Hunting Mister Heartbreak: A Discovery of America (Vintage Departures Edition) [Paperback]

Jonathan Raban (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 3, 1998

A New York Times Notable Book

"In an era of jet tourism, [Jonathan Raban] remains a
traveler-adventurer in the tradition of  .  .  .  Robert Louis Stevenson."
--The New York Times Book Review

In 1782 an immigrant with the high-toned name J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur--"Heartbreak" in English--wrote a pioneering account of one European's transformation into an American. Some two hundred years later Jonathan Raban, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, arrived in Crèvecoeur's wake to see how America has paid off for succeeding generations of newcomers. The result is an exhilarating, often deliciously funny book that is at once a travelogue, a social history, and a love letter to the United States.
        In the course of Hunting Mr. Heartbreak, Raban passes for homeless in New York and tries to pass for a good ol' boy in Alabama (which entails "renting" an elderly black lab). He sees the Protestant work ethic perfected by Korean immigrants in Seattle--one of whom celebrates her new home as "So big! So green! So wide-wide-wide!"--and repudiated by the lowlife of Key West.  And on every page of this peerlessly observant work, Raban makes us experience America with wonder, humor, and an unblinking eye for its contradictions.

"Raban delivers himself of some of the most memorable prose ever written
about urban America." --Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times

"When Raban describes America and Americans, he is unfailingly witty
and entertaining." --Salman Rushdie

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

By ship from Liverpool, British writer Raban ( Old Glory ) arrived in New York, "a city in a round-the-clock state of emergency," to begin his quest for the real America. In Alabama he found "Calvinist" values of godliness, hearth and home, and resistance to change "riding higher than at any time since the Civil War." Sated on "Christ-haunted" cookouts and family suppers, he flew to "impressively tolerant" Seattle, where only intruding Californians were discriminated against, and was struck by the zeal and energy of Korean immigrants. In Seattle he adopted an alter ego, "Rainbird," that of a settled-in novelist, and in the Florida Keys he impersonated a floating outlaw in Miami Vice style. This distancing device lets him step back to assess the potential and heartbreak of a country where an ache for transcendence is channeled into TV, fashion, star-worship, the lottery and escapist fantasy. Wonderfully observant, often hilarious, the book is written in almost sensual prose with the astonished integrity of a visitor who dropped in from another planet. 50,000 first printing; author tour.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Since Crevecoeur and de Tocqueville, Europeans have set sail for America to try to get a handle on this vast, wild New World. Here, Briton Raban makes his second foray (the first being Old Glory , LJ 9/15/81), sailing from Liverpool like an immigrant of yore and landing in places as diverse as New York City, rural Alabama, Seattle, and the Florida Keys. Raban's eye for the unique detail allows him to delve into the American psyche, and this account is far more than a travelog. However, his tendency to embrace the seamy stereotype is disturbing. His New York is out of A Clockwork Orange ; a nasty xenophobia festers below the surface of the New South; and his lawless Keys resemble a watery Dodge City. Nevertheless, recommended.
- Jim Burns, Pompano Beach City Lib., Fla.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Vintage Books; 1st edition (November 3, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 037570101X
• ISBN-13: 978-0375701016
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #942,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars When I finished this book, I felt like I'd lost a friend. August 31, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

A Brit who has travelled extensively in the U.S shares his impressions and voyages. Very perceptive, and communicates a great love of the places he's been and above all of the people he's met. Usually classified under "travel", everything I've read by Raban reads as easily as your favourite novel. "Hunting Mr. Heartbreak" takes the reader from New York (an amazing description of Macy's, and how the city is divided into "sky people" and "street people"), through Alabama, to Seattle and then to the Florida keys. Raban knows how to capture the spirit of a place through an interaction he observes on the street, a billboard on the side of the road, an article in the local newspaper. He is always gentle, humourous, understated. If you don't have time to take that road trip, this is definitely the next best thing. I have no idea why this book is out of print. I have over ten friends reading this book on my recommendation, and they can't stop talking about it. Get it any way you can.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece September 10, 2002

By Bernard Wooding

Format:Paperback

Raban's four books written to date on America-Old Glory, Hunting Mr Heartbreak, Badlands and Passage to Juneau-are all elegant and entertaining meditations on America and what it is to be American. Although each book is very different, they all feature the same blend of candid autobiography, careful historical exegesis, vivid description, and wry humour. Each one is a rewarding work, but Hunting Mr Heartbreak is in my view his masterpiece. Each chapter of the book is a self-contained episode in a personal odyssey, which takes as its starting point the voyage made by the immigrants who flocked to the New World from Europe. The book was written over ten years ago and a few parts of it have inevitably lost a little of their resonance, but his exploration of the historical currents underlying American life and of the concept(s) of Americanness itself remains as relevant and perceptive as ever. Raban's skillful interweaving of allegory and analysis, cleverness and comedy, wonder and unease has resulted in a rich and endlessly fascinating book.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Effort.......... May 17, 2001

By nto62 VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Raban's written better books - Old Glory and Badland, to name two - nonetheless, Mr. Heartbreak is an engaging book that is a delight to read. Seeking the singular experience of becoming American, Raban sets up shop in New York City, Guntersville (Alabama), Seattle, and Key West to investigate the newly emigrated and those whose families emigrated generations ago. His observations of people and places are insightful, intriguing and occasionally quite funny.

He is an accomplished observer, capable of peering beyond the surface to uncover what lies beneath. The book's opening, in which Raban describes his sea voyage from Liverpool to New York, is particularly entertaining. So, too, his sojourn in Alabama where he provides gleeful commentary on the irony of a town embracing provincialism whilst stuggling with worldy challenges. I was tempted to award this book 5 stars, but it simply doesn't measure up to other Raban efforts. All the same, it is an excellent selection on anyone's reading list.