Moe's Villa and Other Stories

By James Purdy

A literary cult hero, James Purdy's exquisitely surreal fiction has been populated for more than 40 years by social outcasts living in crisis and longing for love. His acclaimed first novel Malcolm (1959) won praise from writers as diverse as Dame Edith Sitwell, Dorothy Parker, Marianne Moore, and Gore Vidal, while his later books, from the award-winning Eustace Chisholm and the Works (1967) to In a Shallow Grave (1976), and Gertrude of Stony Island Avenue (1998) influenced new generationsof authors from Dennis Cooper to Paul Russell. Moe's Villa and Other Stories, Purdy's first short-story collection in over a decade, showcases twelve new stories; from fairy tales about an opera diva whose mega-stardom is managed shrewdly by her talking cat to the little girl who runs off with a fire-breathing dragon to eat turtle soup; from a bizarre account of a desperate husband whose obsession over his wayward ex-wife leads to his fixation on a rare white dove to a visit to Moe's Villa, a private mansion doubling as a gambling casino where lonely boys are taught the art of poker by the Native American proprietor, Purdy takes his well-deserved place in the tradition of the finest American storytellers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786714174
• ISBN13: 9780786714179
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

"A Masterful Collection of Short Fiction"

James Purdy is a gifted storyteller who specializes in giving voice to the lost, depraved and grief-stricken characters that inhabit his particular world. Through the prism of his vision Purdy refracts our world into unsettling, mystical, magical tales of talking cats, white blackbirds, nanogerenian matriarchs and teenage wunderkinds. The canvas Purdy paints on has no boundary; the themes he chooses to embrace are the modern day condition of loneliness, the inability of people to connect, the depravity that is the outcome of loss. At some point in the future Purdy will undeniably be recognized as the equal of Edgar Allan Poe and Paul Bowles when it comes to the short story genre. His tales are reminiscent of William Faulkner and Carson McCullers, two other surveyors of the literary territory known as Southern Gothic. Those who know Purdy love his quirky poetic style and offbeat characters. An acquired taste to be sure, but one well worth acquiring.

I differ to Mr. Gore Vidal's NYT Feb 27 2005 article...

just "google" James Purdy, and read the NYT review. Today, at least, it was the first hit.