The Bushwhacked Piano [Paperback]

Thomas Mc Guane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 1984

A heroic young man is in pursuit of a spoiled rich girl, a career, and a manageable portion of the American Dream.

Editorial Reviews

Review

As a citizen, Nicholas Payne is not in the least solid. As a boyfriend, he is nothing short of disastrous, and his latest flame, the patrician Ann Fitzgerald, has done a wise thing by dropping him. But Ann isn't counting on Nicholas's wild persistence, or on the slapstick lyricism of Thomas McGuane, who in The Bushwhacked Piano sends his hero from Michigan to Montana on a demented mission of courtship whose highlights include a ride on a homicidal bronco and apprenticeship to the inventor of the world's first highrise for bats. The result is a tour de force of American Dubious.

"The work of a writer of the first magnitude. His sheer writing skill is nothing short of amazing. The preternatural force, grace, and self-control of his prose recall Faulkner.... McGuane is a virtuoso." -- Jonathan Yardley, The New York Times Book Review

"McGuane shares with Celine a genius for seeing the profuse, disparate materials of everyday life as a highly organized nightmare."

-- The New Yorker

"A novel of wisecracks and puns and ordinary objects invested with legendary potency."

-- Geoffrey Wolff, Newsweek

From the Inside Flap

A heroic young man is in pursuit of a spoiled rich girl, a career, and a manageable portion of the American Dream.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; Vintage Contemporaries ed edition (September 12, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394726421
• ISBN-13: 978-0394726427
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #479,275 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Schizophrenic Hero, May 10, 2000

By 

"randytheviking" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bushwhacked Piano (Paperback)

Nick Payne, McGuane's probably schizophrenic hero, is what we all (well, men at least) would like to be - someone driven by purity of impulse, who sees consequences as unimportant obstacles between his goals and his deeds. Payne's humanity is almost painful in its vulnerability, and yet Payne exhibits more courage and integrity than the ostensibly sane characters populating McGuane's work. The writing is original and unconventional, but for those of us who like to be challenged, entirely satisfying. This is the book that turned me on to McGuane's great talent (later confirmed when I read Ninety Two in the Shade). One of my favorite books.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I guess you had to be there, November 28, 2001

By 

Reed Hubbard (Jackson, MS) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bushwhacked Piano (Paperback)

Nicholas Payne is one of those quirky, independent characters that I normally love, but Payne crosses over from eccentric to obnoxious. This book was published in the early 70s when rebellious youth triumphing over pompous members of the "establishment" (to borrow from the contemporary vernacular) was a popular theme, but looking back from the 21st century, Payne seems more of a spoiled brat than an iconoclastic rebel. McGuane is a good writer with an impressive command of the language, but at times, the obscurity of his words leaves one with the impression that he writes with an open thesaurus. Still, an interesting read with some funny moments.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars McGuane's battiest, December 22, 1999

By 

Shaun Mason - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bushwhacked Piano (Paperback)

In many ways this is McGuane's finest hour as a novelist. Considering the fact that he is America's greatest living novelist, that puts this book in a high place, and I don't mean a dusty old shelf. In The Bushwhacked Piano McGuane's glorious command of language is operating with a fully open throttle. Few writers can endear the reader to characters so quickly and with so little effort. Despite obvious flaws and possible insanity, you love these characters right away. Among all his desperate men trying to hold true love in one hand and bottled lightning in the other, this is the most desperate, most unpredictable, and ultimately most sympathetic protagonist. McGuane's modern American Western existentialism is at its most finely honed, whereas his sense of humor permeates each sentence. This book has plenty of McGuane's fun for fun's sake, and his hero is fearless in the face of danger, but he never let's anyone have too much control. This is a batrium of amazing language, humor, and desolate western spirit. It draws you in for a ride, but the bronc is going every which way, and the saddle isn't hitched tightly either. You might dig in your spurs and the next thing you know you're sideways on the SOB. Men who can write like this should be given money and be well cared for.