L.J. Davis’s 1971 novel, A Meaningful Life, is a blistering black comedy about the American quest for redemption through real estate and a gritty picture of New York City in collapse. Just out of college, Lowell Lake, the Western-born hero of Davis’s novel, heads to New York, where he plans to make it big as a writer. Instead he finds a job as a technical editor, at which he toils away while passion leaks out of his marriage to a nice Jewish girl. Then Lowell discovers a beautiful crumbling mansion in a crime-ridden section of Brooklyn, and against all advice, not to mention his wife’s will, sinks his every penny into buying it. He quits his job, moves in, and spends day and night on demolition and construction. At last he has a mission: he will dig up the lost history of his house; he will restore it to its past grandeur. He will make good on everything that’s gone wrong with his life, and he will even murder to do it.
A Meaningful Life (New York Review Books Classics)
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"... one of the strangest novels I have ever read: a crazed parable in which the protagonist, Lowell Lake, and his marriage undergo a constantly regenerating process of mental and physical disintegration. Quite mad, it can be read poolside, roadside or mountainside: wherever you are, you'll be Lake-side." – Geoff Dyer, The Guardian
"The story, delivered with terrific brio, proceeds as a phantasmagoria of urban decay and heightened obsession. It is also extremely funny if you can put politically correct scruples to the side - which should be easy enough as the true butt of the novel is Lowell himself." —Katherine Powers, The Boston Globe
"Stultified by his job (editing a plumbing magazine) and his mind-numbing marriage ('a cross between Long Day's Journey into Night and Father Knows Best'), frustrated novelist Lowell Lake welcomes a new obsession: renovating a monstrously dilapidated mansion in a Brooklyn slum. What follows, in L.J. Davis's deadpan 1971 novel A Meaningful Life, reissued by NYRB Classics, is pure chaos, as Lowell confronts a cast of urban squatters, in some of the most brilliant comic turns this side of Alice in Wonderland. A cathartic read for urban pioneers." --O, The Oprah Magazine
"A rediscovered American classic from the 1970s, this is a darkly comic portrayal of broken dreams." --Waterstone Books Quarterly
"Here's a real rediscovery...This strange comic masterwork is compared to the work of Kingsley Amis in Jonathan Lethem's new introduction. That's almost right, but the feel is darker, and there's a touch of Patricia Highsmith too; it's all about gentrification, and, ultimately, madness." --The Los Angeles Times
“He has an erring sense of timing, of taste, of restraint. He has written some truly marvelous passages about New York. He has an absolute eye for the telling detail…An author who is clearly capable, funny at the proper times, both brutally and cheerfully perceptive.” –The New York Times
A novel that “has the authentically crazy tintinnabulation of our times…Mr. Blandings in a situation comedy by Kafka.” –Book World
“[Davis] has a fine comic gift; a clear-eyed view of those who imagine that mere accumulation is life itself.” –Paula Fox
“Davis is seen by some as a kind of Evelyn Waugh of the American urban crisis.” –The Washington Post
"The story, delivered with terrific brio, proceeds as a phantasmagoria of urban decay and heightened obsession. It is also extremely funny if you can put politically correct scruples to the side - which should be easy enough as the true butt of the novel is Lowell himself." —Katherine Powers, The Boston Globe
"Stultified by his job (editing a plumbing magazine) and his mind-numbing marriage ('a cross between Long Day's Journey into Night and Father Knows Best'), frustrated novelist Lowell Lake welcomes a new obsession: renovating a monstrously dilapidated mansion in a Brooklyn slum. What follows, in L.J. Davis's deadpan 1971 novel A Meaningful Life, reissued by NYRB Classics, is pure chaos, as Lowell confronts a cast of urban squatters, in some of the most brilliant comic turns this side of Alice in Wonderland. A cathartic read for urban pioneers." --O, The Oprah Magazine
"A rediscovered American classic from the 1970s, this is a darkly comic portrayal of broken dreams." --Waterstone Books Quarterly
"Here's a real rediscovery...This strange comic masterwork is compared to the work of Kingsley Amis in Jonathan Lethem's new introduction. That's almost right, but the feel is darker, and there's a touch of Patricia Highsmith too; it's all about gentrification, and, ultimately, madness." --The Los Angeles Times
“He has an erring sense of timing, of taste, of restraint. He has written some truly marvelous passages about New York. He has an absolute eye for the telling detail…An author who is clearly capable, funny at the proper times, both brutally and cheerfully perceptive.” –The New York Times
A novel that “has the authentically crazy tintinnabulation of our times…Mr. Blandings in a situation comedy by Kafka.” –Book World
“[Davis] has a fine comic gift; a clear-eyed view of those who imagine that mere accumulation is life itself.” –Paula Fox
“Davis is seen by some as a kind of Evelyn Waugh of the American urban crisis.” –The Washington Post
About the Author
L. J. Davis is an author and prize-winning journalist who has contributed to The New York Times, Mother Jones, and Harper’s, among other publications. A former Guggenheim Fellow and the winner of a National Magazine Award, he lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Jonathan Lethem is the author of seven novels, including Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude. He lives in Brooklyn and in Maine.
