Just getting into Yates, and am very impressed. Enjoyed hearing your thoughts on his work. Thanks, Scott. (Love that signed first edition of Revolutionary Road!)
After your recommended, I went and listened to the The Revolutionary Rd in audiobook version and my friend you’re right in saying to put down anything you’re doing and read this book. I had seen the movie but the movie is only a skin, the meat is in the book. Thank you for recommending this book. It is one the best novels I’ve listened to lately.
Welcome to the bathtub, Nasrin. That's one of my all-time favorite books. Come by our Facebook page anytime to meet other Yates-o-philes: facebook.com/groups/702202229874384 And/Or give me a location and preferred "name" and I'll put you on our map of international bathers! Stay safe. Scott
His short stories are classics of their kind, fairly straightforward and told in a straightforward style - incredible to think he couldn't sell to the New Yorker (correct me if I'm wrong!) Despite good intentions I haven't got to the novels yet. Just like to mention the recent death of Stephen Dixon, another under-sung writer deserving of awards and the attention of critics - not that we need the likes of James Wood to tell us how good his work is. He wrote many novels and hundreds of very idiosyncratic short stories.
Yeah Yates was badly treated by the dumb critics, and there are a lot of dumb critics. His novels are great. I have heard good things about Dixon but have never tried him-those huge block paragraphs always made me nervous! But I will try him eventually. S
I just finished Disturbing the Peace. Not his best but entertaining through and thorugh. Read it in a day. Felt like one of short stories fleshed out - not in a bad way!
Yeah, love R. Yates too. Thanks for making this vid. Only discovered him a year or so ago - beautifully observed stuff. Easter Parade a high point for me from the few I've so far read. That 50's period in America fascinates me somehow and he nails it. Make for quite a painful searing read, but tremendous. Another American I'm taken with is the little heard of (in the UK anyway) Richard Bausch. His short stories are damn fine, yet the one novel I read... hmm. I'm sure you'll know of him Scott.
Thanks, Tom. Everything Yates wrote is worth checking out. I know some Bausch stories which I liked but was never quite inspired to take a whole book of his into the bathtub, maybe eventually. Dubus? Tobias Wolff? Cheever? Those are the sorts of writers I think of when I think of Yates, and of course Carver...Keep bathing! S
Thanks for the video and reminder that I must read more Yates. I have read 4 and thought they were all great. Revolutionary Road and Easter Parade are excellent reads. I have 3 others on my bookshelf so I will read ‘Eleven Kinds of Loneliness’ next. By the way, I don’t like taking baths and can’t imagine reading in a bath full of water. I’d be too scared I’d wet the pages of the book. (It’s Australia, it’s warm right now, and a couple of showers a day is the norm for me). Reading in the bath is as zany as me walking the suburban streets near where I live and reading a book whilst walking. I love sitting in a coffee shop reading a book and having a coffee.
Just getting into Yates, and am very impressed. Enjoyed hearing your thoughts on his work. Thanks, Scott. (Love that signed first edition of Revolutionary Road!)
Great, BJW! I hope Yates gives you as many pleasurable bathtub sessions as he gave me, which were a lot! Try his collected stories next! s
After your recommended, I went and listened to the The Revolutionary Rd in audiobook version and my friend you’re right in saying to put down anything you’re doing and read this book. I had seen the movie but the movie is only a skin, the meat is in the book.
Thank you for recommending this book. It is one the best novels I’ve listened to lately.
Welcome to the bathtub, Nasrin. That's one of my all-time favorite books. Come by our Facebook page anytime to meet other Yates-o-philes: facebook.com/groups/702202229874384
And/Or give me a location and preferred "name" and I'll put you on our map of international bathers! Stay safe. Scott
His short stories are classics of their kind, fairly straightforward and told in a straightforward style - incredible to think he couldn't sell to the New Yorker (correct me if I'm wrong!) Despite good intentions I haven't got to the novels yet.
Just like to mention the recent death of Stephen Dixon, another under-sung writer deserving of awards and the attention of critics - not that we need the likes of James Wood to tell us how good his work is. He wrote many novels and hundreds of very idiosyncratic short stories.
Yeah Yates was badly treated by the dumb critics, and there are a lot of dumb critics. His novels are great. I have heard good things about Dixon but have never tried him-those huge block paragraphs always made me nervous! But I will try him eventually. S
I just finished Disturbing the Peace. Not his best but entertaining through and thorugh. Read it in a day. Felt like one of short stories fleshed out - not in a bad way!
That's one of my favorites. It gets even better over the years. Stay safe, Drainel. s
Yeah, love R. Yates too. Thanks for making this vid. Only discovered him a year or so ago - beautifully observed stuff. Easter Parade a high point for me from the few I've so far read. That 50's period in America fascinates me somehow and he nails it. Make for quite a painful searing read, but tremendous. Another American I'm taken with is the little heard of (in the UK anyway) Richard Bausch. His short stories are damn fine, yet the one novel I read... hmm. I'm sure you'll know of him Scott.
Thanks, Tom. Everything Yates wrote is worth checking out. I know some Bausch stories which I liked but was never quite inspired to take a whole book of his into the bathtub, maybe eventually. Dubus? Tobias Wolff? Cheever? Those are the sorts of writers I think of when I think of Yates, and of course Carver...Keep bathing! S
Thanks for the video and reminder that I must read more Yates. I have read 4 and thought they were all great. Revolutionary Road and Easter Parade are excellent reads. I have 3 others on my bookshelf so I will read ‘Eleven Kinds of Loneliness’ next. By the way, I don’t like taking baths and can’t imagine reading in a bath full of water. I’d be too scared I’d wet the pages of the book. (It’s Australia, it’s warm right now, and a couple of showers a day is the norm for me). Reading in the bath is as zany as me walking the suburban streets near where I live and reading a book whilst walking. I love sitting in a coffee shop reading a book and having a coffee.
You should love the Yates stories, George. And yes, reading IS permitted outside of the bathtub but ONLY for members of the IBA! S
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Good but relentlessly depressing. His conjuring tricks are great, his language too. But God.
After getting used to these stories, I begin to see where each new story is going, and the characteristic collapse of each character.
Yeah, I understand. But I actually find his stuff so beautiful in makes me happy. And he's also extremely funny. But always sad. S
After reading and loving Revolutionary Road, I’m going to pick up his short stories again and give them another whirl.