Masters of Atlantis [Paperback]

Charles Portis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2000

Lamar Jimmerson is the leader of the Gnomon Society, the international fraternal order dedicated to preserving the arcane wisdom of the lost city of Atlantis. Stationed in France in 1917, Jimmerson comes across a little book crammed with Atlantean puzzles, Egyptian riddles, and extended alchemical metaphors. It's the Codex Pappus - the sacred Gnomon text. Soon he is basking in the lore of lost Atlantis, convinced that his mission on earth is to administer to and extend the ranks of the noble brotherhood. Masters of Atlantis is a cock eyed journey into an America of misfits and con-men, oddballs, and innocents.

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

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Portis is on a roll thanks to Overlook's rejuvenation of several of his older titles in recent months. This 1985 book "concerns the establishment of the order of the Gnomons, a secret society purporting to teach the hidden knowledge of Atlantis." Though LJ's reviewer found the book a tad over the top, he commented that "those who enjoy deadpan comedy should get a good laugh here" (LJ 10/15/85).
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

'As much as I love Charles Portis' other books, I believe Masters of Atlantis takes off even higher into the comic empyrean.' Roy Blount Jr. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Overlook TP (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585670219
• ISBN-13: 978-1585670215
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kooky Cults Without the Kool-Aid, December 4, 2004

By 

Seachranaiche (USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Masters of Atlantis (Paperback)

The predilection of humans to involve themselves in cults is a perplexing topic that requires years of study and stacks of dictionary-sized psychology books in order to understand.

Or...

...you can just read Masters of Atlantis then move on to your degree. Charles Portis continues to hold me in awe with his deadpan comic genius. His silly plots read humorously on the surface, and move at a good clip, but suddenly one realizes that there is so very, very much more going on.

Where do cults come from and why do (presumably) rational people involve themselves in the nutty things? Portis' take on the topic spells it out in plain humor: an accidental encounter, an impressionable young man, the hangers on, the manipulators, and, gasp, the true believer who spawns a whole philosophy derived from the antics of a con man. Strangely enough, he begins to discern subtle truths about the nature of the universe. When the government gets involved things get sillier yet, but don't just write this off as fiction, we've all seen Congressional hearings; Charles Poris has got their number.

Line your Charles Portis books up next to your Kurt Vonnegut-they make great companions.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Guy Knows America, January 26, 2001

By 

R. W. Rasband (Heber City, UT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Masters of Atlantis (Paperback)

Portis sees deeply into the American psyche, and the results are hilarious. Conspiracy theories, weird new religions, rampant materialism disguised as spirituality, extreme personal behavior, self-delusion masquerading as philosphy and history--it's all here. And yet the novel is compassionate, even tender. What a wide open, goofily free nation this is. We here in the USA are uncontrollably eccentric, maybe even just plain nuts: but we wouldn't have it any other way.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth a twenty-year wait for re-reading, October 23, 2008

By 

D. Chambers (Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Masters of Atlantis (Paperback)

The plots and themes are discussed well in the other reviews. So here is a testimonial instead.

In the 1980s, I read this book with great pleasure, and then passed it along to a friend, as I always do. He read it, then correctly passed it along to another friend or library. Thus we shared our books among others, never planning (or even having time) to re-read them. A few months later we discussed this strange and wonderful book, which was full of characters in secret societies and factions thereof, using green ink, issuing membership cards--then stamping them VOID in a fury, conniving for leadership, etc.

Most books are never worth re-reading, even if they are great: there are simply too many other good ones waiting for their turn. This one was clearly different: so we racked our brains trying to remember the title or author, so that we could re-read it.

Years passed and we periodically tried to find this book. In the meantime, we discovered the book "Confederacy of Dunces," the film "O brother, where art thou?" and the song "Shriner's Convention" all of which had similar odd characters, situations, and whimsy. After more than twenty years, my friend finally remembered the character "Sqanto the talking bluejay", and of course Google pulled this title right up.

Thus we now possess copies which will be selfishly unshared this time. You'll need to buy your own copy, which you may well then treasure as a jewel of the English language; hopefully it will become one of your top ten lifetime books, as it did for us.

You may even want to re-read it at some point--as I did. Highest praise indeed.