Kansas in August: [Hardcover]

Patrick Gale (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 1988

A toe-tapping story of life and its wonderful and unexpected complexities. Hilary is a young, attractive teacher with aspirations to be a tap-dancer. Henry, his elder sister, is a crisp, professional psychologist. The unpredictable and unreliable Rufus, a failed pianist, is their lover -- whom neither Hilary nor Henry realise they are sharing. Despite the constant danger of discovery, this unwitting triangle persists, in delicate balance -- until, that is, someone new and totally unexpected enters the frame. Having rescued an abandoned baby boy, found soaked and tearful in a subway, Hilary decides, to his own great surprise, to become a surrogate parent.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Another very funny, drily British novel by the author of Ease and The Aerodynamics of Pork. Hilary Metcalfe, an English teacher addicted to American musical comedy recordings, celebrates his 25th birthday alone, his gorgeous bisexual lover Rufus having stood him up. In an inebriated state, Hilary discovers an abandoned infant in the subway and takes the baby home to his seedy West London digs above an Indian grocery. Meanwhile, Rufus, unfortunately detained in a female student's bed, steps out of it and almost at once into the arms of Hilary's sister Henry (for Henrietta), a psychiatrist rarely impressed by masculine charm. As the baby wraps his fingers more and more tightly around Hilary's heart, he comes under the ever-watchful eye of his landlord's adoring adolescent daughter, who has made a shrine of his every discarded envelope and wornout shoelace. Now Sumitra recognizes Hilary's true divinity: he is a father who bears his own child, a Prince God. The bawdy narrative strands are cleverly woven together with witty and urbane dialogue and piquant characterization, so that the reader is thoroughly absorbed in this irreverent tour de force.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

'Patrick Gale, on the strength of this modern, excellent and sympathetic novel, seems to be bound for greatness.' Stephen Fry 'Patrick Gale is an elegant, witty writer, with an engagingly bizarre imagination.' Sunday Telegraph 'Gale's blend of artifice and realism is not quite like anybody else's.' Observer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 140 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; 1ST edition (March 22, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525246304
• ISBN-13: 978-0525246305
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,468,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A TEASER only 160 pages, April 14, 2007

By 

DM (ORegon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kansas in August (Paperback)

A quirky too short story about a brother (gay) and sister (straight) who unwittingly share a lover. The lover doesn't know it either and he's trying to sort out his feelings for each. That part is well done.

But then the brother finds and takes in an infant abandoned in the subway on a freezing cold snowy midnight, screaming it's little lungs out. Oh how anyone can do that I'll never know, for gods sake.

Those are the two main plots. Both perfect but IT'S TOO SHORT DANG IT!

After reading 'Facing the Tank' I could see this author taking these two themes and making a beautiful novel. But he doesn't.

It's as tho this is Mr. Gales outline for the novel to come. I'd like to see him rewrite, or rather finish writing Kansas in August. You don't find too many authors with that magic touch.

2.0 out of 5 stars Eventually defeated, January 6, 2012

By 

Philip Spires "Author of Mission, an African ... (La Nucia, Spain) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kansas in August (Paperback)

Patrick Gale's novel Kansas In August was an interesting, if never a very engaging read. It features some rather strange people. There is a man called Hilary and a woman called Henry. They are brother and sister. They share a lover, a bisexual guy called Rufus, but neither brother nor sister is aware of the situation because certain parties have used false names. (It seems that these people always want to be someone else.

Henry is the stronger character. She is a successful medic specialising in often threatening psychiatric cases. Hilary teaches music peripatetically. Some of the children he meets might benefit from the attentions of his sister. Rufus is a partially credible amalgam of a macho man, gay pride, anything, perhaps, that he can think of today. But it is the word "think" that seems to provide the greatest challenge for these people.

They are presented as contemporary Brits rattling around west London. It is apparently always snowing. There are constant strikes and various other social challenges that result in piles of rubbish permanently half-hiding the urban decay that lines the streets. There is much alcohol consumption and occasional drug abuse, probably conceived as recreational, despite the fact that no-one ever seems to have any money.

Hilary finds a baby - yes, a real baby - abandoned in a cot. He seems to think that finders can be keepers and sets about being its foster parent. He seems to be under a personal impression that he can keep his find, as if he had discovered a stray dog or a dropped wallet. He sets about occasional feeding and watering, and takes it out once in a while to provide diversion. A young Asian girl befriends him and develops a crush. And this character, remember, we have been told is au fait with teaching, schooling and other things related to youngsters. As I mentioned earlier, "thinking" seems to challenge these people.

I admit to becoming rather confused as I read Patrick Gale's novel. I found these people quite incredible and not very likeable. I did not understand and definitely did not empathise with any of their opinions or actions. They all seemed completely self-obsessed, rather crass and, crucially, unable to imaging anything beyond the end of the nose. Even immediate reality seemed to pass them by. But then, perhaps, that is contemporary Britain, something of a dross heap of selfishness. But, given west London and snow, why "Kansas" and why "August" remain two questions that still utterly defeat me.