One day, rooting around in the bookstore, i came across jonathan yardley s effusive misfit. Frederick exley and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. True, there are moments where the book sags and other times where it seems that exley is writing what i should have said in some confrontation. Fred exley s a fan s notes is a good example of that. Buy a fan s notes by frederick exley online at alibris. Aug 10, 2015 with the passing of nfl playerbroadcaster frank gifford, as good a time as any to recommend frederick exleys 1968 novel a fans notes. Nearly 50 years since its publication, a fans notes remains an astonishing meditation on broken dreams and the struggle to just hold on. He was nominated for a national book award, was the. Jan 05, 20 how i came to be reading frederick exley s astonishing fictional memoir a fan s notes, i have no idea. Fred exleys a fans notes is a good example of that. A fans notes the estate of frederick exley nick hornby. Frederick earl fred exley march 28, 1929 june 17, 1992 was an american writer best known as the author of the fictional memoir a fans notes. In a brief note to the reader in the opening pages exley asserts. Never a best seller, now in print largely thanks to its enshrinement in the modern library, a fans notes is a specialty item in the way the big lebowski is a cult.
Fred exley is the author of a fan s notes, pages from a cold island and last notes from home. Oct 19, 1997 in many ways, a fan s notes was exley s one great moment of triumph, a rigorously selfreflective piece of autobiographical fiction that uses the author s imagined relationship with gifford as a. A fan s notes by exley, frederick and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Subtitled a fictional memoir and categorized as fiction, the book is somewhat autobiographical. But gatsby had character a quality that exley he knows it too painfully lacks. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. A fan s notes is a novel by frederick exley, first published in 1968. Buy a fans notes by frederick exley online at alibris. A fans notes by frederick exley 1977, paperback for sale. One day, rooting around in the bookstore, i came across jonathan yardleys effusive misfit. A fans notes, exleys landmark 1968 personal history and fictional memoir, pivoted on the authors lifelong obsession with gifford. The books originality immediately stood out from the manufactured best sellers headed for hollywood.
A fan s notes by the estate of frederick exley, 9780224083096, download free ebooks, download free pdf epub ebook. Mordantly and poignantly, exley describes the profound failures of his lifeprofessional, sexual, and personal. Frederick exley s inimitable fictional memoir a fan s notes has assumed the status of a classic since its first publication in 1968. Frank giffords death a reminder of his biggest fan. Apr 27, 2010 fred exley is the author of a fan s notes, pages from a cold island and last notes from home.
A fans notes 1968, pages from a cold island 1975, and last notes from home 1988, plus enough magazine art. I cannot remember ever having been so blindsided by a writer i didnt know, as i was when a friend lent me a copy of a fans notes by frederick exley. Frederick exleys first novel is basically a memoir with a wink a sort of zen and the. The first edition of the novel was published in 1968, and was written by frederick exley. May have page creases, creased spine, bent cover or. Bunny is the daisy buchanan to exley s jay gatsby, and a fan s notes makes clear once again how central to our literature fitzgerald s great novel is. Free download or read online a fans notes pdf epub book. Though the events in this book bear similarity to those of that long malaise, my life. Pdf a fans notes book by frederick exley free download 385. The book s originality immediately stood out from the manufactured best sellers headed for hollywood. In a brief note to the reader in the opening pages, exley writes.
Buy a fans notes book online at low prices in india a. Mar 08, 2018 fred exley s a fan s notes is a good example of that. Yardley also wrote the preface to the modern library reissue of a fan s notes. Pages can include considerable notesin pen or highlighterbut the notes cannot obscure the text. Frederick exley is the author of a fans notes, pages from a cold island, and last notes from home. Frederick exley s first novel is basically a memoir with a wink a sort of zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance for selfloathing depressive alcoholics. When i read in early summer that frederick exley, best known as the author of a fans notes, was dead of a stroke at the age of 62, i wasnt surprised. See all books authored by frederick exley, including a fans notes, and last notes from home, and more on thriftbooks. A fans notes is the odyssey of one mans unending heartbreak and retreat into an inner world of fantasy and dreams, a retreat, by his own account and language, punctuated by alcoholism and trips to the madhouse. Yardley s central thesis is that exley was a brilliant one book writer. Frederick exleys first novel is basically a memoir with a wink a sort of zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance for selfloathing depressive alcoholics. Odd, i thought, that there would be an author deserving of such expansive praise, yet of whom i had never heard. Unlike some men, i had never drunk for boldness or charm or wit. Fredrick exleys a fans notes is the ordinary jos book.
