Customer Reviews

The City of Your Final Destination

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I read this wonderful novel after reading Richard Eder's rave review in The New York Times. For once, a critic's hype was absolutelyl justified. I haven't read a more beautifully written and satisfying -- not to mention howlingly funny -- novel in ages. Peter Cameron gives you everything you want from a novel (or at least everything I want): amazingly complex and sympathetic characters, a gorgeous depiction of scene and event (it's no wonder Eder claims the book would make a fantastic movie -- you can almost see the movie as you read the book, it's so vivid and alive), the smartest, wittiest, most moving dialogue of any contemporary writer, and a hurtling plot that encompasses all sorts of human questions of morals and manners and love. The book is a light as a summer breeze, but has considerable depth -- it is explores its moral quandries with the sort of effortless, sure touch of E. M. Forster. My tastes may be old-fashioned, but I didn't think people were writing novels like this anymore: smart, beautiful, supremely moving. No cynicism or authorial ego here. Yes, it's conventional, but wow is it a wonderful book.

This is Peter Cameron's fourth novel. An intelligent and cleverly written story that deals with facing or avoiding life's choices. It's a page turner that will keep you guessing right from the beginning what the final outcome of the story will be. Cameron, a gay author, best known for his novel, THE WEEKEND, has written an old-fashioned type of story that is a joy to read.

Doctoral student Omar Razaghi wants to write a biography of deceased author Jules Gund. The three executors of the Gund's estate; Caroline, his wife; Arden, his mistress; and his gay brother, Adam, deny Omar's request for permission to write an authorized biography. Omar realizes his only chance to change their minds is to make an unexpected trip to their home in Uruguay. At this point in the story, Omar's whole life seems to become unraveled. Omar is hurled into the center of a cast of mixed-up characters' lives and relationships. Only an author like Cameron could dream up these people, and it's through his talented writing that these characters develop into loving, caring and feeling people. Will Omar be able to face or will he avoid the choices set before him?

I enjoyed this satisfying and hypnotic story. A good book to relax with and spend a couple of "quiet" evenings reading. I hated to see the story end. Check this one out for a rewarding read!

After reading his prior novels (particularly "The Weekend" and "Andorra"), I've come to expect that Peter Cameron's novels will be beautifully crafted and full of rich, human dialogue and insight. Peter Cameron's new novel, "The City of Your Final Destination," met my expectations and then some. Like his other works, "City" is full with wonderful yet unassuming prose and dialogue, and intelligent observations on modern life. What makes "City" really special, though, is its generosity towards its characters and their fortunes. The novel recounts, without any of that easy cynicism, but with lots of humor, an exiled and splintered family's coming to terms with a beguiling offer from a young graduate student who descends upon them unannounced. Never syruppy or sentimental, Cameron warmly shows us what it's like today to try, all at once, to do the right thing by all, the best thing for yourself and, in the process, manage to carve out a little love and happiness. Not an easy task, but when rendered with heart and pluck by Peter Cameron, it makes for great, rewarding reading. Enjoy.

Not many people would have heard of Peter Cameron's "The City Of Your Final Destination (COYFD)" had it not garnered a brace of rave notices from book critics and found itself on the shortlist for the PEN/FaulknerAward. I'm just grateful it came to my attention because it's a priceless gem and one of the most offhandedly brilliant and enduring works of literature I have read .

Omar Razaghi desperately needs to obtain authorisation for the publication of the biography of little known novelist Jules Gund but the executors of the late author's estate won't grant it. He needs to change their mind or his university career is over. Egged on by his American girlfriend Deirdre, Omar hops on board a plane and arrives in Uruguay unannounced to do just that. Unbeknown to him, his visit would alter the course of his own life and that of the three executors who chose to languish - frozen in time - in a remote residence in Ochos Rios, inaccessible to casual callers and in a state of uneasy mutual coexistence. Omar's effect on the tired chemistry that binds the wife (Caroline), the mistress (Arden) and the brother (Adam) to each other is imperceptible but real and by the time the story draws to a close, the alignments would have changed forever.

Apart from its tantalisingly exotic premise, COYFD is distinguished by its gloriously pristine dialogue and absolutely marvellous characterisation. Not many writers are capable of writing dialogue of this quality. It's deceptively easy, but eloquent and true and stays well clear of the mundane. The sparkling dialogue that fills the pages never less than illuminates the souls of its characters, each of whom is vividly drawn and etched in our minds.

Omar was tentative, uncertain and confused when he set out for Uruguay. Little did he know that it would lead to a journey of self-discovery that would locate the final resting place for his unsettled soul. All it took was the sting of a honey bee. Deirdre, the pushy, conventional minded American girlfriend, grows increasingly irritating as the plot develops but shows her redeeming qualities in the end. Adam, the aging gay brother, is a genius creation of fiction - never a caricature - and not surprisingly given the novel's sharpest and funniest lines. Caroline has a deep dark secret to hide and is all control and repression. She exudes pure unadulterated negative energy. Arden, on the other hand, isn't quite ready to close the chapter on her life. She is quietly waiting in the wings for someone to extend a hand to yank her back to the land of the living. The careful reader will have observed Cameron's use of differentiating imagery for the two women, dead flowers for Caroline and fresh flowers for Arden. How apt.

