Paradise

By Donald Barthelme

Book Overview

Simon, a middle-aged architect separated from his wife, is given the chance to live out a stereotypical male fantasy: freed from the travails of married life, three nubile lingerie models move into his apartment and use him as a sexual object. An enlightened '80s man, Simon tries to enjoy his unlikely situation to the fullest while still treating his women as human beings-though from the beginning they claim that he can hardly tell them apart. Convinced that satisfaction is only the first step toward disappointment, Simon worries that his women will move on, that his state of grace will come to an end, and that he will inevitably be left alone in an empty apart-
ment, with his life behind him. Barthelme's version of "paradise" is both a gentle satire of the cult of the midlife crisis and a meditation on the melancholy of fulfilled desire.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1564784037
• ISBN13: 9781564784032
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.5"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Barthelme is phenomenal

"Paradise", although out of print, is worth the search. Barthelme's neurotically postmodern and pre-millenial prose never fails to astonish in its originality. The completely unlikely tale of 53 year old Simon, an architect from Philadelphia, and his three concubines is made realistic through terrific dialogue and bang-on sarcastic humour. If you enjoy authors like Martin Amis or Russell Banks, "Paradise" is worth the trip to the library--or the wait until it is back in print.