About this title: Michael and Lucy Davenport meet and marry in the 1950's, and divorce in the 1970's. In between, they become disillusioned with each other, with their infidelities, with art, and with the city where they live. Finally, stuck in a country cottage, their relationship dwindles to nothing. Like many of Richard Yates's characters, Michael and Lucy are dogged by failure, and by their inability to make of their lives what they had envisioned when they were young.
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Description: New. Orders placed after Dec. 7 cannot be guaranteed delivery before Christmas. GREAT BUY. Brand New From US Distributor. WE ARE A 5 STAR SELLER with OVER 3, 500, 000 BOOKS SOLD. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Vintage Books
Date Published: 2009-03-10
ISBN-13:9780307455963ISBN:0307455963
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780307455963. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780307455963ISBN:0307455963
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: First Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1984
ISBN-13:9780385292696ISBN:0385292694
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. Ex-Library Expected "enhancements" of a library book. Minor edgewear on the jacket (in mylar). Binding is firm. Text is fine. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: VINTAGE Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780099518648ISBN:0099518643
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 432 pages. Young, newly married and intensely ambitious, michael davenport is a minor poet trying to make a living as a writer. his adoring wife lucy has a private fortune that he won't touch in case it compromises his art. she in turn is never quite certain of what is expected of her. all she knows is that everyone else seems, somehow, happier. (Paperback) read more
Edition: First Edition, First Printing
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Horizon Book Promotions, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1986
ISBN-13:9780385292696ISBN:0385292694
Description: Fine in In Wraps jacket. 0385292694 First Edition, First Printing. Softcover. Near Fine copy, unread in clean soft cover. read more
Edition: First edition. stated first printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 1984
ISBN-13:9780385292696ISBN:0385292694
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. 347 p. Audience: General/trade. Very nice copy in a very nice DJ enclosed in a brodart mylar protector. Mottled red page ends on bottom. read more
Edition: NEW ED
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: METHUEN PUBLISHING LTD Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780413156600ISBN:0413156605
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 432 pages. (432 pages) in this magnificent novel, at once bitterly sad and achingly funny, richard yates again shows himself to be the supreme, tenderly ironic chronicler of the 'american dream' and its casualties. edition new ed (Paperback) read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: New York, Delacorte Press
Date Published: 1984
Description: First edition. A powerful novel from the author of "Revolutionary Road. ' A near fine copy with remainder mark and spray to the bottom edge in a very near fine dust jacket. read more
Edition: [First Edition]
Binding: hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press/ Seymour Lawrence, New York
Date Published: 1984
ISBN-13:9780385292696ISBN:0385292694
Description: Fine copy in fine dust jacket. 8vo 8 1/2"x 5 3/8" blue cloth w/ wheat-paper boards; author's name on front, & lettering on spine, in gilt; fore edge untrimmed; rust-red endpapers; 347 pgs; illus dust jacket w/ $16.95 on front flap, author photo by Jill Krementz on rear. quotes by Ann Beattie, William Styron, Robert Stone & Tennessee Williams on back cover. jacket design by Richard Rossiter w/ art by Jeffrey Adams. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 1986
ISBN-13:9780385292696ISBN:0385292694
Description: Very Good. This book is in very good to fine condition. The binding is tight and pages are clean. It appears to have had little if any use. The cover has some bumps and scuffs. There is no crease on the spine. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage Classics
Date Published: 07/02/2008
ISBN-13:9780099518648ISBN:0099518643
Description: Used-Good. Book in good or better condition. Dispatched same day from warehouse. Please email with any questions for quick response. read more
"A longer, more structurally adventurous version of Revolutionary Road, I suppose, with a more engaging wife, and a longer time-frame. The couple in question really age in this book, and actually learn something! Remarkable. I think this might be a more English department book than RR as well- lots of interlinking irony and formal trickery. I'm fine with that, some people probably aren't. In fact, I think I could eventually be convinced that this is the better novel. In any case, I hope people start writing these kinds of books again: none of the characters have obscure mental illnesses; they are all actually old enough to have the thoughts they have; nothing magical happens; nothing quirky happens. Fingers crossed."
"This is the first book I read from Richard Yates. I wanted to try one of his books after watching the movie Revolutionary Road. The ending of Young Hearts Crying is quite predictable, because the sypnosis on the back cover more or less gives it away, and yet, I wanted to read on to find out what was said and done to cause the ending. The main characters are ordinary people going through the ups and downs in their lives and finally driven apart by their conflicts. All the characters are quite credible, although I feel that Sarah should be developed further to explain why she was drawn to Michael. It's also not obvious to me whether Lucy and Michael really learned anything from their own marriage and their friends' marriage. The dialogues between women only, and men only, show that the two genders talk about very different things, and that leaves an impression on me."
"This starts in the 50s when Michael falls in love with Lucy at university. Michael marries her "without being fully aware of how it had all come about" and is stunned when he discovers how wealthy she is. He is determined to support them as a writer and would rather make ends meet writing for Chain Store Age than be tainted by touching her trust fund. Money is the big issue they can never discuss - that and the fact that neither of them have ever felt they fitted in (as when "fear of seeming to be a snob impelled her... to become one"). As they glimpse more bohemian lives of their friends, they become increasingly unsettled and more aware of that.
The recurring theme is the desire "to make difficult things look easy", along with the converse of having but wasting talent and/or wealth. The irony is that money is an issue in all the relationships portrayed (including friendship), and it taints them all, even in those where it isn't apparently an issue. It is also about the process and toll of writing, although Michael is a writer whose main word-related quality is saying the wrong thing in the wrong way when it matters most.
The story proceeds in three parts, spread over subsequent decades, with the second focusing on Lucy and the third on Michael (it might be intriguing to read 3 and 2 the other way round and consider what would need changing to make that work). It is interesting to see things through Lucy's eyes, especially when she almost becomes Michael, by using his and their life in her work.
*** SPOILERS FOLLOW ***
Their early days together are too easy, and there is a hint of residual sadness and someone always holding back. As this is Yates, the happiness doesn't last and there are some painfully awkward scenes, such as when Michael is pleased at the way Lucy defends his career (or lack of) to her father, only to be told she did it for her, not for him: the "clumsiest embrace of their lives" follows. Similarly, there were friends who "wouldn't feel like themselves until he was gone" - ouch.
It felt less polished than other Yates I have read. For example, I felt there were many gaps, particularly an understanding of what Michael writes, his style, what drives him etc, and the lack of input from friends and relatives at various times in their lives. There are also long stretches with oddly little mention of their daughter Laura (you lose track of how old she is, wonder who is babysitting or if she's being left alone etc); she seems a ghost remnant of their marriage, but maybe that was the intention.
Despite its weaknesses, I found it utterly compelling (I dreamed about it) and was almost reluctant to get to the end.
Oh, and there is a section where it helps (but is not essential) if you're familiar with Tennessee Williams' Streetcar Named Desire."
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