Here are two decades of American life told through four people: Bobby and gay Jonathan, growing up together in a small town in the 1970s; Jonathan's mother Alice; and unconventional Clare, with whom the two grown-up men form a family ....
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Review
A writer of great gifts. Cunningham's voice reaches that lyrical beauty in which even the grimmest events suggest their potential for grace (The New York Times Book Review )
Intensely, almost painfully intimate. A superb and major novel (David Leavitt )
As well as being fluent and attractive, this intimate saga of our times is immensely wise (Mail on Sunday )
Cunningham writes with power and delicacy of his three characters. Yet each one retains the mystery that in people is called soul, and in fiction is called art (The Los Angeles Times )
Extremely intelligent, moving and accomplished. Cunningham has mastered the art of evoking the richness of domestic lives (Sunday Times ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Intensely, almost painfully intimate. A superb and major novel (David Leavitt )
As well as being fluent and attractive, this intimate saga of our times is immensely wise (Mail on Sunday )
Cunningham writes with power and delicacy of his three characters. Yet each one retains the mystery that in people is called soul, and in fiction is called art (The Los Angeles Times )
Extremely intelligent, moving and accomplished. Cunningham has mastered the art of evoking the richness of domestic lives (Sunday Times ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
About the Author
Michael Cunningham lives in New York City.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Michael Cunningham may have won the Pulitzer for The Hours, but A Home at The End of The World is, for me, his best novel. Beautifully written, with an intensely spare lyrical voice, Cunningham examines that hardest of questions - when exactly is it that we have to grow up and take responsibility for our decisions?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Secret Spi
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
"A Home at the End of the World" is a sensitive, thoughtful and intelligent story of two friends growing up in the late 60s and 70s and the woman with whom they form an unconventional relationship in 1980s New York. The book's themes are the search for self and for family and home. It's a book that keeps you involved and stays with you after it has ended - and that makes you think about your own relationships and family.
The writing is quite beautiful with super evocations of place, from the bohemian buzz of New York to the endless Arizona desert. The characters are well-formed, credible and involving. My own personal preference was for the characters of Jonathan and his mother Alice over Bobby and Clare. I felt that the character of Clare lost something through us not being able to "experience" her early life directly. Consequently, one felt more distanced from her and she seemed more enigmatic, although this could well have been the author's intention.
Parts of the book are very moving - I found Jonathan's relationship with his father particularly poignant but I didn't find it depressing. Ultimately, it is a study of what it means to be human.
The writing is quite beautiful with super evocations of place, from the bohemian buzz of New York to the endless Arizona desert. The characters are well-formed, credible and involving. My own personal preference was for the characters of Jonathan and his mother Alice over Bobby and Clare. I felt that the character of Clare lost something through us not being able to "experience" her early life directly. Consequently, one felt more distanced from her and she seemed more enigmatic, although this could well have been the author's intention.
Parts of the book are very moving - I found Jonathan's relationship with his father particularly poignant but I didn't find it depressing. Ultimately, it is a study of what it means to be human.
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By J. Pickering
Format:Paperback
"A Home at the End of the World" has to be Michael Cunningham's finest book to date. In a sea of bland coming of age novels this book leaps miles ahead and is a must for anyone who enjoys reading alternative gay fiction. The core of this book is not, however, about homosexuality it takes a refreshing look at how people from differing backgroungs come together to forge a life together in a not so successful manner. All I can say is, read this book, it's fantastic!!
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4.2 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Live and love inventing a real and concrete utopia.
Of all the books I've read recently on the topic of "gay" (a series of Edmund White + My policeman + London triptych+ Like people in history + Evrybody loves you+ Flesh and... Read more
Published 4 months ago by french reader
4.0 out of 5 stars
A clear Arizona night, crazy with stars...
Two boys grow up; they are close, they are victims of their hormones, like all boys, but perhaps things go a little too far. Certainly Jonathan's mother is suspicious of Bobby. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Eileen Shaw
5.0 out of 5 stars
Little gem
First book I read from Michael Cunningham and absolutely loved his style. The author managed to cram so much into this novel, every two pages you have to stop and just reflect on... Read more
Published on 3 May 2011 by Charles
5.0 out of 5 stars
this book follows me
All I can say is read it and listen to Bobby. He knows all. This book finds me where ever I am in the world. Just found it in Rabat, Morocco. Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2011 by J. Nagy
4.0 out of 5 stars
Home is a place to escape from... and to return to.
At first it took me a few pages to get into this book, possibly because the first person narrator moves from a character to another, creating a slight initial disorientation. Read more
Published on 18 July 2010 by Alessandra F.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Home is where the heart is
I adored the film and went online as soon as it had finished to find out more about it. Havng discovered that Michael Cunningham had written the book I had to buy it. Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2009 by Magpie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marvellous
A superb novel, very well written. Excellent!!!
Published on 6 Jan 2005 by "cellos"
4.0 out of 5 stars
A novel of clarity
Michael Cunningham has a method of writing that makes the reader FEEL every experience that his characters are going through. Read more
Published on 27 May 2003
4.0 out of 5 stars
A novel of Clarity
Michael Cunningham has a method of writing that makes the reader FEEL every experience that his characters are going though. Read more
Published on 22 May 2003
4.0 out of 5 stars
interesting read
This book is beautifully written, guiding the reader through the lives of three different people who are in what could seem a bizarre relationship together. Read more
Published on 28 Sep 2001
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