Human Amusements - Softcover

Johnston, Wayne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1400031974 ISBN 13: 9781400031979

Publisher: Anchor, 2004

Synopsis

Offering further evidence of his astounding range as a novelist, the bestselling author of The Colony of Unrequited Dreams and The Navigator of New York crafts a hilarious and moving paean to the dawn of the television age. Henry Prendergast grew up on television—not merely watching it, but starring in the wildly popular children’s show “Rumpus Room.” Cast in the roles of Bee Good and Bee Bad by his mother Audrey, the show’s creator, Henry came of age along with the new medium—one that would soon propel his family out Toronto’s middle-class life and into the tabloids.

Henry’s father Peter, a would-be novelist, refuses to have any part in his wife’s burgeoning television empire, but commits himself instead to the task of being a walking, talking—mostly scathing—reminder of the family’s “humble beginnings.” Then, on the heels of Rumpus Room, Audrey dreams up The Philo Farnsworth Show, loosely based on the life story of the young teen credited with inventing the tube and starring Henry in the lead role. Rapidly amassing a cult-like following of “Philosophers,” the show challenges the Prendergasts anew. Forced into increasing isolation by a fervent media, they must work harder than ever to not let success get the best of them.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Wayne Johnston's fourth novel - and the only one to be set outside Newfoundland - is a hilarious send-up of television's early days, capturing all the nostalgia and innocence of the time.
It is the late 1950s and in lower middle-class Toronto, Audrey Prendergast, whose love for her family blinds her to all else, sees the new medium of television as the only means of climbing the social ladder. And climb it the Prendergasts begin to do when Audrey launches a children's show called Rumpus Room, starring herself as Miss Mary and her young son Henry as Bee Good/Bee Bad. When the program becomes an overnight sensation, and the Prendergasts' world begins to change, much to the chagrin of Audrey's husband, Peter, family comedian and would-be novelist. Determined to keep his family anchored in reality, Peter refuses to have anything to do with Rumpus Room and throws all his energy into writing his novel and doing an almost non-stop and hilarious commentary on modern culture.
When Audrey's second television series - the Philo Farnsworth Show - becomes a huge success, things begin to break down. Based on the real-life inventor of the television set, the show becomes a kind of camp classic, attracting a group of fanatic followers who call themselves "Philosophers" and more or less worship the teenage Henry. Sorrow and comedy mingle and blend as the Prendergasts struggle to retain their innocence and love for one another in the maelstrom of their changing lives.

From the Back Cover:

“His books are…among the funniest I’ve ever read, yet somehow at the same time among the most poignant and moving.” —Annie Dillard

“Why I love reading Wayne Johnston: The reader goes skittering through [his] novels, driven inexorably forward on the force of his characters, on the power of his wit.” —Mary Walsh

Praise for The Divine Ryans
“Johnston is an authentic comic genius.... His timing and pacing are impeccable. He knows how to...create laughter out of a wonderful mixture of emotions.” —The Gazette (Montreal)

“Divine reading indeed.... A work of art in its powerful handling of everyday humour and sublime tragedy.” —St. John’s Sunday Express

Praise for Baltimore’s Mansion
“A splendid memoir.... Wayne Johnston is one of a kind. A major Canadian talent.” —Mordecai Richler

“A prodigiously talented author.... Baltimore’s Mansion ought to win a wide readership, especially among those of us grasping after the meaning of our own fathers’ lives.” —The Globe and Mail, A Best Book of ‘99

Praise for The Colony of Unrequited Dreams
“A capacious, old-fashioned summer hammock of a book – the kind you fall into, enchanted, and hate to leave.” —Newsday

“As beautiful as imaginative writing gets.” —David Macfarlane, The Globe and Mail

About this edition

• Publisher: Anchor
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1400031974
• ISBN 13: 9781400031979
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336