The Page Turner - Softcover

Leavitt, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0395957877 ISBN 13: 9780395957875

Publisher: Mariner Books, 1999

Synopsis

At the age of eighteen Paul Porterfield dreams of playing piano at the world's great concert halls, yet the closest he's come has been to turn pages for his idol, Richard Kennington, a former prodigy who is entering middle age. The two begin a love affair that affects their lives in ways neither could have predicted. "Absorbing from start to finish" (The New Yorker), The Page Turner testifies to the tenacity of the human spirit and the resiliency of the human heart.

About this title

Review:

David Leavitt's Arkansas was the surprise of his career: funny, sexy, and thematically adventurous, it was a complete break from his more traditional narratives. Now, in The Page Turner, Leavitt returns to the style and type of story that made him famous. Noted pianist Richard Kennington is a former child prodigy now entering middle age. While in Rome he meets and begins an affair with Paul Porterfield, a young man who is poised to follow in his professional footsteps. The affair is complicated by the fact that Pamela, Paul's mother, is also interested in Richard. The affair is short-lived, but the story--which might remind you of an updated version of a sophisticated 1940s Hollywood romance such as The Seventh Vail or Intermezzo--takes several startling turns when Richard, Paul, and Pamela discover the power of love and eroticism; it is more complicated then any of them imagined. Leavitt's tone, slyly serious and ironically romantic, makes The Page Turner a compelling and surprising read.

About the Author:

David Leavitt's first collection of stories, Family Dancing, was published when he was just twenty-three and was a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN/Faulkner Prize. The Lost Language of Cranes was made into a BBC film, and While England Sleeps was short-listed for the Los Angeles Times Fiction Prize. With Mark Mitchell, he coedited The Penguin Book of Short Stories, Pages Passed from Hand to Hand, and cowrote Italian Pleasures. Leavitt is a recipient of fellowships from both the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. He divides his time between Italy and Florida.

About this edition

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0395957877
• ISBN 13: 9780395957875
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256