Deja Vu [Paperback]

Richard Kendrick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2005

NOMINATED FOR A 2005 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

Alden Homer and Blake Whitman, the main characters in Déjà Vu, are traveling their own paths, which seem to cross more frequently than usual for two dissimilar guys on the road in Asia. Their thoughts and experiences are the pieces of jigsaw puzzle that the reader can assemble. In this age of technological innovation and interaction, this seminal work allows the reader to actively participate in the construction of the narrative, following the characters, settings, and/or themes of his or her choice. Alden, who experimented with drugs during his Ivy League days, is now in his 50s. He has passed through Wall Street and sacrificed a marriage to his literary aspirations. Searching for the Muse, he'll settle for enlightenment. Blake, the narrator, is taking a year off before medical school, and is enthusiastically seeking the adventure he could only read about - or see in the movies - back home in Middle America. He chases the Exotic. Independently or together, these two colorful characters encounter a nymphomaniac, a murder victim, Christian fundamentalists, Hindu holy men, inmates at a mental institution, and a yeti - not to mention their own dreams.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Kendrick has spent more than a decade living and traveling in Africa and Asia. He has worked as a teacher, an editor, directed several short films, and is now poised to become one of the essential writers of the 21st century.

Product Details

• Paperback: 353 pages
• Publisher: Vagabond Press (March 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0975571605
• ISBN-13: 978-0975571606
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,916,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Déja Vu:, September 30, 2005

By 

R. Russo (austin, Tx, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deja Vu (Paperback)

A rare book that combines modernist formal experimentation with excellent post-modernist content and prose; this novel that is as much about form as it is about plot.. Part bildungsroman part travelogue, both funny and serious, a blend of facts fictions and dreams; it consists of 76 (or maybe 77) chronologically and stylistically disconnected chapters that can be read in any order. The author suggests a series of reading trajectories with 5 possible continuations after each chapter. Some will quickly loop you back to where you've already been and others carry you through a large portion of the book.

Innovative but not extremely so, the book risks comparison with novels like Cortázar's Hopscotch and Perec's Life: a User's Manual (I generally don't like to use the word 'risk' in art criticism, but I think it's appropriate here) and I think it stands up very well. Saying that I actually preferred this to either of them would sound pretentious; but I'll go so far as to say that the content of this novel is more to my liking than that of the others. Although I didn't travel in my youth, my life fits more into the introspective speculative mode of this book.

The traditional prose is easy to read and should please a broad range of readers. I'll assume that anyone who primarily reads romances or historical novels hasn't gotten this far in this review so I can safely recommend it. It's definitely worth a look.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A web of life..., August 10, 2005

By 

Lucas Hunt - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deja Vu (Paperback)

Deja Vu is full of lyrical descriptions of far off lands yet hits home with absolute poignance; it presents the world in a prism of adventure and experimentation, so much so that it reminds one of the enduring spirit of American literature. Kendrick revives Melville, Twain, and Kerouac in a voice that openly rejects the conventions of today, even as it demands fresh perspective. The book is essentially a search for truth, its form is unique and inventive, based upon the cyclical nature of time, subjectivity and the concept of fulfillment. I recommend it to everyone tired of the monotony of an everyday performance without avail, to you who lust for travel!