- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Scribner; First Printing edition (21 Feb 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0743272986
- ISBN-13: 978-0743272988
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 14.2 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,497,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"With only her second book Dana Spiotta has become, I think, a major American writer. The ironic connections she makes between the cultural divide of the early '70s and late '90s are chilling and delicious. This scary and often brilliant novel comes together beautifully in the end -- there's an intense satisfaction of seeing everything link up so movingly and with such warmth, and yet Spiotta is the only female writer I know whose prose reminds me of the cool ambient poetry and steely precision of Don DeLillo, and "Eat the Document" is as darkly exact and thrilling as the political novels of Joan Didion."
-- Bret Easton Ellis, author of "Lunar Park"
Metro
'a dark, gripping quasi-thriller that, as it digs deep into America's post-war counterculture, challenges as much as it beguiles.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
IT IS EASY for a life to become unblessed. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
IT IS EASY for a life to become unblessed. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A fantastic book someone from any other country in the world just couldn't have written. The United States has always been disunited, politically and in every other way. What Dana Spiotta does very subtley is highlight these differences and finds how people survive when the dominant political force in America has always been pro big business, anti union, and always running counter to the best interests of the American people. Brilliantly characterised and finely plotted this is the sort of 'political' novel you don't see very often. File alongside Robert Stone, Joan Didion and Carolyn Chute.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
With only her second novel, Dana Spiotta has proved herself a major chronicler and interpreter of contemporary American culture. Beginning in the early 70s and ending in 2000 (before the planes hit), this book evokes the lives of two contrasting generations of socially concerned US citizens.
The big influence here is DeLillo, but Spiotta manages to combine the insights his work provides with a renewed emphasis on characterisation and a warm resonance in the dialogue which contrasts with his studied coldness. Each character manages to be real and rounded, as well as representative of a recognisable strand of contemporary experience.
The book deals with nostalgia in a critically astute manner through Jason's eventual understanding of both his mother and his obsession with the Beach Boys. We see the depressing corporatisation of protest and social concern in the figure of Josh, contrasted with the renewing possibility of a radical politics in Miranda. The question of disturbing generational inheritance is probed through the figure of Henry. The place of art in politics and culture is interrogated subtly and persuasively in the discussions of Bobby's films. And the tone throughout stays the right side of sentimental, even in an ending that weaves all the strands together.
Finally, and most prominently through the figure of Mary/Caroline, we are left to ponder the question of responsibility in our (post)modern world; where it might reside and how to regain and renew it. The articulation of this question is the book's finest achievement, and places Spiotta firmly at the centre of a new wave of American writers dealing with this and other pressing concerns. Rarely has such a short novel dealt so impressively with so many of the difficult issues that face us at the beginning of the twenty-first century. A National Book Award nomination was the least it deserved.
The big influence here is DeLillo, but Spiotta manages to combine the insights his work provides with a renewed emphasis on characterisation and a warm resonance in the dialogue which contrasts with his studied coldness. Each character manages to be real and rounded, as well as representative of a recognisable strand of contemporary experience.
The book deals with nostalgia in a critically astute manner through Jason's eventual understanding of both his mother and his obsession with the Beach Boys. We see the depressing corporatisation of protest and social concern in the figure of Josh, contrasted with the renewing possibility of a radical politics in Miranda. The question of disturbing generational inheritance is probed through the figure of Henry. The place of art in politics and culture is interrogated subtly and persuasively in the discussions of Bobby's films. And the tone throughout stays the right side of sentimental, even in an ending that weaves all the strands together.
Finally, and most prominently through the figure of Mary/Caroline, we are left to ponder the question of responsibility in our (post)modern world; where it might reside and how to regain and renew it. The articulation of this question is the book's finest achievement, and places Spiotta firmly at the centre of a new wave of American writers dealing with this and other pressing concerns. Rarely has such a short novel dealt so impressively with so many of the difficult issues that face us at the beginning of the twenty-first century. A National Book Award nomination was the least it deserved.
4 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was very excited to read Dana Spiotta's 'EAT THE DOCUMENT' not only because the premise sounded great but also because of all the praise it had generated. Unfortunately this novel did not live up to my expectations at all. The first three fourths of the book was, in my opinion, nothing more than words on a page. It did not set the stage for the heart of the story nor was it very interesting. So many times I considered putting the book down never to pick it up again, however, an unfinished book nags at me therefore I was compelled to complete it. Only the last hundred or so pages, where the focus was more on the main characters Mary Whittaker and Bobby Desoto, made the book at all redeemable. I would have loved a lot less of the pretentious social commentary and more of an in depth look into SAFE the 70's radical group that Mary and Bobby belonged to as well as a better look into Mary's life not only for the first few years after she went underground but in present day as well.
Although this was not the fast paced thriller about two fugitives separated not only by time but irreparable actions that I thought it was, I am glad that I finished the book because if I hadn't I would have missed the best part of the story. However, this book takes a lot of patience. If you are not into the history of the 70's radical movement and how it relates to today, this may not be the book for you.
Although this was not the fast paced thriller about two fugitives separated not only by time but irreparable actions that I thought it was, I am glad that I finished the book because if I hadn't I would have missed the best part of the story. However, this book takes a lot of patience. If you are not into the history of the 70's radical movement and how it relates to today, this may not be the book for you.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
