Beyond the Bedroom Wall (Graywolf Rediscovery) [Paperback]

Larry Woiwode (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Woiwode's 1975 novel follows three generations of the Neumiller family. LJ's reviewer found it a tad "overlong" (LJ 10/15/75), but fans of sweeping family sagas will probably go for it.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 625 pages
• Publisher: Graywolf Press (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555972586
• ISBN-13: 978-1555972585
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Larry Alfred Woiwode (born October 30, 1941) is an American writer who lives in North Dakota, where he has been the state's Poet Laureate since 1995. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, Harpers, Gentleman's Quarterly, The Partisan Review and The Paris Review. He is the author of five novels; two collections of short stories, a commentary titled "Acts," a biography of the Gold Seal founder and entrepreneur, Harold Schafer, Aristocrat of the West, a book of poetry, Even Tide ; and reviews and essays and essay-reviews that have appeared in dozens of publications, including The New York Times and The Washington Post Book World.

He has served as Writer in Residence at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and conducted summer sessions as a professor at Wheaton College, Chicago, and the C.S. Lewis Seminars at Cambridge; he has also conducted seminars and workshops in fourteen states of the U.S., all of the Canadian provinces but British Columbia, and in England, Lithuania, and the Scandinavias. He has published a dozen book sin a variety of genres, and his work has been translated into a dozen languages.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A midwestern childhood, beautifully told, August 10, 2002

By 

Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond the Bedroom Wall (Paperback)

I believe I first read Larry Woiwode's short stories about the Neumiller family in The New Yorker and Harper's before they were woven together into this richly emotional novel about a family of young children whose mother becomes ill and dies. Although there is a whole range of deeply felt emotions in the book, it is often the heartbreak of everyday life that permeates the work. Meawhile, there is a near-Proustian depth of detail in the account of lives lived in small midwestern towns, first in North Dakota and then Illinois.

Woiwode also captures the dynamics of family life, particularly in the close relationship between the narrator and his slightly older brother (a relationship celebrated, explored, and lamented in a sequel novel, "Born Brothers"). It's been years since I read "Beyond the Bedroom Wall," but there are moments in it almost seared into memory like film images. That is partly due to Woiwode's poetic gift for language that makes you want to read and savor every word on every page.

In later years, Woiwode returned to North Dakota and has lived there in a rural community in a kind of self-imposed spiritual exile. The early writings, in my opinion, are far superior to his later work. When he wrote "Beyond the Bedroom Wall," he was at the peak of his powers as a storyteller. Yes, it's a "great" American novel.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Evocative and moving, April 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Beyond the Bedroom Wall (Graywolf Rediscovery) (Paperback)

I read this book over a number of months. During that time my wife was suffering from a serious illness. Woiwode's description of Alpha's death was so true and painful to me I had to put the book away for quite some time. My wife recovered; I finished the book. There is no question that this is a powerful and beautiful novel. As good as anything written this century.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars truly memorable characters, June 20, 2000

By 

Craig Bleakley "effete snob with a heart of gold" (Normal, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond the Bedroom Wall (Graywolf Rediscovery) (Paperback)

It's been years since I read this fine novel from cover to cover--but not so very long ago since my latest brief delve. It was not unlike visiting old friends or neighbors, and I was most happy to spend some time with them. Larry Woiwode brings the simple pleasures and heartbreaks of everyday life vibrantly to life in this book, a "family saga" in the very best sense. There's a real joy to watching the lives of these characters unfold, and a recognized danger in the closeness of family life--I still recall the dread with which I read when it became clear that one of the characters was facing death. Creating that depth of feeling in a reader is no mean feat, but Larry Woiwode pulls it off time after time, as adroitly as a bird landing on a twig. He is certainly one of America's most under-appreciated writers, and this is a wonderful place to begin discovering his talents. These characters and events will linger a long long time.