Get Free eBook Sample
Jerome Charyn's stories have appeared in The Atlantic, Paris Review, American Scholar, Epoch, Narrative, Ellery Queen, and other magazines. His most recent novel is I Am Abraham. He lived for many years in Paris and currently resides in Manhattan.
Johnny One-Eye: A Tale of the American Revolution
eBook
$11.49
$14.95
| Save 23%
-
ISBN-13:
9780393067811
- Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
- Publication date: 02/17/2008
- Sold by: Barnes & Noble
- Format: eBook
- Pages: 480
- File size: 1 MB
What People are Saying About This
Available on NOOK devices and apps
Want a NOOK? Explore Now
11.49
In Stock
"A rollicking tale."—Stacy Schiff, New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice
Johnny One-Eye is bringing about the rediscovery of one of the most "singular and remarkable [careers] in American literature" (Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World). In this picaresque tour de force that reanimates Revolutionary Manhattan through the story of double agent John Stocking, the bastard son of a whorehouse madam and possibly George Washington, Jerome Charyn has given us one of the most memorable historical novels in years. As Johnny seeks to unlock the mystery of his birth and grapples with his allegiances, he falls in love with Clara, a gorgeous, green-eyed octoroon, the most coveted harlot of Gertrude's house. The wild parade of characters he encounters includes Benedict Arnold, the Howe brothers, "Sir Billy" and "Black Dick," and a manipulative Alexander Hamilton.Not since John Barth's The Sotweed Factor and Gore Vidal's Burr has a novel so dramatically re-created America's historical beginnings. Reading group guide included.Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
-
- The Nature of Monsters: A…
- by Clare Clark
-
- The Songs of the Kings
- by Barry Unsworth
-
- Being Polite to Hitler: A…
- by Robb Forman Dew
-
- Winston's War
- by Michael Dobbs
-
- The Butcher Of Smithfield:…
- by Susanna Gregory
-
- Arundel
- by Kenneth Roberts
-
- The Great Stink: A Novel of…
- by Clare Clark
-
- Song of the River
- by Sue Harrison
-
- The Spanish Bow
- by Andromeda Romano-Lax
-
- Rabble in Arms
- by Kenneth Roberts
-
- Charlotte Gray
- by Sebastian Faulks
-
- Immortal
- by Traci L. Slatton
-
- Coventry: A Novel
- by Helen Humphreys
Recently Viewed
Stacy Schiff
The good news is that what Johnny One-Eye lacks in narrative momentum it handily supplies in antics and atmosphere. Here are the founding fathers out on a lark; here is the Revolution waged at the gaming table and in the bedroom. If Johnny One-Eye occasionally comes across as "Johnny One-Note," it's a small price to pay for an uncommonly unbuttoned George Washington. Charyn hasn't woven a taut narrative from a lurching plot. What he has done is to create a rollicking tale in which—true to the dictates of the genre—our hapless rogue makes good. That he should do so in Washington's "runt of a republic" isn't such a stretch. When you think about it, the American Revolution was something of a picaresque too.—The New York Times
Wendy Smith
As he has done in such previous novels as The Franklin Scare and Captain Kidd, and in his heavily fictionalized memoirs, The Black Swan and Bronx Boy, Charyn uses American history as a setting for fable and mythic figures. It's not that Johnny One-Eye is factually inaccurate; indeed, it spotlights such neglected aspects of Revolutionary history as the painful dilemma of New York's African Americans, abused and used by redcoats and rebels alike. But the author is not trying to give us a coherent, blow-by-blow chronicle of New York City, 1776 to 1783. Instead, he captures the lunacy and grandeur of an epic period when everything was in flux and up for grabs in sentences that hum with the blunt yet soaring cadences of 18th-century prose. Readers may feel slightly detached from the travails of Charyn's characters, who are vividly rather than deeply imagined, but anyone who relishes adventurous fiction will enjoy watching this risk-taking author strut along the high wire.—The Washington Post
Publishers Weekly
This remarkable novel unfolds in a Manhattan split asunder by the Revolutionary War, where "every street had been turned into a ditch." Here we follow the picaresque adventures of John Stocking, a double agent who has a talent for placing himself in jeopardy, and Charyn traces, at a breathless pace, his adventures on both sides of the Revolution, beginning with Gen. George Washington sparing Stocking from the gallows. With a superb eye for detail, Charyn shows Stocking's efforts to help the Revolutionary Army's ever-eroding hold on the city while coping with the machinations of the British Army's Howe brothers, Sir Billy and Lord Admiral Richard, as they execute their assault on the rebel forces. At the same time, Stocking is engaged in a journey to discover who his father is. Charyn provides a stunning gallery of characters, including an elegantly treacherous Alexander Hamilton; Stocking's guardian angel, the outrageous madam Gertrude Jennings; Gertrude's star prostitute, the exotic Clara; and Benedict Arnold, whom John calls "the one hero I've ever had." Charyn's command of time and place is masterful: the reader can practically smell the gunpowder that suffuses the war-torn city. As a kaleidoscopic view of a tumultuous era, the book deserves to be spoken about in the same breath as E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime. (Feb.)Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
Library Journal
In a rollicking tale that is equal parts Tom Jones, Tristram Shandy, and Gulliver's Travels, award-winning novelist Charyn (The Green Lantern) vividly re-creates revolutionary Manhattan through the eyes of young double agent John Stocking, aka Johnny One-Eye. In Zelig-like fashion, Stocking saves Benedict Arnold from death, consoles George Washington by regaling the colonel with fairy tales, befriends the British commanders Sir William Howe and his brother, "Black Dick" Howe, and falls in love with one of the prostitutes in the brothel he calls home. Much like the foundlings of Charles Dickens's and Henry Fielding's tales, the picaresque hero Stocking moves from episode to episode, seeking the story of his birth only to find he is the illegitimate son of his protector, the madame of Holy Ground, a famous Manhattan bordello. Through the eyes of his young hero, Charyn gives us a glimpse of the Revolutionary War as lived not by the soldiers and the politicians but by those whose homes, jobs, and lives were completely turned upside down by the war. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ10/1/07.]—Henry L. Carrigan Jr.
Kirkus Reviews
From Charyn (Raised by Wolves: The Turbulent Art and Times of Quentin Tarantino, 2006, etc.), a tale of intrigue, spying, George Washington, Benedict Arnold, Manhattan prostitutes, a castrato and a one-eye double agent-in other words, almost more history, character and action than can be contained in a single novel. The eponymous narrator, John Stocking, grows up in and around a brothel in New York City and is both bewildered and curious about who his father is. He knows his mother is Gert, the fiery madam in charge of the "nuns" at the facility (located in a Red Light district called "Holy Ground"), but the mystery of his paternity remains for much of the story. (For a while he's led to believe that George Washington is not just the father of his country.) The novel opens with John at the age of 17, seemingly in danger of being hanged, but Washington takes pity on him. Shortly afterward, John finds out that he was not actually in real danger, and from this point the novel becomes a picaresque adventure as the reader follows John's tortuous path through the American Revolution. He falls in love with Clara, a ravishing enchantress who's the most lusted-after woman in Gert's stable. One of the most interesting aspects of the novel is its portrayal of George Washington, far removed from the thin-lipped, dour patriot whose image dominates our view of the Revolution. Here he is a larger than life (literally-he's portrayed as a giant) and fully human character who's as concerned with the goings-on at Gwen's as he is with Valley Forge. Other historical personages flit through the book with varying degrees of intensity: George Washington's secretary, the diminutive and guileful AlexanderHamilton; "Sir Billy" Howe, commander of the British army; his brother Admiral Lord Richard Howe (aka "Black Dick"); and most significantly, Benedict Arnold, either a hero or a patriot, depending on whose side you're on. A crackling good epic, both comic and bawdy.
Entertainment Weekly
Bawdy, savage, and tender.Bookforum
A breathless and poignant tour de force.Michael Chabon
Jerome Charyn is one of the most important writers in American literature.Jonathan Lethem
Jerome Charyn is merely one of our finest writers, with a polymorphous imagination and crack comic timing.