Status
Available
Call number
Call number
F Bro
Collection
Publication
Signet (1971)
Description
The classic tale of a female Huck Finn, Peter Bogdanovich's film version of the book was nominated for four Academy Awards. Set in the darkest days of the Great Depression, this is the timeless story of an 11-year-old orphan's rollicking journey through the Deep South with a con man who just might be her father. Brimming with humor, pathos, and an irresistible narrative energy, this is American storytelling at its finest. Paper Moon is tough, vibrant, and ripe for rediscovery.
Subjects
Original publication date
1971
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User reviews
LibraryThing member Stbalbach
Addie Pray is better known as Paper Moon from the title of the Bogdonovich film. It's been almost 40 years and now is probably a good time to see if it's a classic with legs, or a period piece getting long in the tooth. Granted, it's a topical novel in today's zeitgeist, since it's about the Great
Addie Pray is great in terms of narrative flow. At first the confidence man stories about selling bibles to widows are cute and fun, but soon wears thin. Before the reader gets bored however, Brown increases the ante, so to speak, adding another plot twist. As this wears thin he adds a new story with additional complications. Each story gets a little longer and more interesting until the last story takes up nearly a third of the book and could stand alone as a novella. This sort of building up mirrors the techniques used by the confidence-artist characters of the novel and is very effective in making it believable.
The ending is a moralizing lesson about love being more important than money - 1960's remember? While the message is fine, it feels a bit heavy and direct and dates the work. It's a tradition heroes ride off into the sunset, a nice fairy-tale. Addie Pray is a well crafted novel, entertaining and fun. It probably won't be a classic but it's a great book in my heart.
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Depression, and I was drawn to it for that reason. But even though the historical setting is the 1930's, the spirit and mood of the novel is solidly late 1960's. Do what makes you feel good and damn the consequences, fight the man, love conquers all. In the spirit of films like Bonnie and Clyde (1967) or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), it's an American rebel hero Picaresque novel.Addie Pray is great in terms of narrative flow. At first the confidence man stories about selling bibles to widows are cute and fun, but soon wears thin. Before the reader gets bored however, Brown increases the ante, so to speak, adding another plot twist. As this wears thin he adds a new story with additional complications. Each story gets a little longer and more interesting until the last story takes up nearly a third of the book and could stand alone as a novella. This sort of building up mirrors the techniques used by the confidence-artist characters of the novel and is very effective in making it believable.
The ending is a moralizing lesson about love being more important than money - 1960's remember? While the message is fine, it feels a bit heavy and direct and dates the work. It's a tradition heroes ride off into the sunset, a nice fairy-tale. Addie Pray is a well crafted novel, entertaining and fun. It probably won't be a classic but it's a great book in my heart.
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
Addie Pray is the story of a young girl who, after the death of her mother, travels around the south during the Great Depression with Long Boy, who may or may not be her father. They are con artists who specialize in small scams that they pull on gullible, rural people. Together they bend the law
Addie loves her lifestyle and doesn’t wish to change a thing. She is also very possessive of Long Boy which doesn’t bode well for Miss Trixie Delight when she takes up with him, but getting rid of Trixie is little more than child’s play for Addie.
Of course things never stay the same, and as time goes by, Long Boy’s scams get more and more ambitious. When they try to pass Addie off as the long-lost granddaughter of the rich Amelia Sass, well, then things just being to pop.
A delightful book, with an unforgettable heroine. This down-home book will long be remembered for it’s humor, great characters, and heart-warming plot about people who really do belong together.
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and take great delight in getting away with it. Addie loves her lifestyle and doesn’t wish to change a thing. She is also very possessive of Long Boy which doesn’t bode well for Miss Trixie Delight when she takes up with him, but getting rid of Trixie is little more than child’s play for Addie.
Of course things never stay the same, and as time goes by, Long Boy’s scams get more and more ambitious. When they try to pass Addie off as the long-lost granddaughter of the rich Amelia Sass, well, then things just being to pop.
A delightful book, with an unforgettable heroine. This down-home book will long be remembered for it’s humor, great characters, and heart-warming plot about people who really do belong together.
Show Less
Pages
240