The Day of the Locust - Softcover

Nathanael West

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0451517989 ISBN 13: 9780451517982

Publisher: Signet Classics, 1983

Synopsis

Tod Hackett is a brilliant young artist - and a man in danger of losing his heart. Brought to an LA studio as a set-designer, he is soon caught up in a fantasy world where the cult of celebrity rules. But when he becomes besotted by the beautiful Faye, an aspiring actress and occasional call-girl, his dream rapidly becomes a nightmare. For, with little in the way of looks and no money to buy her time, Tod's desperate passion can only lead to frustration, disillusionment and rage.

About this title

About the Author

Nathanael West is often compared to his close friend F. Scott Fitzgerald, but the dark humor and muscularity of his work offers something distinct to modern readers, exploring as it does the artifice and the dark reality of the human experience in the face of infinite promise - also know as 'the American Dream'.

Review

“Los Angeles has been the subject of, and setting for, many fine novels yet The Day of the Locust still feels like the single best-achieved piece of fiction the city has inspired.”
- The Los Angeles Times

“West's Day of the Locust, a sun-blazed Polaroid of its time, seems permanently oracular.”
- Jonathan Lethem

“Nathanael West's humor is of course not at the expense of the victim. It is a horselaugh at a world that is too ugly and bitter to be dealt with in any other way.”
- The New York Times

Edition details

• Publisher: Signet Classics
• Publication date: 1983
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0451517989
• ISBN 13: 9780451517982
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 204