Cooler by the Lake [Hardcover]

Larry Heinemann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1992

Petty hustler Maximilian Nutmeg's life changes when he happens upon the wallet of Loretta Spokeshave and, against his baser instincts, decides to return it. By the author of Paco's Story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although readers of Heinemann's first two books (the Vietnam novels Close Quarters and Paco's Story , which won the 1987 National Book Award for Fiction) may be surprised by the radical change of subject matter and mood in the author's new work, they will recognize continuity in his prose: here, the straightforward, spoken-language-style narrative voice tells the story of Maximilian Nutmeg, a small-time con artist who one day does an honest thing, returning intact a wallet he has found containing $800. It takes more than 200 pages to get the wallet back to its original owner, but the pass-off never becomes the grand event its buildup promises. The oddball characters and slapstick plot turns are sometimes charming, but usually are more silly than funny. The novel constantly interrupts itself with long asides that never attach themselves firmly enough to the story, although they often succeed as humorous vignettes. And the text is peppered with parentheses--as many as seven pairs per page. Often the information within them would have been more cogently presented between commas, but, as with most of the devices employed in this very hit-and-miss book, when the parenthetical asides are done well they contribute an appropriate, jovial casualness to the mood. The setting, Chicago, is always in the forefront, and virtually every mention of a street, avenue or district comes complete with an explanation of how it got its name. The flaw of the novel, which finally just misses the comedy it strives for, lies in Heinemann's overindulgence of his sense of humor and in his tendency to ramble.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In spite of a preoccupation with large breasts, sex, and urination (or perhaps because of it), National Book Award winner Heinemann ( Paco's Story , LJ 12/86) has produced an entertaining story of an encounter between rich and poor. Small-time schemer Maximilian Nutmeg lives in a large house with his zaftig wife, senile mother, ex-stripper-and-now-jello-wrestler sister and her lover, a daughter and her lover, nieces and nephews, and several cats and ferrets. He currently earns a living by grifting gas money from downtown Chicagoans. On one foray, he finds a wealthy woman's wallet and spends several days trying to return it to her. Heinemann punctuates the text with parenthetical comments on the origin of Chicago streets and landmarks, by which the one-time famous are reduced to obscurity and Chicago becomes almost a character in the book. Unfortunately, the story's ending is abrupt, which reduces a stylish and promising novel to a long character sketch. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/92.
- Harold Augenbraum, Mercantile Lib., New York
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 241 pages
• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux (T); 1st edition (May 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374129193
• ISBN-13: 978-0374129194
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,999,798 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Larry Heinemann was born and raised in Chicago. His award-winning first novel, "Close Quarters", has been called the seminal work to come out of the war in Vietnam. "Paco's Story", his second novel, received the National Book Award for fiction and the Carl Sandburg Literary Arts Award for fiction, among other honors. "Cooler by the Lake", a Chicago novel, was published 1992. "Black Virgin Mountain: A Return to Vietnam", a memoir and the third book in what Mr. Heinemann refers to as his accidental Vietnam trilogy, was published in 2005.

In 2010 "Paco's Story" was published by the Womens Publishing House (Hanoi), translated by Pham Anh Tuan with an introduction by celebrated author Bao Ninh; "Chuyen Cau Paco" is the first American-written war novel to be published in Vietnam.

Mr. Heinemann's short stories and non-fiction have appeared in a variety of publications both here and overseas, and numerous anthologies including "Humor Me", "The Other Side of Heaven", "Writing Between the Lines", "Vietnam Anthology", "Best of the Tri-Quarterly", "Lesebuch der Wilden Manner" (Germany), and "The Vintage Book of War Stories". His fiction has been translated into Dutch, German, French, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

He has received literature fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation,and the Fulbright Scholarship Program. Mr. Heinemann is the Writer in Residence at Texas A&M University.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars charming book, charming area. charming people., May 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Cooler by the Lake (Hardcover)

Having lived for many years on and in so many of the streets and places described in this book i was totally charmed by this silly but thoughtful read. obviously the author hoped to have a wider audience than those of us who lived "there" and "did that" i would gladly (if i were rich) underwrite a sequel. in his own way the author did for "uptown" and the area served by Senn High School what Kiellor did for Woebegone. the book is not great literature, but it is bright, cute and very readable. if you have any knowledge of the north side of chicago "by the lake" you can do worse than reading this book..