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Riven Rock
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Riven Rock Paperback - 1999

by T. C. Boyle

In his most fully realized and compassionate novel to date, T.C. Boyle transforms two characters straight out of history into rich, mythic creations whose tortured love and epic story is intimate enough to break readers' hearts.


Summary

T. C. Boyle's seventh novel transforms two characters straight out of history into rich mythic figures whose tortured love story is as heartbreaking as it is hilarious. It is the dawn of the twentieth century when the beautiful, budding feminist Katherine Dexter falls in love with Stanley McCormick, son of a millionaire inventor. The two wed, but before the marriage is consummated, Stanley experiences a nervous breakdown and is diagnosed as a schizophrenic sex maniac. Locked up for the rest of his life at Riven Rock, the family's California mansion, Stanley is treated by a series of confident doctors determined to cure him. But his true salvation lies with Katherine who, throughout her career as a scientist and suffragette, continues a patient vigil from beyond the walls of Riven Rock, never losing hope that one day Stanley will be healed.

Blending social history with some of the most deliciously dark humor ever written, Boyle employs his hallmark virtuoso prose to tell the story of America's age of innocence--and of a love affair that is as extraordinary as it is unforgettable.

From the publisher

T. C. Boyle's seventh novel transforms two characters straight out of history into rich mythic figures whose tortured love story is as heartbreaking as it is hilarious. It is the dawn of the twentieth century when the beautiful, budding feminist Katherine Dexter falls in love with Stanley McCormick, son of a millionaire inventor. The two wed, but before the marriage is consummated, Stanley experiences a nervous breakdown and is diagnosed as a schizophrenic sex maniac. Locked up for the rest of his life at Riven Rock, the family's California mansion, Stanley is treated by a series of confident doctors determined to cure him. But his true salvation lies with Katherine who, throughout her career as a scientist and suffragette, continues a patient vigil from beyond the walls of Riven Rock, never losing hope that one day Stanley will be healed.

Blending social history with some of the most deliciously dark humor ever written, Boyle employs his hallmark virtuoso prose to tell the story of America's age of innocence--and of a love affair that is as extraordinary as it is unforgettable.

Details

  • Title Riven Rock
  • Author T. C. Boyle
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition First Paperback
  • Pages 480
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Books, E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
  • Date 1999-01-01
  • Features Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780140271669 / 014027166X
  • Weight 0.71 lbs (0.32 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.77 x 5.11 x 0.92 in (19.74 x 12.98 x 2.34 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 1900-1919
    • Cultural Region: Western U.S.
    • Cultural Region: West Coast
    • Geographic Orientation: California
  • Library of Congress subjects Psychological fiction, Love stories
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 97034632
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Media reviews

Citations

  • New York Times, 02/21/1999, Page 32

About the author

T. C. Boyle is the author of eleven novels, including World's End (winner of the PEN/FaulknerAward), Drop City (a New York Times bestseller and finalist for the National Book Award), and The Inner Circle. His most recent story collections are Tooth and Claw and The Human Fly and Other Stories.
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Riven Rock
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Riven Rock

by T.C. Boyle, T. Coraghessan Boyle

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Riven Rock

by T.C. Boyle,T. Coraghessan Boyle

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Riven Rock

by T.C. Boyle, T. Coraghessan Boyle

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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by Boyle, T. C

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