, Palmyra, structures her life around the next meal at the Bar-B-Chew Barn; officer Vaine Gurie has Vernon convicted of the crime before she's begun the investigation; reporter Eulalio Ledesma hovers between a comforting father-figure and a sadistic Bond villain; and Jesus, his best friend in the world, is dead--a victim of the killings. As his life explodes before him, Vernon flees his home in pursuit of a tropical fantasy: a cabin on a beach in Mexico he once saw in the movie Against All Odds. But the police--and TV crews--are in hot pursuit.
Vernon God Little is a daring novel and demands a patient reader, not because it is challenging to read--Pierre's prose flows effortlessly, only occasionally slipping from the unmistakable voice of his hero--but because the book skates so precariously between the almost taboo subject of school violence and the literary gamesmanship of postmodern fiction. Yet, as the novel unfolds, Pierre's parodic version of American culture never crosses the line into caricature, even when it climaxes in a death-row reality TV show. And Vernon, whose cynicism and smart-ass "learnings" give way to a poignant curiosity about the meaning of life, becomes a fully human, profoundly sympathetic character. --Patrick O'Kelley
Book Description
In the town jail of Martirio, Texas — under the terrifying care of the dynastic Gurie family, and wearing only his New Jack trainers and underpants — fifteen-year-old Vernon Little is in trouble. His friend has just blown away sixteen of his classmates before turning the gun on himself. And Vernon has become the focus of the whole town's need for vengeance, and the media's appetite for sensational content — true or not. When the tricky Mr. Lesdema arrives in town — with a covert mission to promote himself from TV repairman to crack CNN reporter — Vernon thinks he has an ally. In fact, Lesdema is a villain of Machiavellian proportions. Vernon soon realizes that in this modern world innocence is definitely no defense. One distasteful arrangement with old Mr. Deutschman and $300 later, Vernon is headed for the border, for freedom and Mexico, and a much-anticipated date with the nigh-mythical Taylor Figueroa. But Texas isn't finished with Vernon yet. Vital, riotously funny, and energetic, Vernon God Little puts lust for vengeance, materialism, and trial by media squarely in the dock. Vernon himself emerges as the lovable upholder of love, truth, and homespun wisdom in a world gone mad.
Customer Reviews:
Trapped.......2007-10-06
Vernon Little lives in a small town in the middle of Texas. His friend Jesus went on a rampage, shooting fellow students at his local school. Was Vernon involved in the massacre? Did he have any influence over Jesus? The locals seem unsure. Suspicions deepen and begin to surround Vernon. Can he escape?
It's difficult to imagine a funny novel coming out of a scenario so terrible as a school massacre, yet DBC Pierre manages it. The strength of the narrative is in Vernon's frustrations at the life he leads in a stifling small town whose inhabitants add to his sense of teenage alienation. Vernon is an acerbic observer of the quirks of the middle-aged inhabitants of the town as well as the horrifically boorish and intolerant children. There's a certain Kafkaesque feeling about the novel as Vernon becomes more and more trapped by events: just as the massacre is a nightmare for the whole town, Vernon lives through a personal nightmare as the "culprit" is sought.
Along with this, of course, the novel is a satire on modern life. Although it is set in America, it observations are valid for other societies: the febrile media, spreading disinformation; rapacious money-seekers seeking to gain from the tragedy and so on.
An interesting novel.
G Rodgers
Catcher in the Rye on Crack.......2007-05-29
I hate to be another reviewer comparing Vernon God Little to Catcher in the Rye, but sometimes comparisons are inevitable, especially when a book clearly takes influence from another. Obviously Catcher is the superior book, but thta would be obvious if you were comparing Catcher in the Rye to most books. Anyway, all comparisons aside...
Vernon God Little is the story of Vernon Little who lives in a heightened version of our own reality, in a small Texas town called Martirio. Like many people Vernon hates everything about his small town, including his house, his mother, and himself. Like Holden Caulfield before him, Vernon Little spends most of this narrative novel telling us his "learnings" on various topics while making a harebrained journey to escape his life. In Vernon's case, though, he's got more reason to escape: the cops are after him.
The first quarter of this book is a little tough to get through. DBC Pierre's writing style asks a lot of the reader. Readers must learn to accept an entirely new way of plot and character development, where little plot is given and a character we don't yet know starts right in on everything he thinks about the world around him. Only about a quarter of the way in do we find out that a school shooting has happened at Vernon's school, and that his best friend Jesus was responsible. But that leaves no one alive to defend Vernon's honor and now the police see him as the number one suspect.
With a sleazy TV repairman turned news reporter on his trail, his mother always waiting for his new refrigerator, and a girl from his high school out to seduce him, Vernon has to figure out an escape plan and high tail it to Mexico.
Vernon God Little is a hilarious, highly farcical romp through many taboo subjects. DBC Pierre doesn't stop to apologize as Vernon discusses his thoughts and experiences on every subject from pedophilia to murder to bowel movements. With an out of this world cast of characters and a brilliant sarcastic narrator, the reader can't go wrong.
The first 75 pages took me a few days to get into, but the last 200 I read all in one sitting. It's that good. If you get a chance to check the book out, go for it. Like I said, it's The Catcher in the Rye on crack.
I don't get it.......2007-05-28
Remember the scene in "Big," where Tom Hanks' character comes up with a brilliant idea for a new toy and his boss couldn't be prouder? And he has this annoying colleague who keeps saying, "I don't get it?"
Learning that this book has won a major literary prize and gotten showered with accolades, makes me feel like that annoying guy. It's a coming-of-age novel that has been compared to "Catcher in the Rye", as these kinds of books invariably do. Yes, if Salinger had been bedridden for years and force fed a steady diet of American TV. It's that bad.
Vernon God Little is a teenager who has gotten mixed up in a school shooting by his best friend, now dead. He lives in one of those strenuously wacky Southern towns that only occur in literature such as this and Hollywood movies. Everyone is overweight, talks in slang, has a colorful name, and is a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Ha ha. Aren't Americans trashy? This is not exactly new news, and cariactures may be amusing but don't make a lasting impression on the reader, at least not this one.
Little's clumsy attempts to clear his name all backfire and he winds up on death row. There, he suddenly gets fed a heavy dose of life lessons. Does he die? If you make it to the end, you'll find out, but by then you might be exasperated with the book.
Authors like Jodi Picoult, who recently came out with a school shooting novel, clearly have done their homework and interviewed people who were actually involved. Although their books are fiction, they are based on real events and sound authentic.
Also there were no real sympathetic characters, unless you counted the dimbulb blond girl who liked sex. The deceased school shooter sounded as if he might have been an interesting character to flesh out more, but he remained as sketchy as the rest. The genius of "Catcher," as dated as the slang is now is the lasting impact of Holden's desire for human connection. He loved his mom, as clueless as she was, whereas Vernon regards everything his poor one does as a "knife in his back." While this may be accurate, it wound up making me more sympathetic toward his mom, not him.
unfunny, annoyingly written.......2007-03-13
I read this novel as part of my (perhaps crazy) self-imposed plan to read all the novels that have won or been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. So far, I must say that VERNON GOD LITTLE is my least favorite. The characters are cartoonish and unreal, but that's okay--many likeable novels have been told that way. The plot is contrived and unbelieveable, culminating with an absolutely preposterous, deux-a-machina ending, unredeemed, in my view, by any real charm or humor. But I suppose the facet of the book I found the most annoying was the text itself, clunky, awkward prose trying too hard to be cute. The narrator expresses himself in a way no other human ever has, and certainly no fifteen year-old American, from Texas or anywhere else. Except maybe Pluto. I think it's unwise for a writer to attempt to characterize the inhabitants of a culture foreign to his own in such a way. A brave artisic attempt? Possibly, but a failure, to me, at least. I can only assume the Booker Prize was awarded to this book more for political reasons than artistic ones--the other nominees I've read have not let me down in this way. And yes, I understand that VERNON GOD LITTLE is meant to be a satire of America's media-driven shallow consumeristic ways, but it doesn't take much talent to hit an easy target. VERNON GOD LITTLE is about as subtle as a train wreck, and every bit as funny.
