Kurt Andersen's 'Heyday' Review Roundup
So Heyday, the new historical yarn from Kurt Andersen (the craggy-faced Tom Edison of satire!) took a bit of a pasting from the Times' Janet Maslin. It fared considerably better in that paper's ass-kissy Book Review. But how's it playing elsewhere? After the jump, an abundant yet random selection of recent reviews.
All this amazement is presented with boyish earnestness, but there's a genuine charm to Andersen's careful avoidance of mockery. As Knowles is freed from his prim and hoary English life, so, too, has Andersen thrown off the chains of satire and refused to succumb to the pretensions of literary fiction. The author, and by extension his protagonist, embraces each scene with such relish - whether it's marveling at the great ships navigating New York Harbor or debating democracy over a stiff drink - that it's hard not to be swept along.
The fact that the author doesn't know how to imbed these historical figures in the realm of make-believe, doesn't know how to let them breathe freely, is a clear tip-off: Yes, Kurt Andersen has made an ingenious foray into the distant past, but fiction, for him, remains a foreign country.
Andersen offers a vision of the America of 160 years ago, or at least as Americans might have seen it then: as an opportunity for freedom and self-realization and for leaving behind the limitations and cynicism of Europe. "The Garden of Eden and Gomorrah merged into a single estate," observes Duff's friend, a journalist named Skaggs, while crossing the Isthmus of Panama on the way to California. The judgment could stand as all the characters' reactions to the New World. If the idea of Eden and Gomorrah seems contradictory, the America of Heyday, like Whitman's America, is big enough to encompass the contradiction.
Andersen's novel is a major historical work, of lore and wisdom, irony and humor — the kind of historical novel that has always been the most satisfying to read.
Andersen's intricate plotting and his command of period detail keep the book moving despite its great length. Furthermore, the issues that the characters grapple with - the sense of elation at new inventions, the fear that the world may be changing unfathomably quickly, the desire to remake civilization to reflect man's new enlightenment - are as important now as they were in the nineteenth century.
The New Yorker
Here we get action, "Believe It or Not" oddities and backdrops ranging from Paris and New York to the California gold hills. This age has weird similarities to our own: decadent Manhattan party spaces, a trumped-up war (with Mexico). "Philosophical" motif—"Destruction and creation are the cycle of life"—will dazzle readers who haven't seen "The Lion King." A sophisticate like Andersen might read this book as a guilty pleasure. Less-fastidious readers will find it a pleasure, pure and simple.
Andersen, a radio host, columnist, satirist and critic as well as a novelist, may have forgotten more history than most of us ever knew, which is the book's biggest drawback. At its best, historical fiction opens a portal to the past with enough detail to make a bygone era feel both familiar and authentic. The narrative threads in "Heyday" occasionally get lost beneath the mountain of evidence that the author's knowledge is vastly superior to yours. Still, "Heyday" is a gold mine of ideas and intrigues, so start digging.
From the stodgy British countryside to revolutionary Paris, bohemian New York and the new American frontier, the journey is enhanced by Andersen's extensive research and spot-on social commentary. Cameos by historical figures like Alexis de Tocqueville and Charles Darwin will charm and amuse even the most reluctant students of history.
I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
Well, that settles it: When you've got Parade AND Spiers on your side, you've got a hit on your hands. This is good news for Dana Vachon, no doubt.
Earlier: Janet Maslin Puts The Hurt On Kurt Andersen
Kurt Andersen Sets, Cleans Your Clocks