Jonathan Lethem is the author of seven novels, including Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude. He lives in Brooklyn and in Maine.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The first hundred pages of this book are among the best and funniest written about the "domestic politics of exhaustion." Lowell Lake quietly and desperately employs passive resistance in the quotidian war with his wife. For her part, she throws away his clothes and his birth certificate, tells Lowell that she hates how he sits in a chair, manipulates him into moving closer to her parents and wields casual cruelty like a rapier. In one of his few moments of insight or enthusiasm, Lowell blurts out to his wife during their relocation to her home in New York that he is the first member of his family to cross back east over the Mississippi in over a hundred years. Her response: "Big deal."
Unfortunately, the second half of the book focuses less on his marriage in order to recount Lowell's attempt to create an identity by renovating a broken down home in Brooklyn. He makes a game attempt but Lowell Lake is a man who has no friends, can't catch a ball and has so little clue that he prefers Linda Thorsen to Diana Rigg on the Avengers. (How's that for an obscure pop cultural reference by Davis?) Lake's failed effort lifts him almost to the level of a tragic hero but the reader remembers him more as the man who wakes up at night and intones aloud, "I am not a nerd."
This a quick and very enjoyable book. Read it for the priceless portraits of Lake's in-laws and for the new level of meaning Lowell Lake's existence brings to the word "meaningful."
Unfortunately, the second half of the book focuses less on his marriage in order to recount Lowell's attempt to create an identity by renovating a broken down home in Brooklyn. He makes a game attempt but Lowell Lake is a man who has no friends, can't catch a ball and has so little clue that he prefers Linda Thorsen to Diana Rigg on the Avengers. (How's that for an obscure pop cultural reference by Davis?) Lake's failed effort lifts him almost to the level of a tragic hero but the reader remembers him more as the man who wakes up at night and intones aloud, "I am not a nerd."
This a quick and very enjoyable book. Read it for the priceless portraits of Lake's in-laws and for the new level of meaning Lowell Lake's existence brings to the word "meaningful."
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Why is it we like Lowell Lake? He is hardly engaged in the world and seems to look down on all those he comes across as bizarre science experiments. Yet, we root for him and wish him every success as he struggles to find meaning in a life that has to this point largely just happened to him. Perhaps it is because he is finally taking the reigns and since he finds no reward in his work or his wife, we hope he will find something - anything. His wife, like most spouses, cuts quickly to the heart of his problem, saying, "That's just great. I can't tell you how that idea really grabs me. What do you think this is? The Jackie Gleason Show?... I have to travel three thousand miles and work my *** off for four years in order to marry a New York cab driver?... I don't believe it. I've never worn a house dress in my life. At least you could have said you wanted to be a riveter.... Riveters make good money and there'd be a nice little pension for me if you walked off a beam up there in the sky. I liked it better when you wanted to be a cowboy." So revealing regarding Lowell's lost boy persona.
