Jernigan [Paperback]

David Gates (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 1992

From Holden Caulfield to Moses Herzog, our best literature has been narrated by malcontents. To this lineage add Peter Jernigan, who views the world with ferocious intelligence, grim rapture, and a chainsaw wit that he turns, with disastrous consequences, on his wife, his teenaged son, his dangerously vulnerable mistress—and, not least of all, on himself. This novel is a bravura performance: a funny, scary, mesmerizing study of a man walking off the edge with his eyes wide open—wisecracking all the way.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Self-pitying, alcoholic widower Peter Jernigan, unable to communicate with his confused teenage son and emotionally distanced from his live-in lover, narrates this depressing first novel. Author tour.

Copyright 1992 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Well conceived and well written, this book examines the tragedy of a man whose life epitomizes failure on every level. A victim of circumstances, Peter Jernigan is now emotionally crippled and psychologically impoverished. His already distorted personal relationships, skewed further by a dependency on alcohol, sweep him forward, with horrifying swiftness, into a nightmarish cycle of failure, loss, and spiritual death. Bright but unsuccessful, Jernigan drifts through a bleak life that only becomes worse. He has lost his father and wife in successive accidents and now must deal with the adolescent traumas of his only son. His encounter with the divorced mother of his son's girlfriend promises to lighten his life but instead complicates it even further. A disturbing first novel, Jernigan will cause readers, especially men, to shake their complacency and perhaps reevaluate their own circumstances.
- Ellen R. Cohen, Rockville, Md.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage Contemp Ed April 1992 edition (March 31, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679737138
• ISBN-13: 978-0679737131
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #707,807 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Here's to the Suburban Survivalist!, December 17, 1999

By 

Michael Crane Gross - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jernigan (Paperback)

Just finished Jernigan and was nothing short of blown away. A modern day Catcher in the Rye, Peter Jernigan tells us his twisted tale from the same padded room where Holden told his. Gates has crafted an important work, which is better than his most recent Preston Falls, because we actually care for the people in this book, despite their chronic alcoholism, atrocious parenting, and undeniable taste for bunny meat. The publisher should be ashamed that this book is out of print!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't let this one disappear, November 3, 1998

By 

Tim Poe ([e-mail]) (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jernigan (Paperback)

This is simply an astonishingly good book; and, unfortunately, has become hard to find. Moving, compelling and painful, it continues the tradition of the great American "anti-hero." A caring protagonist searching for his soul, for meaning, in a society that no longer seems to believe such things exist. Jernigan seems much like Holden Caufield, (and both books are written in first person; the protagonist retelling events leading to his presence in an institution). Jernigan, however, is reaching mid-life in contemporary America; his problems are greater and his wit and intelligence far more mature than Salinger's adolescent. Hopefully this novel will eventually receive the attention it deserves; until then, find a copy if you can.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars When Life gets Rough, read this book, February 12, 2003

By 

Timothy Gager "some call me Tim" (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jernigan (Paperback)

This book is the darkest painting of suburbia I've read in awhile. If your life stinks, replace it with Jernigan's. Here's what you get----alcoholism, self-abuse, teenage son on drugs, shacking with mother of teenage son's girlfriend, death of wife, death of rabbits for food, loss of job, plus did I mention drinking large quanities of gin. Now why does this character continue to shot himself in the foot (or in his case hand)? Seems like he just doesn't give two hoots. What makes the book work though, is Jernigan's wisecracking nature, basically condescending everything, as his life drops away by his own powers. This is brought on by the tight, descriptive naratives by David Gates, Jernigan's creator.

Not that Jernigan is alone in his life of horror. There's a cast of characters that are barely functioning. Of course, Jernigan cannot stand them. He's going to do things his way and it's a way so unimaginable yet possible, it leaves you riveted.