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Hunting Mister Heartbreak: A Discovery of America
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.928
EAN: 9780375701016
ISBN: 037570101X
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: November 03, 1998
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: November 03, 1998
Studio: Vintage
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Editorial Review:
A New York Times Notable Book"In an era of jet tourism, [Jonathan Raban] remains a
traveler-adventurer in the tradition of . . . Robert Louis Stevenson."
--The New York Times Book Review In 1782 an immigrant with the high-toned name J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur--"Heartbreak" in English--wrote a pioneering account of one European's transformation into an American. Some two hundred years later Jonathan Raban, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, arrived in Crèvecoeur's wake to see how America has paid off for succeeding generations of newcomers. The result is an exhilarating, often deliciously funny book that is at once a travelogue, a social history, and a love letter to the United States.
In the course of Hunting Mr. Heartbreak, Raban passes for homeless in New York and tries to pass for a good ol' boy in Alabama (which entails "renting" an elderly black lab). He sees the Protestant work ethic perfected by Korean immigrants in Seattle--one of whom celebrates her new home as "So big! So green! So wide-wide-wide!"--and repudiated by the lowlife of Key West. And on every page of this peerlessly observant work, Raban makes us experience America with wonder, humor, and an unblinking eye for its contradictions. "Raban delivers himself of some of the most memorable prose ever written
about urban America." --Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times"When Raban describes America and Americans, he is unfailingly witty
and entertaining." --Salman Rushdie
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Superb
Jonathan Raban is truly a gifted writer, and he articulates in beautiful and apt prose his keen grasp and feel for the subject matter here to his readers.
Rating: - Squire "Rayburn"
Jonathan Raban is, unless I'm missing some unknown genius out there (always a possibility), the best contemporary travel writer out there - hands, anchors, flaps down. I think the main reason for this is that his writing is not MERE travel writing, as such, but is as much introspective as explorative. He allows the places he visits to seep into him and produces narratives that seamlessly mingle inner and outer travel as no other modern writer does. He is also keenly aware - or makes himself keenly ... Read More
Rating: - A masterpiece
Raban's four books written to date on America-Old Glory, Hunting Mr Heartbreak, Badlands and Passage to Juneau-are all elegant and entertaining meditations on America and what it is to be American. Although each book is very different, they all feature the same blend of candid autobiography, careful historical exegesis, vivid description, and wry humour. Each one is a rewarding work, but Hunting Mr Heartbreak is in my view his masterpiece. Each chapter of the book is a self-contained episode in a personal ... Read More
Rating:  - A Fine Effort..........
Raban's written better books - Old Glory and Badland, to name two - nonetheless, Mr. Heartbreak is an engaging book that is a delight to read. Seeking the singular experience of becoming American, Raban sets up shop in New York City, Guntersville (Alabama), Seattle, and Key West to investigate the newly emigrated and those whose families emigrated generations ago. His observations of people and places are insightful, intriguing and occasionally quite funny.
He is an accomplished observer, capable ... Read More
Rating: - A Discovery of America
This is an extremely excellent book both full of character and details as it is of a real understanding of the perspectives of the early immigrants. This is a must read book that not only opens up the US as a haven for others but also as a place of great opportunities. It will leave you wanting to read more.
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