See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

41 used & new from £0.01
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Middle Age: A Romance
 
 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Middle Age: A Romance (Paperback)

by Joyce Carol Oates (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


4 new from £3.70 37 used from £0.01
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 2 used & new from £20.95
Paperback £10.99 £10.99 25 used & new from £0.01
Audio Cassette (Unabridged) Order it used
Unknown Binding 27 used & new from £0.90

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

I'll Take You There

I'll Take You There

by Joyce Carol Oates
5.0 out of 5 stars (3)  £5.99
The Falls

The Falls

by Joyce Carol Oates
4.2 out of 5 stars (5)  £6.99
Black Girl/White Girl

Black Girl/White Girl

by Joyce Carol Oates
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £5.99
Mother, Missing

Mother, Missing

by Joyce Carol Oates
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £5.99
We Were the Mulvaneys

We Were the Mulvaneys

by Joyce Carol Oates
4.0 out of 5 stars (28)  £6.99
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 560 pages
  • Publisher: Fourth Estate Ltd; New edition edition (1 Jul 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1841156426
  • ISBN-13: 978-1841156422
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 3.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 49,569 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #4 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > O > Oates, Joyce Carol

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

Product Description

Review
'Oates is a massive literary heavyweight, and many earnestly believe she could knock the other contenders for the title of Great American Novelist - Updike, Roth, Wolfe, Mailer.' Helen Falconer, Guardian 'A stylish and wise chronicle of transformation and regeneration.' Jonathan Bate, books of the year, Sunday Telegraph 'The richness and excitement of Oates' novels lie in their hyper-real description of modern life.' Sunday Times 'A riveting story.' Val Hennessy, Books of the Year, Daily Mail

Jonathan Bate, books of the year, Sunday Telegraph
'A stylish and wise chronicle of transformation and regeneration.'


See all Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below
(1)
(1)
See all 6 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Middle Age: A Romance
50% buy the item featured on this page:
Middle Age: A Romance 4.4 out of 5 stars (8)
I'll Take You There
16% buy
I'll Take You There 5.0 out of 5 stars (3)
£5.99
The Gravedigger's Daughter
13% buy
The Gravedigger's Daughter 4.0 out of 5 stars (8)
£5.99
Mother, Missing
12% buy
Mother, Missing 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£5.99
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars 50 is fun?, 5 Jan 2003
By Elizabeth Taylor "Barsine" (France) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)      
I purchased this book while browsing at Heathrow Aiport and what struck me was the opening line. This describes the death of the central character of the book Adam who dies rather embarassingly whilst trying to save a young girl - embarrassing as he has a heart attack in the process as his body is not as young as he thinks it is and as a boat comes to rescue her before he can. Although Adam is the central character in the book we never get to meet him due to his untimely demise - but we do get to know a lot about him though his friends in a middle class surburbia someone in the east coast of the US.

The book is a description told from the individual friends point of view of how they cope with his death as well as an attempt by these friends and through them the reader to understand who Adam was. The interest of the novel is the author's great ability to get inside a character and to see the world from their point of view. Their petty thoughts, their bitchy comments, their doubts, their disappointments and all the thoughts that we keep from one another even our nearest and dearest.

As Adam was an icon of an alternative lifestyle in a dull surburbia of dinner parties and plastic surgery his death acts as a catalyst to the inhabitants of the town all of whom it seems experience some sort of mid life crisis. Once he is dead and the different individual's view of the world can no longer be reflected and propped up by their illuions of Adam they are obliged to fact up to their existance alone. Despite many attempts by the individuals to etch out who Adam was he remains ever elusive. The real interest in the novel is in seeing how the characters come to terms with themselves, how they change in their view of each other, how they come to accept their families warts and all and how each one of them resolves the problem of being middle aged.

