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In a Shallow Grave

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In a Shallow Grave

By: James Purdy
Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
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About this listen

Garnet Montrose returns home from Vietnam to small-town Virginia with injuries so terrible that people become ill at the sight of him. Seeking assistance and companionship in his isolation, Garnet hires two young male caretakers, Quintus and Daventry. His interest and curiosity are awakened by the books Quintus reads to him, but in the handsome Daventry he finds a powerful, transformative love unlike anything he has experienced before.

In this story of the strange, moving relationship of these three men, by turns Gothic, mystical, and grotesque, James Purdy has crafted one of his most memorable novels.

Widely acclaimed by critics during his lifetime and championed by writers as diverse as Gore Vidal, Tennessee Williams, and Jonathan Franzen, James Purdy (1914-2009) is now being rediscovered as a major figure in modern American literature.

"One of the very best writers we have." (New York Times)

"A marvelous tour-de-force...a very impressive book." (Publishers Weekly)

"A writer of the highest rank in originality, insight, and power." (Dorothy Parker)

©2019 James Purdy (P)2019 Valancourt Books LLC Classics Literature & Fiction

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All stars
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An enrapturing southern gothic romance that had me up till 4am listening. Highly, highly recommended

Enraptured

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Fever dream mix of Southern melodrama, homoerotic romance and allegorical riddle in this cult 1975 novel from US writer, James Purdy. Told by Garnet Montrose, a horribly disfigured Vietnam veteran returning to his small-town home, the story explores themes of love, identity and transformation as it navigates the web of dependence and yearning that connects the four main characters. Behind the main narrative, mystical and spiritual undertones reveal themselves in a subtext about death and rebirth, particularly through the guileless, Christ-like figure of Daventry. The counterpoint character of Garnet's other "applicant", the clever, self-contained Quintus, presents a puzzling, unresolved racial dynamic to the story that left me unclear as to the author's intentions. It is interesting that Garnet's "nauseating" disfigurement is described largely as a matter of pigmentation rather than mutilation (he can pass for nearly normal by moonlight). Again, I was unsure as to how much to read into this aspect of the book. Elsewhere, Purdy's treatment of his two female characters - particularly Garnet's childhood sweetheart - seemed vaguely misogynistic and undeserved.
Reissued by Valancourt, this audiobook is read by one of their regular narrators, Matt Godfrey, who gives a nuanced, skilful performance that really sells the work.

Nearly Normal By Moonlight

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Listener received this title free

I've never seen anything this author has written, so idk what this was. It was highly disturbing. I actually had nightmares. And I read very dark, dubcon mm books. This was very odd. Just no. Never again.

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