Dear Friends;
I recently came upon a copy of Little Big Man, by Thomas Berger. I found the book the most enjoyable read I’ve had in a long time. This led me to getting the Sequal, Return of Little Big man, which I’m enjoying just as much. I see that Mr. Berger has written several other novels. the only thing on the list I recoqnise is “Neighbors”, which they made a medioche film of. Have any of you ever read his other stuff, and can you recommend me any that you enjoyed?
thank you for your time…
Neighbors is a great book, and the film was unfairly maligned. I’ve seen critics complain that Dan Ayckroyd was miscast and the role should have gone to Belushi, but if you’ve read the book, you’d know he perfectly matched as Captain Vic (when I first heard of the casting, I immediately thought Ayckroyd should have that role).
In any case, definitely read the book before the movie – it fills in the blanks.
I’d also recommend Regiment of Women, which is less heavy handed that you might think, given the concept.
I strongly recommend Arthur Rex. It is an adaptation of the stories of King Arthur.
I enjoyed Nowhere years ago when it came out, but I can’t find much about it online.
It’s set in a ficticious Central Asian country and appears to be a sequel to Who Is Teddy Villanova? (which I didn’t know until now!)
Apparently “Nowhere brilliantly combines the spy story and the utopian romance” (from towards the bottom of the linked page)
I’ll second this, but note that:
1.) It’s the Arthur story told considerably more earthily. The story of Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight is so heavily sexed-up that they ran it in Playboy the year this came out. The anonymous author of the original poem wouldn’t recognize it.
2.) it’s told from the point of view of a spoiled aristocrat. The servants are all shiftless work-avoiders, and a good noble is easily worth a dozen of them, as far as the storyteller cares.