This is an excellent read for anyone interested in human nature and some of the descriptions of expressions and feelings are downright funny.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Stand-out novel from outstanding writer, 21 May 2004
By c westwood (London) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)      
This review is from: Middle Age: A Romance
Joyce Carol Oates is writing at the top of her form with this outstanding novel. Set in wealthy town in upstate New York, the novel opens with the drowning of a Adam Berendt, local sculptor, trying to save a child from drowning. The rest of the novel tells the story of the women of the town, the effect the arrival of the artist had on them, and the greater effect brought about by his death.

Dealing with personal themes such as "romance", attraction and grief, it also takes a serious look at the lives of a wealthy East coast town, where everyone is "middle-aged", including the mature children and youthful grand-parents. Her characterisation is astounding, which makes this novel a very engaging read.

Finally, I have to say that the hardback US edition is a truly beautiful book.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Kudos For Joyce Carol Oates One More Time, 18 Jan 2002
By Heather Marshall Negahdar "SUGAR-CANE" (Bridgetown, Barbados) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)      
This review is from: Middle Age: A Romance (Paperback)
Could you want it any better than this? Certainly not. Since reading Middle Age, I intend to delve into more of Ms. Oates'work.
Middle Age is set in a small community of Salthill-on-Hudson,outside Manhattan. Here the
middle age folk are young at heart, sexy and
definitely wealthy. Most of the couples are either divorced, or not living well with each other....but the are taking everything in stride and just enjoying life as much as they possibly can, until the entire community is sent into total shock and despair, and Salthill-on Hudson will never be the same again. Adam Brenddt (a newcomer of sorts to the neighbourhood) dies suddenly after rescuing a litte girl from drowning.
The women of the community take this death very hard as they were all attracted to Adam in different ways.....while the men grieve too, for they will miss their manly talks, his ever-present advise...and of course having a drink in the pub. In fact the men hold Adam in rather high esteem even as his past remains a mytery to them all.
Joyce Carol Oates is so brilliant at throwing delightful characters together and I found myself having deep empathy for both male and female sexes in this book So true to life; you can feel your heart breaking for these characters.
With this remarkable read, you'll meet people just like you and me and some of our friends, and also their children. I gave this book five stars as it is a pager turner with great depth. But then again Ms.Oates never disappoints..........read it real soon

Heather Marshall

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


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

2.0 out of 5 stars Wordy, laboured and vacuous
I decided to read this novel on the strength of Amazon readers' reviews and the author's reputation. Now I wonder if we have read the same book. Read more
Published 13 months ago by reader 451

5.0 out of 5 stars Stand-out novel from outstanding novelist
Joyce Carol Oates is writing at the top of her form with this outstanding novel. Set in wealthy town in upstate New York, the novel opens with the drowning of a Adam Berendt,... Read more
Published on 21 May 2004 by c westwood

5.0 out of 5 stars First-rate novel from first-rate writer
Joyce Carol Oates is writing at the top of her form with this outstanding novel. Set in wealthy town in upstate New York, the novel opens with the drowning of a Adam Berendt,... Read more
Published on 21 May 2004 by c westwood

5.0 out of 5 stars Starting New
Middle Age is about several upper class characters exploring potential new paths at the mid-point of their lives. Read more
Published on 14 Nov 2002 by Eric Anderson

4.0 out of 5 stars middle age
*to my princeton friends, who are nowhere in these pages* - this is j.c.o.'s dedication for her novel, defining a setting for the reader right from page one. Read more
Published on 14 Oct 2002

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

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


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

Fun for Everyone

Christmas Gifts
Achieve over 15,000 RPM with our great range of Powerballs.

›Shop the Powerball store

  

More From Joyce Carol Oates

We Were the...

We Were the Mulvaneys

Joyce Carol Oates' We Were the Mulvaneys is the story of a happy... Read more
£8.99 £6.99

 

A Close Shave

Philips Nivea Coolskin HS8060 Moisturizing Rotary Shaving System
For all types of hair removal, stay smooth with Amazon.co.uk.

›Discover Shaving & Hair Removal

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

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

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates