Blind Date (Kosinski, Jerzy) (Paperback)

by Jerzy Kosinski (Author) "When he was a schoolboy, George Levanter had learned a convenient routine: a four-hour sleep in the afternoon enabled him to remain mentally and physically..." (more)
Key Phrases: other skiers, convertible sofa, New York, Foxy Lady, Madame Ramoz (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Blind Date is a spectacular and erotically charged psychological novel that shows Jerzy Kosinski, author of Being There and The Painted Bird, at the height of his power. George Levanter is an idea man, a small investor, an international playboy, and a ruthless deal-maker whose life is delivered in a series of scorching encounters, each more incredible than the last. From Moscow to Paris, from a Manhattan skyscraper to a California mass murder, Blind Date is a dizzying vision of life among the beautiful people and the thrill-seekers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; 1st Grove Press Ed edition (February 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802135544
• ISBN-13: 978-0802135544
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #291,912 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dangerous beautiful, descraceful and Darling., June 28, 2003

By	Ernest Boehm (Des Plaines, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Blind Date (Paperback)

Read Blind Date by Jerzy N. Kosinski
The only the real life of Kosinski is as strange as his fiction.
And his fiction is strange yet utterly plausible in the mind of the reader.

I liked it, the main character is capable of quite morally good things as well as dark dangerous things. Some is very true the two most unlikely stories in the book actually. Kosinski writes about his main character missing the plane to LA and all his friends were killed in a mass murder, Kosinski was supposed to go to Roman Polanski's house but lost his luggage and was delayed a day just causing him to miss arriving the night of the Charles Mansion Helter Skelter murders. The second story is about his main character marring a rich heiress for love only to see her die. This actual happened to the Kosinski. His mixture of pure fiction with the Autobiographical is mesmerizing. Leventur his main character is a Russian émigré who has many international adventures. He is a womanizer, a killer, a hero victim, avernger and villian. The plot bounces around the world from the opressed world of the Soviet Union to the extra
grandure and freedom of america. I also loved Being There.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful-Ugly, May 18, 2000

By	R. Armstrong (New York City) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Sex, terrorism, incest, mass murder, betrayal, rape, prostitution. Somehow, Kosinski is able to show us the worst aspects of humanity and get us to completely accept them, even embrace them. The story is episodic. Through those episodes, Kosinski shows us something very like real life. It's more exciting than many people's lives, but there's no grand plan, no overreaching narrative arc. To paraphrase the Simpsons, it's just a bunch of stuff that happened, but it certainly was a very interesting read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE THAT WILL STICK WITH YOU., November 22, 2007

By	D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Kosinski has always been one of my favorite authors since I started reading him in the mid 1970s. This work, like most of his books (A Painted Bird comes to mind), are the type that will stick with you long after you complete the last chapter. This particular book, Blind Date is a series of events from one man's life. It takes us around the world and explores events that, while ugly at times, never-the-less need to be examined now and again. This life, as represented by the main character, is not one that the ordinary person will ever witness, but it is written in a fashion that is almost hypnotic. Our main character, like all of us, is made up of both good and evil. Kosinski merely enhances the good and bad acts and gives us quite a griping collection of small stories. Some of the subject matter, such as rape, incest, murder, etc. are rather distasteful, to say the least, but the author is able to pull it off.

I have to agree with the suggestion of another reviewer here when he suggested you THINK while reading this book. I say this, if for no other reason, than you are reading some pretty good writing. This is a well done work. Now I doubt if this one will fit the taste of everyone (my wife hated it), but it is a work that you should at least give a chance. As pointed out by yet another reviewer, part of this tale is fiction, part is semi-autobiographical. This is quite fascinating.

All in all, I do recommend this one. I have read it several times over the years (just finished another reading) and it has aged well and is certainly worth the time and effort. I am glad it is still in print. It is one of those books that sort of define an era in our history, both physical and literary, and deserves to be around for a bit.