The Tale Maker: A Novel

By Mark Harris

Book Overview

Rimrose was well-read, smart, and strong. As editor of the campus 'Sentinel, ' he was perfectly placed to observe how a university worked, and ideally inclined to expose its ethical weaknesses. Rimrose-Tale Maker of the title-turns from journalism to fiction-writing, kept alive by his wife's practical and ingenious devotion to selling his stories, even those he has tossed in the trash. As he grows older and begets children, he worries about income and faces stultifying choices: managing his father's small-town newspaper or playing politics in university service.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1556113978
• ISBN13: 9781556113970
• Release Date: June 1994
• Publisher: Dutton Adult
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 20.0" x 20.0" x 20.0"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant Story

The Talemaker almost seems like an afterthought to Harris' career, comared to other novels like Speed and the four Henry Wiggen books. However in many ways The Talemaker may be his best work. Certainly it is his most deeply personal. The main charecters, Rimrose, Kakapick, and Polly Anne are among the most orginal and compelling figures I have ever seen in fiction. Subtly written underneath the story Harris challenges the reader with that eternal question of University English Department's...What is Literature? Kakapick thinks he knows, while Rimrose simply enjoys trying to find out. Of course the story can never give a definate answer but it makes for great reading and re-reading. I have read this book 5 times and always find something new hidden behind one of Harris' many clever phrases. Above everything else, Mark Harris is a master of the American Lexicon.