Men Are Not Stars

[nice solid book, with just the faintest bit of handling wear, remnants of old price markings in front of book, small vintage bookseller's rubber-stamped name (Bertrand Smith's Book Store, aka Acres of Books, Long Beach) at lower corner of front pastedown; jacket shows some wear at edges and corners, nothing too serious]. Novel about a chronically unsuccessful Irish-American painter, one Daniel O'Riordan, "a sort of God's Angry Man, an idealistic, mercuric, shouting, charming, exasperating Celt," whose belief in his own genius never wavers, despite his resolute unwillingness to get with the times. (He persists in attempting to paint and sell gigantic depictions of historical scenes, "in an era which is discovering modern art.") To complete the stereotype, he (of course) has a bit of a problem with The Bottle as well, and all of this together causes a good deal of trouble for his loyal and long-suffering wife and children (one of whom is the book's narrator). Much of the book takes place in pre-World War I Chicago, although during the summertime the clan goes out on the road, with father earning their way (barely) as an itinerant portraitist of farmers and villagers. The author had previously published a well-regarded book of poetry, and this novel was lauded by at least one critic for its poetic language and its "sensitive and superior writing," despite the same critic's caveats about "the poet's touch [being] not always adequate to the novelist's needs." Overall, however, the book seems to have gotten a lackluster reception, and this first novel, however promising, was not followed by a second; Millspaugh went on to a brief teaching career, followed by a stint in government service (he retired from the position of publications officer of the U.S. Public Health Service before dying young-ish, at 52, in 1961).

Product Info

Publisher: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc.

Year: 1938

Type: Used

Binding: Hardcover

First Edition

Seller Info

ReadInk

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Country: United States