Vernon Genius Little.......2007-02-18
By the time you've watched TV people be devestated because a prince decided they're not chosen to fly to Europe with him for a date, or watched them be devestated because they'll be thrown out of the Big Brother house, it's hard to feel something other than tired when the newsbreak shows people reacting to something legitimately horrible. When you watch TV humans appear to rehearse all their lives for something really bad to happen to them. Understandable, then, is Vernon's supposedly incriminating "impassiveness" after he's witnessed his best friend do a school shooting then kill himself, leaving Vernon as the "skate goat". Unlike some reviewers, I found Vernon's mix of wise and puerile and ignorant believable for a guy his age who implies a couple of times that he's "a quiet one, a wordsmith", but towards the end I felt like if he died he should've willed his memoir to his mum so she could get it published and live off the winnings from some sort of literary prize. Vernon may sound his age, but he's not an average fifteen-year-old. There's some really wonderful wordplay in this book, and only occasionally despite Vernon's poetic Vern-acular did I find myself rereading something to figure out what the hell he was on about. One star fell from my rating because on some of the rereads I found out there was no denying that I'd tripped over a strained metaphor. That, and towards the end I felt like the message was that to survive in this world you have to be a con man--"you're supposed to be a psycho". Given Pierre's background this felt a little propaganda-ish.
Average customer rating:
- A Place Called Rainwater
- A good rainy day book
- The development of an oil town and romances.
- Enjoyable
- A solid book, but predictable
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A Place Called Rainwater (Missouri, Book 3)
Dorothy Garlock
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Accessories:
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philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer
ASIN: 0446611468 |
Book Description
The small town of Rainwater, Oklahoma, has become a notorious boomtown now that a gusher has flooded its streets with drillers, welders, and roustabouts of every description. Jill, a spunky and hard-working young woman who runs the hotel for her aunt, is unprepared to cope with the attention she receives from the woman-hungry men. Despite her attempts to thwart their advances, she finds herself cornered by a group of men on the street one afternoon when Thad Taylor, a young neighbor, comes to her rescue. Believing Jill to be a street flapper, Thad makes it his duty to curb her wild ways. Jill wants nothing to do with Thad until a woman is murdered in town. Now, Jill's finally accepted Thad's protection...but is she willing to accept more?
Customer Reviews:
A Place Called Rainwater.......2005-02-27
I only discovered Dorothy Garlock books about a month ago, and have already read four. I've been hitting used book stores for more! This book is set in a oil boom town with Jill sent there to take care of an ill Aunt. I like these books because they are an easy read with twist and turns and of course a spunky romace. I have family from the areas she writes about and can envision them as young vibrant people with hopes and dreams, it makes me want to research my family history more. A great read!
A good rainy day book.......2003-06-26
Typical Dorothy Garlock. Once I pick up a book by her I don't stop reading till the book is finished. Even though most of her story lines are similar, she adds just right amount of a twist to make it different. A good read for a lazy day.
The development of an oil town and romances........2003-05-31
I really enjoyed this sweet romance from DG. In this story there is a lot going on.
Jill Jones is called a wildcat by the oilmen of Rainwater. This comes from her dumping water on a man who was tracking gunk onto her freshly washed porch of the hotel. Jill comes to Rainwater to help her Aunt whose health is failing. When her brother finds that she is in this wild western town all by herself he sends their close family friend Thad to watch out for her.
This is where a lot of the romance starts but there is also a murderer among them, long held secrets etc... to mention a few things. There is more than one romance happening in this story. I really enjoyed the development of the characters etc...
Enjoyable.......2003-05-20
The book had somewhat of a predictable plot, but it was an enjoyable book to read. It consists of love and mystery. At times it will make you laugh and then make you cry. I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it.
A solid book, but predictable.......2003-02-05
If you have read any of Dorothy Garlock's other books, you can probably predict most of what happens in this book. The characters are endearing, the setting and description of history is great, but the plot is so predictable. It is like many of her past books, well to do man in town is always the bad guy, has the wool pulled over the town town, take hero/ine who is from wrong side of tracks to figure it out. I read it because it continues the story of the characters from The Edge of Town, but it isn't as good.
Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
Customer Reviews:
A Place Called Rainwater.......2005-02-27
I only discovered Dorothy Garlock books about a month ago, and have already read four. I've been hitting used book stores for more! This book is set in a oil boom town with Jill sent there to take care of an ill Aunt. I like these books because they are an easy read with twist and turns and of course a spunky romace. I have family from the areas she writes about and can envision them as young vibrant people with hopes and dreams, it makes me want to research my family history more. A great read!
A good rainy day book.......2003-06-26
Typical Dorothy Garlock. Once I pick up a book by her I don't stop reading till the book is finished. Even though most of her story lines are similar, she adds just right amount of a twist to make it different. A good read for a lazy day.
The development of an oil town and romances........2003-05-31
I really enjoyed this sweet romance from DG. In this story there is a lot going on.
Jill Jones is called a wildcat by the oilmen of Rainwater. This comes from her dumping water on a man who was tracking gunk onto her freshly washed porch of the hotel. Jill comes to Rainwater to help her Aunt whose health is failing. When her brother finds that she is in this wild western town all by herself he sends their close family friend Thad to watch out for her.
This is where a lot of the romance starts but there is also a murderer among them, long held secrets etc... to mention a few things. There is more than one romance happening in this story. I really enjoyed the development of the characters etc...
Enjoyable.......2003-05-20
The book had somewhat of a predictable plot, but it was an enjoyable book to read. It consists of love and mystery. At times it will make you laugh and then make you cry. I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it.
A solid book, but predictable.......2003-02-05
If you have read any of Dorothy Garlock's other books, you can probably predict most of what happens in this book. The characters are endearing, the setting and description of history is great, but the plot is so predictable. It is like many of her past books, well to do man in town is always the bad guy, has the wool pulled over the town town, take hero/ine who is from wrong side of tracks to figure it out. I read it because it continues the story of the characters from The Edge of Town, but it isn't as good.
Book Description
From a distant future where both beer and rebellion brew in a tavern on Mars to an alternate WWII-where the cutting-edge science is quantum biology-and from a haunting story of a bizarre prison without guards or rules to a Bradbury-esque tale of small-town America, Modern Greats is a landmark collection of some of the finest short work in science fiction.
Customer Reviews:
Couldn't be More Pleased.......2007-10-10
The item ordered though advertised as "used" was in A -1 condition and the order was shipped promptly.
Classic Hymnal.......2006-04-27
This is the Hymnal used in the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States (ECUSA)from 1940 until 1982. It is reflective of the classic and traditional orthodoxy of that period. Though the hymnal has been replaced in ECUSA it is still used by many traditional jurisdictions of Anglicans in the United States. Some of the tunes are unfamilar and difficult to follow for those who are only acquainted with contemporary church music. However,any added effort on the part of the learner is rewarded in the richness of the recovery of these classic tunes. The theology is vibrant and sound. The binding of the volume is durable and the type is clear and readable. The 1940 Hymnal is a sound investment for any church or individual who desires to regain familiarity with traditional Protestant hymnody. For many of us in the "buster generation" these hymns have provided a connection with the transcendent we were looking for. Well worth the purchase.
Beautiful, enduring hymns.......2004-08-18
This hymnal is replete with example after example of the best, most beautiful, most intelligent congregational music Christendom has to offer, from ancient to modern. Happy is the church that sings these songs of praise and affirmation.
The Hymnal 1940, Standard Harmony Edition.......2000-04-15
Were you a choirboy? Did you get a copy of your hymnal or prayer book for perfect attandance at Sunday School? For two generations since the middle of World War II, the prize for many Episcopal choirboys was this book, The Hymnal 1940. Most hymnals are serious works of scholarship: laboriously constructed by a committee appointed by the church to review, revise, edit and augment its previous hymnals, they are then condemned to perpetual scrutiny and comment by its users. This hymnal was no exception; indeed, the similarly sized "Hymnal Companion," which dilated at length on each hymn, was published along with it. Now superseded by the 1982 version, it is still considered a masterpiece and superior in several respects to its successor, in particular for its legibility, certain of its texts, and its inclusion of some hymns dropped in 1982. By then the Hymnal 1940 had been augmented to over 700 hymns and 160 pieces of service music. It contains several indexes by which a hymn can be located in several different ways, including the useful "metrical index," not a feature of every hymnal. The music ranges in age from the earliest years of the Christian era right up to the 1930's; so you will find most of your favorite classical composers represented. If you have other hymnals, you should have this one. If you don't, this is about the best place to start.
Customer Reviews:
The Very Best Of Sunset.......2005-06-19
I truly love these annuals, and it shows. Every one of my Sunset Annuals is spattered and bookmarked, because I use them so often.
These are well bound, highly colorful editions, filled with the years collection of Sunset recipes. They are catalogued by ingredients ( vegetables, fruits,beef etc) as well as by category, so looking up a recipe is easy.
The Biga Bread recipe is worth the price alone. Everything is well laid out, with lots of helpful hints to ensure success, whether you're baking a cake, or creating an exotic Asian dish.
What I appreciate most about Sunset, is all their recipes are tested in their own kitchens, to make sure the average home user can recreate them easily. It gives you that extra bit of confidence when trying something new.
If you want a durable, practical and highly usable cookbook, I recommend giving the Sunset Annuals a try.
Sunset Recipe Annual 2002 Edition.......2003-03-12
What a great idea, having a whole years worth of Sunset magazine recipes in one book. I always save the magazines but sometimes I can't remember what issue a certain recipe was in and I waste time hunting for it. This selection of recipes is varied so there is definately something for any occasion. Sunset recipes are exciting and new but contain helpful hints that make me feel very comfortable. I have no problem trying out their new recipes on company. I only stumbled upon this book last year, but now want to continue purchasing them annually.
Our best source of receipies!.......2001-04-16
We bought this book because our stack of 1998 Sunset Magazines took up too much room and we could never remember which edition contained our favorite recipies. Of the two book shelves of cookbooks we have this is the book we pull out the most. Along with the great recipies it is well organized, contains educational cooking tips, wine pairing suggestions, and interesting articles about areas for vacationing and dining in the West. Our favorite recipie is the Oven-roasted Chilean Seabass! We're buying the 2000 and 2001 editions today.
Average customer rating:
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Sunset Recipe Annual 2002 Edition
Manufacturer: Sunset Publishing Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0376027096 |
Product Description
All your favorite recipes and food articles from the pages of Sunset Magazine come together for the fifteenth time in the 2002 Recipe Annual.
Average customer rating:
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Royal Crown Derby Paperweights Collectors Handbook
Howard Bonser
Manufacturer: Kevin Francis Pub Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Antiques & Collectibles
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Glass & Glassware
| Antiques & Collectibles
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Antiques & Collectibles
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Ceramics
| Other Media
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
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ASIN: 1870703448 |
![Diamonds ... Historical Blue Staffordshire ... Oriental Lowestoft, Staffordshire, Royal Sevres, Vienna, Crown Derby, Delft, Copeland, Doulton, Dresden ... Venetian, Baccarat, Waterford & Bohemian Glass ... [William D. Morley Auction, Dec. 13, 1937]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21WJ8BNGV0L.jpg)
Average customer rating:
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Diamonds ... Historical Blue Staffordshire ... Oriental Lowestoft, Staffordshire, Royal Sevres, Vienna, Crown Derby, Delft, Copeland, Doulton, Dresden ... Venetian, Baccarat, Waterford & Bohemian Glass ... [William D. Morley Auction, Dec. 13, 1937]
Manufacturer: Philadelphia: William D. Morley Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Baccarat
| Gambling
| Puzzles & Games
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B000F8LO2A |
Product Description
Soldd by order of Mrs. Lawrence Taylor Paul, Mrs. Jay Klees, Late Dr. John Meigs, The Hill School. 1,203 Lots; 121-pages; limited b/w illus.
Product Description
Parke-Bernet Galleries auction house, New York (07 March 1952). Sale Code: 1323. About 93 pages and 440 lot(s). Catalog is in English. Items presented in this catalog include: Table glass; Royal Worcester, Crown Derby and Other Table Porcelain; Silver and Silver-Plated Ware; Sevres, Dresden and Other Continental Porcelains; Paintings; English and Other Furniture and Decorations; Domestic Carpets; English and Other Furniture and Decorations; Chinese Jade and Other Semi-Precious Mineral Carvings; Georgian and Other Early English Silver; English and Other Furniture and Decorations; Oriental and Other Rugs; English and Other Furniture and Other Decorations]. Auction catalogs are valuable reference tool for pricing and identifying works of art and collectibles.
