Items related to Larry's Party
At 26, Larry Weller thinks his future lies in flowers. He still lives at home, has a new career as a floral designer, and a girlfriend about whom he is somewhat ambivalent. What Larry is about to discover is that life is never a straightforward path. His girlfriend becomes pregnant. They marry and set off for their honeymoon in England where Larry stumbles upon what will become his greatest passion in life. He takes up the creation and construction of meticulous mazes, which leads him down blind alleys and dead ends, failed marriages and changing expectations. It all comes together in an unforgettable dinner party in this warm and witty coming-of-middle-age novel. Published four years after The Stone Diaries, Larry's Party won the UK's Orange Prize for fiction and is one of Carol Shields's most critically successful works. Published in numerous editions by Penguin, the book has now sold more than 100,000 copies in the United States alone. This audio recording, first released in audiocassette in Canada in 1998, received wide critical acclaim in its original edition.
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Review:
Larry Weller is a regular guy, or so Carol Shields has him think. When we first meet him in 1977 Winnipeg at age 26, he's pondering the pluses of Harris tweed, still living at home, and realizing he's in love with his girlfriend, Dorrie, a flinty car saleswoman. Larry is proud of his job at Flowerfolks, even though he fell into floral design by accident, and if his relationship with his parents isn't perfect, it's not too bad, either. (Stu and Flo Weller may have less page-time in Larry's Party, but they are hugely memorable. He is a master upholsterer, happiest when working; she is a woman ruined by nervous guilt, having inadvertently killed off her mother-in-law with some improperly preserved green beans.)
From the Back Cover:
Carol Shields has said that she had "always been struck by the fact that in most novels people aren't working." Though her hero climbs the floral managerial trellis for 17 years and finds more rhapsody in work than marriage, Larry and Dorrie's honeymoon in England points him toward what will be his true vocation--mazes. These living constructs turn him into a thinker, a man of imagination, and the author's descriptions are quietly spectacular as well as effortlessly sweet. Larry wonders at their "teasing elegance and circularity ... a snail, a scribble, a doodle on the earth's skin with no other directed purpose but to wind its sinuous way around itself." Just as Larry changes with the times--each elliptical chapter ages him by one or two years--so does his art. In 1990, he designs a maze in which you can't really lose yourself. In 1997, the McCord Maze "is intended to mirror the descent into unconscious sleep, followed by a slow awakening." Larry, too, has a slow awakening, taking several false turns before reaching midlife. As the novel closes, with a bravura dinner party scene, he may finally be at ease in the world. But his creator knows that he is only halfway there, and still has to negotiate his way from the center of the maze to its exit.
The winner of the 1998 Orange Prize for fiction, Larry's Party is an unforgettable novel about an ordinary guy made extraordinary by his creator's perception, irony and wit. A landscaper, Larry Weller adapts to society's changing expectations for men until his deepening passion for garden mazes brings his search for himself to a satisfying end.
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- PublisherRandom House Canada
- Publication date1997
- ISBN 10 0679308776
- ISBN 13 9780679308775
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages339
- Rating
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Book Description hardcover. Condition: Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used textbooks may not include companion materials such as access codes, etc. May have some wear or writing/highlighting. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!. Seller Inventory # S_364233042
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Book Description hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!. Seller Inventory # S_384205790
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First Edition. We're happy to combine shipping to save you some money. We're also always buying collectible book collections. Contact us for details. We're happy to provide pictures of any and all books for you, please just ask! ~ Canadian first edition, first printing. Published by Random House in 1997. Virtually no wear to the jacket! ! Jacket is NOT price clipped. Covers are clean and bright. Edges are sharp. The book itself is in Fine condition with no bumps or marks. The binding is straight and tight. NO remainder mark. Seller Inventory # sku520002913
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Book Description Hard Cover. First Edition; First Printing. Hard Cover. SIGNED by author. 8vo - over 7 3/4" - 9 3/4" tall. 339 pages. Book Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. A touch of very mild shelf/edge wear to DJ, else Fine. SIGNED and Inscribed (8/9/97) by the late author on the title page to Canadian journalist Steve Hunt. A photograph of Carol Shields is affixed with removable tape to inside of front board. First Edition. First Printing. Protected in a new Brodart cover. Collectible.; Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 00862
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