Emma Who Saved My Life
Page 53
“Emma engages irresistibly, and repeatedly makes you laugh out loud.… Gil Freeman’s voice will invade your consciousness.”
—Baltimore Morning Sun
“Mr. Barnhardt writes in tumble-fast, pared-down prose that propels his reader forward. His writing is worldly and slightly wicked.”
—Raleigh News & Observer
“Loaded with bright, biting wit all wrapped up in an odd and charming love story.… The book is about love, good friends, and living in one of the most off-center cities in the world. And with it, Barnhardt has made a loud, satisfying splash.”
—Women’s Wear Daily
“A terrific reading experience.… Wilton Barnhardt’s account of a young man trying to make it in the New York theater in the ’70s is the most entertaining book of the year. The fact that it also shows some depth and understanding is just icing on this literary cake.”
—Richmond News Leader
“Excellent.… Wilton Barnhardt well succeeds in writing about people who do not reach the top.… Gil’s story is simultaneously hilarious, obscene and touching. Barnhardt’s outstanding dialogue, fine character sketches and many memorable scenes make up this promising first novel.”
—The Chattanooga Times
“Emma Who Saved My Life is not just a promising first novel, it’s a smashing success.… If ever there was a modern writer who can really hit his stride with acid and satirical repartee, Barnhardt is the man.”
—Macon Telegraph & News
“Emma shines with the fresh discovery of life and dreams. It is the ebullient, energized story of a young man’s awakening and growth, both funny and hopeful, with a Thomas Wolfian reach. It is a gem of a first novel.… The characters … are strikingly drawn, wizards and fakirs, and their scenes are wildly memorable.”
—The State (Columbia, SC)
“A rich and entertaining book. It’s very, very funny, and it’s a heartbreaker.”
—San Jose Mercury News
“One of the most delightful first novels this side of paradise.… As a story about people and things they do when they actually live. Emma Who Saved My Life is one of the richest, most rewarding novels of recent years.”
—Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“Emma Who Saved My Life is probably one of the best ‘coming-of-age-in-New York’ books written.… Wilton Barnhardt at 28 has created a remarkable work in this, his first novel, showing a sensitivity and wit far too often absent in modern literature.… If [his] second book is anything as funny and touching and filled with wonderful characters as Emma, it is sure to be another winner.”
—Indianapolis News
“Barnhardt has written a delightfully funny account of those years [the 1970s] without being either cynical or saccharine. And many of us … will find the people we know and the places we love accounted for in this, his first, and hopefully not last, novel.… Barnhardt’s writing is so packed full of details that you get the feeling you could use the book as a road map.… Nothing in this novel rings false.”
—Milwaukee Journal
“Funny and endearing.… A very energetic debut, full of lights, cameras, action, and New York moments, some archetypal, others arch.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Barnhardt takes on the hokeyest American subject—escaping the little-town blues, going right for the heart of it, New York, New York, etc. But this story’s not set to Muzak. It’s straight-from-the-gut Sinatra. Barnhardt pulls it off with his sense of timing and honest writing.”
—Boston Herald
“Emma the book—like Emma the woman—is not so easily forgotten.… Densely packed with robust anecdotes and portrayals. Barnhardt endows all his characters—even the walk-ons—with indelible charisma.”
—Grand Rapids Press
“This is brilliant, entertaining, compelling, fascinating novel.… Gil’s voice is endearing, frank and self-effacing.… A stunning, witty story.”
—Dallas Morning News
“This wonderful first novel does that angst-ridden decade up right … anyone who lived it will love it.”
—New York Daily News
“Wilton Barnhardt’s novel is both funny and serious. His characters resonate with youth and dreams and energy and life.… Emma Who Saved My Life is a vigorous and memorable story. Wilton Barnhardt’s first novel is well-constructed, well-paced, and best of all, well worth reading.”
—New England Bookpage
ALSO BY WILTON BARNHARDT
Show World
Gospel
Lookaway, Lookaway
WILTON BARNHARDT is the author of three other novels: Gospel, Show World, and Lookaway, Lookaway. A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he is the director of the masters of fine arts in creative writing program at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, where he lives.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
EMMA WHO SAVED MY LIFE. Copyright © 1989 by Wilton Barnhardt. All rights reserved. For information, address Picador, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
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Lyrics from Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me) by Lew Bron, Sam H. Stept, and Charlie Tobias. © 1942, 1954 Robbins Music Corporation. Copyright Renewed 1970, 1982 Robbins Music Corporation and Ched Music Corp. International Copyright secured. Made in the U.S.A. All Rights Reserved.
Lyrics from Mr. Tambourine Man by Bob Dylan © 1964, 1965 Warner Bros., Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Lyrics from There Stands The Glass by Audrey Greisham, Russ Hill, and Mary Shurtz © 1951, 1953 Unichappell Music Inc. (Renewed.) All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Lyrics from Up On The Roof by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Lyrics from Miss You by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Lyrics from America by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Line from “Sunday Morning” copyright by Wallace Stevens. Reprinted by permission of Faber & Faber Ltd. and Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barnhardt, Wilton.
Emma who saved my life / Wilton Barnhardt
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-312-19118-4
1. City and town life—New York (State)—New York—Fiction. I. Title.
[PS3552.A6994E4 1998]
813'.54—dc21
98-16362
CIP
First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Press
First Picador Edition: June 1998
eISBN 9781250047212
First eBook edition: June 2013