Peter Cameron's "The City Of Your Final Destination" stands tall among other great contemporary novels of today. It is to my mind far superior to many other overpraised titles and deserves a much wider readership than it gets. One of the best novels to have been published in 2002. Highly recommended.

I just read Peter Cameron's new novel after reading its glowing review in the New York Times. I'd read and enjoyed his other novels and short stories, and so I was happy to see that he had a new novel out. This one is more light-hearted than his other books but doesn't sacrifice any of the elements that made the other books satisfying to me. His elegant writing and almost uncanny way with dialogue is still on display. Most important for me, though, is the way Cameron manages to convey so much about his characters in such few words. Each of the characters is interesting and unique. It's a really fine book.

I was thoroughly riveted by this novel. The characters were very well framed, complete with human foibles and touchingly human. There is a certain melancholy to this story but also deft touches of humor. Cameron's ability to set a scene, whether in the U.S. or Uruguay is achieved in few words but in beautiful language. Both the dialogue and the structure seem perfect. The unfamiliar setting affects the reader as much as it does the main characters and allows both to see things differently. A must read.

Omar Razaghi left Iran with his parents at the age of ten and moved to Canada. At the beginning of the novel, he is in his mid twenties and has been awarded a stipend by the University of Kansas Press to fund the publication of a biography of Jules Gund, the author of a single work of fiction called "The Gondola". But before Omar can start doing research for the biography, he needs the authorisation of the Gund literary trust which consists of three people: Caroline and Adam Gund and Arden Langdon, all three living in Ochos Rios, Uruguay. After having written to the trustees, Omar receives their disappointing answer: they refuse to grant him the authorisation he needs for the biography. Being a rather hesitant and indecisive young man - perhaps the archetype of the doctoral student in literature - Omar is about to give up his plans when he is convinced by his buoyant girlfriend Deidre that it is his duty not to abate, not to abandon his literary project. At this point the reader's mind is already full of questions: why don't the trustees want to grant the permission? Is there some aspect of Jules Gund's life that they want to keep secret for ever? Will Omar - considering his character - be able to change their mind?
Mr Cameron's novel features subtle dialogue, reflections about love, loss, grief, posterity. The descriptions of Ochos Rios, a languid and dreamy place, are superb. Even though the atmosphere is at times as heavy as the humid air of the jungle, wit and comedy still find their place in this superbly crafted novel.

This is one of those rare novels that is almost perfect in every way. Dialogue so rich you stop and re-read passages just to savour every word. Characters so warm, funny and real that you feel you know them intimately. No need to re-hash the plot here, suffice to say this is one of the most enjoyable stories I have read for a very long time. I will be recommending this novel lavishly and without hesitation. It deserves all the accolades and praise it has received. "The City of Your Final Destination" is a must read for everyone who appreciates writing at it's best.

This book has the Merchant/Ivory hallmark stamped on every page and reads almost like a script from one of their films. Characters glide around against idyllic photogenic backdrops exposing their anguish in understated looks and glances and stilted dialogue.

The plot concerns a young Canadian academic who goes to Uruguay to persuade the literary executors of a novelist who committed suicide to authorize him to write the official biography.

The arrival of the young man whets the emotional and sexual appetites of the executors - the writer's widow, mistress and gay brother - and off we go.

From then on we enter a world in which the females wear Laura Ashley prints, trail straw hats with ribbons in their hands as they meander through the garden and an Uncle Vanya-type character in fedora and linen suit drools over his young Thai boyfriend. Two of the female characters - one a failed painter - live like the Lady of Shalott in towers in a decaying manor house.

A rather implausible accident breathes some life into this languid tale and introduces the academic's girlfriend who is the only character with any personality.

The setting may be the countryside in Uruguay, that cozy little flat country wedged between Brazil and Argentina, but this Uruguay is strictly in the writer's mind, as is the countryside.

The story starts and ends with a letter and is wound up with some neat vignettes, one of which is a teaser, to bring the whole tale to a satisfactory ending.

Overall, this is a pretty good read if you like this kind of chocolate box intellectual escapism.

First of all I would like to say that I am from Uruguay. I bought this novel not only because I read good reviews, but also because the story happens in my country. This is the first Peter Cameron's novel I read. Although I liked the story, the characters and the way it was written, I found it disappointing that he knows almost nothing about Uruguay. I admit that this novel could have happened in any country in the world, just being distant from the USA. I think the place is not very important for the development of the novel, but once he chose Uruguay I think he could have done a better research about the country and our customs. He wrote several wrong statements about the country, the landscape, the food we eat and our customs. Even I know that while writing a novel the author can made up everything, those statements where disappointing for me.