Most of the books of my lifetime have an explicable chronology to them. For him, it is not marriage, children, the perfect house and such. The main characters of this fiction, novels story are fred exley, bunny sue allorgee. Fredrick exley s a fan s notes is the ordinary jo s book. In todays literary climate with the blurred and shifting demarcation between memoir. Subtitled a fictional memoir and categorized as fiction, the book is semiautobiographical. Signs of wear include aesthetic issues such as scratches, worn covers, damaged binding. The book itself is an interesting autobiographical fiction, a good literary drunkalogue with some excellent moments. A fans notes by frederick exley, first edition abebooks. His attempts to find a place for himself in an unaccommodating world take him from the university of southern california to chicagowhere he meets. The last, a fictional memoir called last notes from home 1988, is a sad book.
Frederick exley is the author of a fan s notes, pages from a cold island, and last notes from home. He was nominated for a national book award, was the recipient of the william faulkner award, recevied the national institute of arts and letters rosenthal award, and won a playboy silver medal for the best nonfiction piece of 1974. I read joseph hellers something happened when i was first working in. A fans notes by exley, frederick and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Fred exley is the author of a fans notes, pages from a cold island and last notes from home. With jerry orbach, patricia collins, burgess meredith, rosemary murphy. Pages can include considerable notes in pen or highlighterbut the notes cannot obscure the text. May have page creases, creased spine, bent cover or markings inside. No one who has read it can ever forget it, wrote james dickey. The novels protagonist is in fact named frederick exley. Frederick exley wrote three books in something like 30 years. Frederick exley books list of books by author frederick exley.
Buy a fans notes by frederick exley, nick hornby isbn. I had used alcohol for precisely what it was, a depressant to check the mental exhilaration produced by extended sobriety. Bunny is the daisy buchanan to exleys jay gatsby, and a fans notes makes clear once again how central to our literature fitzgeralds great novel is. About to leave the haven of our separate universities and be thrown out onto the brutal freespinning of the world, as we walked arm in arm through the snow, we carried with us, if only unconsciously, the knowledge that it. Sep, 1992 frederick exley wrote three books in something like 30 years. Frederick exley is the author of a fans notes, pages from a cold island, and last notes from home he was nominated for a national book award, was the recipient of the william faulkner award, received the national institute of arts and letters rosenthal award, and won a playboy silver medal for the best nonfiction piece of 1974. He was nominated for a national book award, was the recipient of the william faulkner award, received the national institute of arts and.
Paperback the item is fairly worn but still readable. The item may have identifying markings on it or show other signs of previous use. Like hermann hesses steppenwolf and anything by antonin artaud, frederick exleys a fans notes is one of those books that gets pushed on you by crazy people. We have this amazing book, yardley writes, a caustic masterpiece by a man who was essentially an alcoholic bum he never held one job for more than a few months. Sep 21, 2007 but the most memorable book of all was frederick exley s a fan s notes. A fans notes by frederick exley the 2654th greatest. Frederick exleys inimitable fictional memoir a fans notes has assumed the status of a classic since its first publication in 1968.
Frederick exley books list of books by author frederick. Lured by the siren voice of america, exley has gatsbylike aspirations. Exley recounts his worship of the ny giants in the early sixties and his brief encounters with frank gifford as a student at usc. Frederick exleys a fans notes transports the dissolute soul. A writer has a mental breakdown, unable to deal with the society around him. This fictional memoir, the first of an autobiographical trilogy, tra. In fact, a fans notes, published in 1968, owes more to memoir than to fiction, so minutely does it mirror the chronology and pathos of exleys personal history. Looks like we found a way to sneak some nonfiction onto the bookslut 100 after all. The last, a fictional memoir called last notes from home 1988, is a sad book, less because of its subject matter its center is. Like now i see in that laughter a good deal of desperation and sadness. I have drawn freely from the imagination and adhered only loosely to the pattern of my past life. He was nominated for a national book award, was the recipient of the william faulkner award, received the national institute of arts and letters rosenthal award, and won a playboy silver medal for the best nonfiction piece of 1974. A fans notes is a novel by frederick exley, first published in 1968. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 385 pages and is available in paperback format.
A fans notes by the estate of frederick exley, 9780224083096, download free ebooks, download free pdf epub ebook. He was nominated for a national book award, was the recipient of the william faulkner award, received the national institute of arts and letters rosenthal. Exley s fictional memoir remains quite obscure, even here in america, but it is a staggering book, a beautiful book, and. The strange life of frederick exley, and thought, exley. All of our paper waste is recycled within the uk and turned into corrugated cardboard. Odd, i thought, that there would be an author deserving of such expansive praise, yet of whom i. The strange life of frederick exley, by pulitzer prizewinning critic jonathan yardley, appeared in 1997. It must have been in the early 1970s when, in a state of postuniversity confusion, i was.
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