Castaway - Softcover

Cozzens, James Gould

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0929587170 ISBN 13: 9780929587172

Publisher: Ivan R. Dee, 1989

Synopsis

An unspecified catastrophe has overtaken New York. Mr. Lecky, the sole survivor, finds himself in a great department store which has also escaped destruction. Here is everything a human being might need, not only to support existence but to afford luxury and comfort. But not quite everything. As the story unfolds with frightening rapidity, it becomes clear that Mr. Cozzens has constructed a modern parable of the tale of Robinson Crusoe, one with powerful implication—philosophical, psychological, mystical—for the survival of modern man. "Whatever the conclusion at which the reader arrives, what is beyond doubt is that the book is an interesting and distinguished piece of work."—London Times Literary Supplement. "Mr. Cozzens is no mean artist in prose, and he has original ideas. He works also with admirable economy of mean, and with realistic detail that rivets the imagination."—Saturday Review. "No one who has ever read a novel of his has forgotten it."—Bernard De Voto.

About this title

About the Author:

James Gould Cozzens (1903–1978) was born in Chicago and studied at the Kent School in Connecticut and at Harvard University. He left Harvard to devote his full time to writing, and over time his career was distinguished by critical and popular success. His novels include Men and Brethren, The Just and the Unjust, and Guard of Honor, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize.

Review:

Thoroughly upsetting nightmarish story, with a dubious beginning and a yet more dubious end. A sort of Thorne Smith gone loco, minus his usual interblending of sex phantasms. The story of a man of uncertain mental equipment immured in a department store while civilization has been, apparently swept from the earth. The embarrassment of plenty - with no satisfaction in possession. Parts of it are so well done that it seems a pity that it is confused by nightmares of confusion and - at times - unmotivated horrors. (Kirkus Reviews)

About this edition

• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0929587170
• ISBN 13: 9780929587172
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 119