The Eighth Day: A Novel [Paperback]

Thornton Wilder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 2007

This new edition of Thornton Wilder's renowned 1967 National Book Award–winning novel features a new foreword by John Updike and an afterword by Tappan Wilder, who draws on such unique sources as Wilder's unpublished letters, handwritten annotations in the margins of the book, and other illuminating documentary material.

In 1962 and 1963, Thornton Wilder spent twenty months in hibernation, away from family and friends, in the Rio Grande border town of Douglas, Arizona. While there, he launched The Eighth Day, a tale set in a mining town in southern Illinois about two families blasted apart by the apparent murder of one father by the other. The miraculous escape of the accused killer, John Ashley, on the eve of his execution and his flight to freedom triggers a powerful story tracing the fate of his and the victim's wife and children. At once a murder mystery and a philosophical story, The Eighth Day is a "suspenseful and deeply moving" (New York Times) work of classic stature that has been hailed as a great American epic.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

One of America's most acclaimed and beloved writers, Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) was a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner for his acclaimed novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and his full-length dramas Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth. Wilder's numerous other honors include the Gold Medal for Fiction of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the National Book Committee's Medal for Literature.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics (January 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060088915
• ISBN-13: 978-0060088910
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #585,636 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) is an accomplished novelist and playwright whose works, exploring the connection between the commonplace and cosmic dimensions of human experience, continue to be read and produced around the world. His Bridge of San Luis Rey, one of seven novels, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928, as did two of his four full-length dramas, Our Town (1938) and The Skin of Our Teeth (1943). Wilder's Matchmaker was adapted as the musical Hello, Dolly! He also enjoyed enormous success with many other forms of the written and spoken word, among them teaching, acting, opera, and film. His screenplay for Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943) remains a classic psychological thriller to this day. Wilder's many honors include the Gold Medal for Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the National Book Committee's Medal for Literature.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MOVED, September 26, 2000

By 

"kkupferstein" (Andover, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eighth Day (Hardcover)

This novel was given to me by a friend and lover years ago, and remains one of the books that has moved me more than any. As he does in his better known works, Wilder manages to touch his reader deeply with the complexity of the human spirit, move us to tears without ever resorting to sentimentality. A powerful exploration of the "American Individual", the family, love and man's search for self and meaning. A must read, and a generous gift to those you love. One cannot help but reach within one's self and do a bit of soul-examining while/after reading this book. Haunting, inspiring and memorable.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unjustly neglected classic, December 26, 1998

By 

Son of Houston (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eighth Day (Hardcover)

A triumph of technique, The Eighth Day may be the ultimate achievement of Wilder's novelistic career - in microcosm, a story of the hundred years from 1845 to the Second World War, the novel focuses on two families in one town and the aftermath of a murder. While the writing gets bogged down in verbiage from time to time, the characters are exquisitely drawn, and the tale is gripping and powerfully told, without sentimentality, and completely unpredictable. The murder mystery at the story's heart is, alas, a great big red herring and not particularly satisfying - but those who read the book for its evocative portrayal of a bygone America and its uniquely Wilder-esque turns of phrase will be thrilled and moved.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great and sadly neglected book, August 10, 2001

By 

tenordan (rural, old fashioned, small town Maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eighth Day (Hardcover)

Thornton Wilder is best known as a playwright- for Our Town, The Skin of Our Teeth and the Matchmaker. He was also an excellent novelist, and his novels should be much more well known. The Eighth Day is one of my all-time favorite books. The plot is exciting, but the beauty of the book is in the great compassion Wilder shows for his fellow humans. In this, it reminds me of Our Town. You will not regret reading this book.