- Paperback: 365 pages
- Publisher: HarperPerennial; Reprint edition (Sep 1990)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0060920076
- ISBN-13: 978-0060920074
- Product Dimensions: 13.5 x 20.1 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 630,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Wade Whitehouse, divorced, estranged from his young daughter, spends his days as a well-driller, snow-plow operator, and policeman, his nights in a wind-swept trailer park. But when a union boss is killed in an apparent hunting accident near Wade's home, and he is convinced that it is murder, he seizes the event as a chance to right many wrongs - unaware that as he unravels the mystery he himself will become unravelled. Soon his hunger for justice and self-respect become inseparable from a desperate violence.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
THIS IS THE STORY of my older brother' strange criminal behavior and his disappearance. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
THIS IS THE STORY of my older brother' strange criminal behavior and his disappearance. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It's interesting to read the other reviews here. It seems that people who live in trailers don't read books, because most people here seem to view this book as an interesting study of another species. Maybe people who live in trailers just don't write reviews on Amazon yet.
I didn't feel Wade's life was much different from the guy in Bonfire of the Vanities, who couldn't cope on a million-dollar income. Although it was an equally-detailed description of the surroundings and the problems, a million bucks and a Harvard education wouldn't have saved Wade.
But I digress, like all reviews submitted after midnight and a few drinks. The bottom line: a beautifully written book. One I will read again and again over the next few years.
P.S. I haven't seen the movie. In general, I don't like to see movies made from books. But casting Nick Nolte was brilliant. Maybe I'll buy the video and put it on ice for a while.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Russel Bank's Affliction is a devastating portrait of the psychological resignation of a man who simply isn't strong enough to overcome the burdens of a damaging chilhood. The self destruction of Wade Whitehouse includes enough elements that are familiar to any of us experientially that it never fails to touch home in its resonance. The difference between the tragic protagonist and the reader is simply one of degree.
One can't help but think as they read this sorrowful portrayal, "could this happen to me?". What would it take for the simple burdens of everyday living to cause a fatal crack in a man's firmament and how important are things like a person's upbringing in arming an individual to face these obstacles?
Bank's writing cuts directly to the inner workings of Whitehouse's mental environment which, as the novel progresses, becomes increasingly bleak. Our landscape is equal parts real and fabricated by our delicate neural machinery; Banks, better than any author in my experience, makes this alarmingly clear. Each time he describes a mindset or a mental picture it is absolutely accurate.
Format:Paperback
What a masterpiece this is , an absolute classic and easily one of the greatest novels ever written . The story of Wade Whitehouse and his nagging sore tooth and ...life , love , longing , heartbreak , jealousy every aspect of the human condition is addressed here. I will never be without a copy of this book !
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
small town made large
I'm still hesitant to go out and rent the video as I don't know if I'm ready to put myself through it all again so soon. Read more
Published on 6 Aug 1999
Very Engrossing Read!
I couldn't put this book down! There's something about Russell Banks' writing style and the fabulous storyline which made reading this book a truly unique experience. Read more
Published on 1 Aug 1999
Excellent!
Banks is not a "happy" writer -- I would not press his books on Jan Karon fans, for example -- but he is a gifted writer, one who so ably described a poor Northeastern... Read more
Published on 27 July 1999
Awesome!!!!!
This book is hysterical!!!! I escpecially enjoyed the part where Fudge covered his baby brother with stamps. Read more
Published on 2 July 1999
Excellant read
Starts slowly and builds momentum as it goes. Makes Wade as understandable as someone you have known all your life, even though there are no such similar characters in your past. Read more
Published on 26 Jun 1999
I thought it was written with spirit and imagination.
At first the book was boring, I wanted to put it down. Once I got into what the book was actually about it became interesting and suddenly I couldn't put it down. Read more
Published on 8 Jun 1999
The Best Novel Of The Year
Russell Banks has written one of the best novels of the decade. It is well written and it is a true masterpiece of American fiction.
Published on 8 April 1999
Did Jack kill Evan Twombley?
You know, I just can't figure out what Banks wants us to take away. he is far to realalistic a writer to go for the postmodern 'make your own ending' like 'In the lake of the... Read more
Published on 24 Mar 1999
excellent characterization
Russell Banks has done one of the best jobs of characterization I've ever experienced. I feel as though there is a real person named Wade Whitehouse in the world, and that if he... Read more
Published on 24 Mar 1999
So glad it made it
Read Affliction when it first came out--so glad it's been made into a movie! Just a great, great book with a wonderful strong main character and Nolte is perfect as Wade... Read more
Published on 12 Mar 1999
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