| The Elusive Embrace: Desire and the Riddle of Identity Contributor(s): Mendelsohn, Daniel (Author) |
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ISBN: 0375706976 ISBN-13: 9780375706974 Publisher: Vintage OUR PRICE: $14.36 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: June 2000 Annotation: Hailed for its searing emotional insights, and for the astonishing originality with which it weaves together personal history, cultural essay, and readings of classical texts by Sophocles, Ovid, Euripides, and Sappho, The Elusive Embrace is a profound exploration of the mysteries of identity. It is also a meditation in which the author uses his own divided life to investigate the "rich conflictedness of things," the double lives all of us lead. Daniel Mendelsohn recalls the deceptively quiet suburb where he grew up, torn between his mathematician father's pursuit of scientific truth and the exquisite lies spun by his Orthodox Jewish grandfather; the streets of manhattan's newest "gay ghetto," where "desire for love" competes with "love of desire; " and the quiet moonlit house where a close friend's small son teaches him the meaning of fatherhood. And, finally, in a neglected Jewish cemetery, the author uncovers a family secret that reveals the universal need for storytelling, for inventing myths of the self. The book that Hilton Als calls "equal to Whitman's 'Song of Myself, '" The Elusive Embrace marks a dazzling literary debut. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Historical - Biography & Autobiography | Personal Memoirs - Biography & Autobiography | Lgbt |
| Dewey: B |
| Physical Information: 0.67" H x 5.21" W x 7.92" (0.56 lbs) 224 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1950-1999 - Ethnic Orientation - Jewish - Sex & Gender - Gay |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Hailed for its searing emotional insights, and for the astonishing originality with which it weaves together personal history, cultural essay, and readings of classical texts by Sophocles, Ovid, Euripides, and Sappho, The Elusive Embrace is a profound exploration of the mysteries of identity. It is also a meditation in which the author uses his own divided life to investigate the rich conflictedness of things, the double lives all of us lead. Daniel Mendelsohn recalls the deceptively quiet suburb where he grew up, torn between his mathematician father's pursuit of scientific truth and the exquisite lies spun by his Orthodox Jewish grandfather; the streets of manhattan's newest gay ghetto, where desire for love competes with love of desire; and the quiet moonlit house where a close friend's small son teaches him the meaning of fatherhood. And, finally, in a neglected Jewish cemetery, the author uncovers a family secret that reveals the universal need for storytelling, for inventing myths of the self. The book that Hilton Als calls equal to Whitman's 'Song of Myself, ' The Elusive Embrace marks a dazzling literary debut. |