Average customer rating:
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Royal Crown Derby
John Twitchett , and
Betty Bailey
Manufacturer: Antique Collectors' Club
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Antiques & Collectibles
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Glass & Glassware
| Antiques & Collectibles
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Pottery & Ceramics
| Crafts & Hobbies
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
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ASIN: 1851490574 |
Average customer rating:
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Royal Crown Derby Imari Wares
Ian Cox
Manufacturer: The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Co Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Glass & Glassware
| Antiques & Collectibles
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1858940753 |
Average customer rating:
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Royal Crown Derby Paperweights
Ian Cox
Manufacturer: The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Co Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Glass & Glassware
| Antiques & Collectibles
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1858940621 |
Product Description
Cent FolderLincoln No.11909-1940
Customer Reviews:
The industry standard for the beginning coin collector.......2000-04-03
The nice, lock-in feature prevents your coins from falling out of the folder, while holding them in a nice layout. The only drawback is you cannot see the reverse of the coins when they're in the folder.
Product Description
The Big Picture features a range of digitally printed graphics, from skyscraper building wraps to vehicle graphics, retail uses, and more. Nearly 100 projects, captured in 250 full-color photos, demonstrate the growing uses for digitally printed graphics, from advertising and display to exhibit, museum and environmental graphics. Also included are sections on digital fine art, textile and specialty applications.
Average customer rating:
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The Big Picture: The Design & Formatting of Large-Format Digital Printing
Manufacturer: Watson-Guptill Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Graphic Arts
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Web Graphics
| Web Design
| Web Development
| Computers & Internet
| Subjects
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Printing
| Graphic Design
| Computers & Internet
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General
| Graphic Design
| Computers & Internet
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ASIN: 0823005488 |
Book Description
Here's the complete range of digitally printed graphics, from small to superwide. The Big Picture shows graphic designers the full creative potential for digitally printed graphics and its amazing range of applications. Filled with hundreds of spectacular photos, the guide highlights over 100 groundbreaking projects from such venues as vehicle advertising, POP, retail, outdoors, museums, environmental graphics, digital fine art, and more. Each project explains the type of output (hardware, software, and print media) and other information about the design, production, and installation of the project. For any graphic designer or desktop publisher ready to work with the most up-to-date tools of the trade, this is your ultimate resource!
Customer Reviews:
Recounting of a tragic love...........2006-11-28
You start reading this book with a heavy feeling, or at least I know I did because you know exactly how it ends.
A marriage that started out with so much promise ended in heartbreak and disillusionment.
It has come out since Ms.Gates' death that apparently she was bi-sexual for much of her life and was as closeted as Rock was about his sexuality.
Despite this new information, I still think that Rock and Phyllis really loved each other and what they had was geniune.
There is little doubt that they were pushed together by Henry Wilson, Rock's agent, who was famous for his elaborate plots, but I don't think as some do, that means that the feelings between them weren't real.
And as a treat for you Old Hollywood buffs like myself, there are many stories of the Hudsons' Hollywood friends and the Old Hollywood stars who worked with Rock in his films.
Now that Phyllis Gates is dead -------.......2006-03-09
---- it comes out from several sources (including Liz Smith) that Phyllis was a lesbian all along. In the 1986 People Magazine excerpts from Sara Davidson's Rock Hudson biography (before Phyllis's book was written), there is talk about her attraction to the same sex. Liz Smith had information on Phyllis's affairs with married women, and used these against her when she attempted to extort money from Rock after the divorce, by selling her story to Confidential magazine. So it seems that Phyllis wasn't the long-suffering martyr after all. She knew what she was getting into from the outset, agreed to it, and then tried to destroy Rock Hudson when this marriage of convenience didn't last. Worse than that, she kept herself just as closeted as Rock did, until the day she died.
Glad I came across this.........2006-02-02
Phyllis recently passed away and a quote from her book was used describing her marriage. I hadn't known about the book and looked for it here at Amazon. It was published in 1987 (I think) so it's older, but doggone this was a good book. She had quite an adventure as Rock's wife. Lots of good stories about Hollywood in the 50's. The rise and fall of her marriage to Rock was interesting. She could have taken him to the cleaners or ruined his career but did neither. Consequently, she had money problems later on in her life. This lady sounds like someone I'd enjoy having a conversaton with. She never remarried. I mean...how could you after the Rock Hudson roller coaster ride???
