10 used & new from £0.01
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
A Disorder Peculiar to the Country
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside another edition of this book

A Disorder Peculiar to the Country (Hardcover)

by Ken Kalfus (Author)
3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


4 new from £0.01 6 used from £0.01
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 11 used & new from £0.49
Paperback (New edition) £7.99 £5.99 23 used & new from £0.45
Audio Download (Unabridged) £19.24 £10.10
or £3.99 with new Audible.co.uk membership.
Preloaded Digital Audio Player Order it used

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

by Jonathan Safran Foer
4.1 out of 5 stars (40)  £5.38
The 9/11 Commission Report: The Full Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States

The 9/11 Commission Report: The Full Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States

by National Commission on Terrorist Attacks
3.2 out of 5 stars (17)  £6.16
Falling Man: A Novel

Falling Man: A Novel

by Don DeLillo
3.0 out of 5 stars (7)  £4.86
First Love, Last Rites

First Love, Last Rites

by Ian McEwan
3.5 out of 5 stars (11)  £4.78
The Black Album

The Black Album

by Hanif Kureishi
3.5 out of 5 stars (11)  £5.06
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd (7 Aug 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0743286081
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743286084
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.4 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,062,655 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

JONATHAN FRANZEN

'Wry, humane, precise and beautifully smitten with ideas'

Book of the Week, THE TIMES

'Absorbing, intelligent, witty and wry'
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

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)
 
(11)
(8)
(4)
(4)
(5)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(2)
(2)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

A Disorder Peculiar to the Country
51% buy the item featured on this page:
A Disorder Peculiar to the Country 3.2 out of 5 stars (6)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
23% buy
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 4.1 out of 5 stars (40)
£5.38
The History of Love
13% buy
The History of Love 4.0 out of 5 stars (64)
£4.92
If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things
9% buy
If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things 3.5 out of 5 stars (81)
£4.77
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.2 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshingly improper, 7 Dec 2006
By Keith D. Gumery (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
As a Brit who lives in the US, I have to say that I found this novel incredibly refreshing given the tremendously sensitive climate here. What Kalfus does is brave - he makes us laugh at things that are unpleasant and uncomfortable, and in doing so he deflates much of the fear and outrage that still ring with us from 2001. He takes a very human story - a divorce gone bad - and places it in the context of American tragedy and paranoia. It works, for the most part. I do disagree with the reviewer here who says that Kalfus didn't know how to end the book. Yes, the ending is strange and disconcerting, but it is meant to be. The scenes at the end yank us back and remind us of what a cancelled flight and a delay getting to work can do to lives. Chance and different decisions, even in the face of terrible events, can make our lives change in unexpected ways and give us new hope. If only more writers would be so brave.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
3.0 out of 5 stars "A novel that marries the political and the personal to create a story about divorce.", 17 Jan 2009
By Luke Edwards "lukejedwards" (Leicester, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: A Disorder Peculiar to the Country (Paperback)
Ken Kelfus's A Disorder Peculiar to the Country takes its name from Oliver Goldsmith's quote: "There is a disorder peculiar to the country, which every season makes strange ravages among them." Since this quote makes mention of the seasons, it can be no coincidence that Kalfus has chosen to write the novel chronologically, month after month, thus pulling the reader into a story which is told in a way which reflects the changing of the seasons.

He begins the novel with the character of Joyce on the roof of her New York office on September 11th, watching the World Trade Center in flames, plumes of black smoke billowing, secretly feeling "a pang of pleasure" deep within herself when she watches the towers collapse. We soon discover the reason for her elation is that her husband Marshall works in the World Trade Center, so Joyce suspects, rather sadistically, that he might be dead.

As it transpires, Marshall survived 9/11, but Joyce's hatred of him (and their hatred of each other) continues. Both characters have been locked in a long and bitter divorce where, due to a legal wrangling, they have been forced to live together because neither one of them wants to give up their apartment. This clearly establishes the two main characters' seething dislike for each other, and from Sept. 11 onwards, the novel explores both of their lives as they await their divorce hearing, mirroring each turbulent event with the social and political aftermath of 9/11 (i.e. during the Anthrax attacks in NYC, Joyce informs the FBI that she suspects Marshall is responsible, and later, while walking through the city, Marshall imagines a suicide bomb attack in vivid detail).

Since the novel is narrated omnisciently, Kalfus allows both characters to convey to the reader their inner exploration along the way - and as both characters attempt to search for answers within themselves, the whole of society's search for truth and meaning post-9/11 takes on a much deeper resonance. This use of omniscient narration humanizes both characters, since it displays their inner humanity, their conscience, and also puts some of New York's political and social anxieties into context.

In simple terms then, A Disorder Peculiar to the Country is probably best described as a novel that marries the political and the personal to create a story about divorce. And as far as the subject of identity is concerned, the political or social disarray Marshall and Joyce witness bears some relation to their perception about themselves, each other and, more importantly perhaps, their divorce.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
3.0 out of 5 stars Neither terribly interesting nor terribly funny, 15 May 2008
By Linda Oskam "dutch-traveller" (Amsterdam Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: A Disorder Peculiar to the Country (Paperback)
Marshall and Joyce live and work in New York and are fighting fiercely about their divorce. When on 9 September 2001 two planes hit the WTC, Joyce thinks that Marshall is dead because he works in the WTC and Marshall presumes Joyce dead as she was supposed to be on the United flight. But both miraculously escape and their war continues. Both have greedy attorneys that try to make the most of the situation and both try to come up with ways to hurt the other. But deep down inside they do not like all this bitter fighting.

This book is supposed to be "intelligent and witty", but I found it to have a rather mediocre storyline and a not very creatively funny plot. Yes, it is funny when the husband tries to ruin the stock portfolio of his wife by buying only down-the-drain stocks, only to find out that she is making even more money due to the twists and turns of fate, but it is not terribly inventive. And the wife seducing a mutual friend is also not terribly creative. All in all a rather mediocre book in which the 9/11 theme could have been explored more creatively. A very thin 3 stars.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A hidden gem!
I came across this book completely by chance, but was entranced by Calfus' precise and incisive writing. Read more
Published on 4 May 2007 by Cookinglover

1.0 out of 5 stars Some laughable dialogue
I really tried to like this book and I did finish it. The characters and their dialogue are poorly observed. Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2006 by Comichael

3.0 out of 5 stars A Book Peculiar To This Reader.
The story of a divorcing couple who both managed to survive 9/11 (much to the others annoyance), "A Disorder Peculiar . . . Read more
Published on 17 Jun 2006 by S. Creek

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject








i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.