Quotes
“A rich, sometimes heartbreaking journey through the
disintegration of an American legend.” Dennis Lehane, New York Times bestselling author
“An achingly nuanced love story and one of the best
biographical novels to come along in years.
O’Nan’s great achievement here is in so convincingly inhabiting the
character of Scott Fitzgerald and of the people surrounding him during his
descent into the clarifying depths of 1930s Hollywood.” T. C. Boyle, New York Times bestselling author
“O’Nan—the king of the quotidian—has
changed his brush stroke and given us a picture of another American
master, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in the last years of his life…An
amazing book.” Elizabeth Strout, New York Times bestselling author
“O’Nan, an accomplished, award-winning writer who has clearly done his biographical homework, polishes this saga to a seductive sheen, populates it with persuasive incarnations of Dorothy Parker, Humphrey Bogart, Ernest Hemingway, and others, and takes us to a very dark place indeed.” Elle
“O’Nan is an incredibly versatile and charming writer. This
novel, which imagines F. Scott Fitzgerald’s troubled time in Hollywood (with
cameos by Dorothy Parker, Bogie, and Hemingway), takes up (like much of O’Nan’s
work) that essential conundrum of grace struggling with paucity. One brilliant
American writer meditating on another—what’s not to love?” O, The Oprah Magazine
“[A] beautifully written historical novel…which
follows Fitzgerald’s stint as a screenwriter during the 1930s, captures that
era of Hollywood well, offering juicy scenes with Humphrey Bogart, Dorothy
Parker, Ernest Hemingway, and other Fitzgerald friends and hangers-on, while
lending witty dialogue to his affair with gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, a
doomed romance that’s worthy of a classic film.” Entertainment Weekly
“[The] grim yet undeniably fascinating last act of Fitzgerald’s life is the subject of Stewart O’Nan’s gorgeous new novel, West of Sunset…West of Sunset is a pretty fine Hollywood novel, too, but it’s an even finer novel about a great writer’s determination to keep trying to do his best work.” Washington Post
“Mesmerizing and haunting…The strings O’Nan pulls so deftly are really the mark of a consummate pro, along the lines of Fitzgerald himself…lovingly and believably, the manner in which a writer works—thinks, processes, assimilates, envies—is given life.” Boston Globe
“Nan, in understated prose, renders a
heartbreaking portrait of an artist soldiering on in the face of
personal and professional ruin…O’Nan’s convincing characterization of a man
burdened by guilt and struggling to hold onto his dignity is, at once, a
moving testament to grace under pressure and an intimate look at a
legend.” Booklist (starred review)
“Christopher Lane’s narration of this fascinating audiobook is elegant and engrossing. His sonorous voice is ideal for O’Nan’s rich imagining of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s last years in Hollywood. With kindness and compassion, Lane entreats the listener to empathize with Fitzgerald as he copes with personal and professional trials…Lane’s performance is as effective as O’Nan’s storytelling. Conversations with notables such as Hemingway and Bogart come across as believable, and descriptions of setting and character quirks are vivid and three-dimensional. This audiobook is outstanding—one that might inspire you to visit the work of the great Fitzgerald himself once again. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award.” AudioFile