Rock with his head under the covers.......2001-05-03
Phyllis Gates tells that a week before Rock Hudson proposed to her, he and his agent Henry Wilson had gone to Hollywood lawyer Jerry Giesler to find a way to stop Confidential magazine publishing the story of a gang bang at Wilson's house. She was informed of this by Giesler when finalising her divorce from Hudson, after tiring of his single minded focus on his career which included abandoning her when she was ill, his relationship with Wilson, Hudson slapping her when she referred to a friend of his as a "fruitcake", and his refusal to consult her psychiatrist. It was only after her separation that she became aware of the reality of Hudson's secret lifestyle, although hindsight provided clues - Hudson's friendship with several handsome actors and his association with Wilson, himself gay and an agent who specialised in handsome young and often gay men. Hudson's closet sexual behaviour being unknown to Gates means that it occupies little space - rather it is used as the denouement - and we are left with the less interesting stories of Hudson's idiosyncracies, once he stops having her accompany him to the filming locations. It's hard to assess the book in terms of it as a piece of writing because of the essential frustration of the setup, but the best part is Gates' coverage of the period leading up to her 3 year marriage, particularly relating to the set of Giant, because it is relatively optimistic. It also demonstrates the opportunities of chance, where the day she moved in with Rock was the day James Dean was killed, and how she was at Elizabeth Taylor's the night Montgomery Clift crashed his car. Her telling of Rock's anger at her accompaning Taylor to the hospital with Clift is mentioned to show his unreasonable and controlling tendencies. If one believes that Hudson's greatest acting was in keeping his dalliances hidden from Gates, his courting reveals him as charming, and perhaps it is his youth that explains his ability to make love to her, even if he had been with a man earlier. Perhaps embittered after the later revelations, Gates describes Hudson as weak and manipulative, using people to fulfill his own ambitions and eventually becoming totally corrupted and empty of feeling. However this accusation, with it's covert justification for his death from AIDS, is perhaps crueler than anything she tells us Hudson had done to her. What forced the end of the relationship was her deliberate strategy to try to distance Hudson from Wilson. Hudson would succeed in this task by himself later on but at the time Gates' attempt was a serious underestimation of Hudson's loyalty and the influence Wilson held over him. Gates says that Hudson only kept Wilson on to protect himself from blackmail. More than once Gates is informed of how hard it is for couples to stay together in the ego-based world of actors and Hollywood. Hudson seemed to appreciate her more as an industry companion than as a wife, and Gates repays him by saying he had the emotional development of a 10 year old, and by ridiculing him with the information that he turned down the Chalton Heston part in Ben Hur because the script was too big for him to read. Although Gates clearly means to present herself as a victim, one retains more sympathy for Hudson. She introduces herself as a religious farmgirl from Minnesota with a large family, an innocent caught up in the big bad world of showbusiness, and she comes across as pious and morally superior. Although we don't learn how she catches the hepatitis that leaves her bedridden for months, the suggestion that Rock passed it onto her from his infidelities, so much the worse in her mind because they were with men, is undermined by her catty aside about his obsession with bodily cleanliness. The observation is also tired pop psychology about trying to wash away one's sins. The book's cover picture is metaphorically creepy - they embrace, neither looking at each other, wearing matching red sweaters, Gates' lipstick like blood and Hudson's lips pale. He is taller but rests his forehead on hers, as if she is his mother. Her arms hold him but we cannot see where his are.
A good book.......2000-03-28
I was fortunate enough to find this book by winning it from an online auction. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Being the only woman to marry Rock Hudson, Miss Gates gives the reader a truly honest insight to what Rock was like during her brief marriage to him. It has a sad ending, but is nevertheless a book you won't want to put down once you start reading it.
If you're a Rock Hudson fan or have an interest in learning more about this complex man, I highly recommend reading it. You won't be disappointed.
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My Husband, Rock Hudson
Phyllis Gates and Bob Thomas
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0207157847 |
Books:
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- Women of Sand and Myrrh: A Novel
- A Circle of Angels Workbook: Designed for the Little People of the World, Waiting to Join and Share in the Light (The Little Angel Book Series)
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- A Very Easy Death (Pantheon Modern Writers Series)
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- Affairs at Thrush Green (Miss Read)
- All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers : A Novel
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