The book also appealed because I love all things New York and am fascinated by the 1970's especially. Davis does a fantastic job communicating the social and economic forces of change taking place. Lowell's attempt to move from Manhattan to Brooklyn is almost voyeuristic. His encounters with the various characters are fun and I like to think accurate. The challenges that the renovation brings is at once pathetic, hopeful, and futile. The mansion he purchases and fixates on was built in the mid 19th century by a tycoon, Civil War hero, corporation lawyer, and adventurer.... Read more ›
The book also appealed because I love all things New York and am fascinated by the 1970's especially. Davis does a fantastic job communicating the social and economic forces of change taking place. Lowell's attempt to move from Manhattan to Brooklyn is almost voyeuristic. His encounters with the various characters are fun and I like to think accurate. The challenges that the renovation brings is at once pathetic, hopeful, and futile. The mansion he purchases and fixates on was built in the mid 19th century by a tycoon, Civil War hero, corporation lawyer, and adventurer.... Read more ›
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a book that has all of the elements of a great piece of American fiction that misses the mark in several ways. First, let me discuss what made this a good read. I enjoyed the way Davis describes his main protagonist's interactions with his wife, her family, and his parents. I also really enjoyed the chapter where the protagonist goes for the first time to visit the house he ultimately buys -- the scenes of him seeing those living there are incredibly well-written and memorable. Finally, I also liked the conclusion, which is crushing in many ways -- but very common to young men at such a stage of their life.
While this is a good read, it isn't great because Davis tries to do too much here. It becomes confusing, muddled, and a bit over the top. The possible murder? The possible affair? The feeble attempts by the protagonist to reconcile with his wife? All of this -- in the space of some 200 pages -- feels a bit scattered. It would have better, and perhaps more effective, had the story unfolded without some elements. The author could have explored the themes of West to East, decline of America, etc. without some of the more over-the-top aspects.
In the end, it is enjoyable and a good illustration of 1960s urban America, but not a classic.
While this is a good read, it isn't great because Davis tries to do too much here. It becomes confusing, muddled, and a bit over the top. The possible murder? The possible affair? The feeble attempts by the protagonist to reconcile with his wife? All of this -- in the space of some 200 pages -- feels a bit scattered. It would have better, and perhaps more effective, had the story unfolded without some elements. The author could have explored the themes of West to East, decline of America, etc. without some of the more over-the-top aspects.
In the end, it is enjoyable and a good illustration of 1960s urban America, but not a classic.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Lowell Lake is a fellow devoid of drive or brilliance. He grows up in the middle of nowhere--Boise--where his parents run a ma-and-pa motel that caters to the local b-girls, as well as the occasional furtive and worried homosexual politician. Lowell is smart enough to get accepted by Stanford, circa 1956, but not clever enough for a scholarship. He writes to the local judge, asking for advice and help. The judge misreads the letter as a smooth blackmail note. He's been having uranian assignations at the motel for many years, and decides the motel owners' son must know all about them. So the judge tells Lowell he knows of an obscure scholarship fund, and for four years pays for Stanford out of pocket. Lowell is none the wiser.
Nor does he do anything smart or distinguished in Palo Alto, where he fills out an English major and settles in with a Jewish girl from Brooklyn. He knows nothing about Jews or Brooklyn, but it all sounds wonderfully exotic. When Lowell finally meets the parents, he is horrified. The fiancée's mother is a shrill, angry woman who won't look Lowell in the eye; the father is a tiny, meek fabric-cutter ("Call me Leo") who main conversational topic is his terror of "the negroes." Lowell's impulse is to run away--perhaps live as hermit in the desert. He gets as far as Donner Pass before deciding he doesn't really have that much courage.
And so the dreadful, bickering marriage begins: Lowell's wife slowly turning into her mother and accusing Lowell of being "weak" like her father, Lowell feebly attempting to rouse himself to something dynamic.
They were supposed to move to Berkeley and follow the grad-school path. Now Lowell decides to show his nerve by moving to New York.... Read more ›
Nor does he do anything smart or distinguished in Palo Alto, where he fills out an English major and settles in with a Jewish girl from Brooklyn. He knows nothing about Jews or Brooklyn, but it all sounds wonderfully exotic. When Lowell finally meets the parents, he is horrified. The fiancée's mother is a shrill, angry woman who won't look Lowell in the eye; the father is a tiny, meek fabric-cutter ("Call me Leo") who main conversational topic is his terror of "the negroes." Lowell's impulse is to run away--perhaps live as hermit in the desert. He gets as far as Donner Pass before deciding he doesn't really have that much courage.
And so the dreadful, bickering marriage begins: Lowell's wife slowly turning into her mother and accusing Lowell of being "weak" like her father, Lowell feebly attempting to rouse himself to something dynamic.
They were supposed to move to Berkeley and follow the grad-school path. Now Lowell decides to show his nerve by moving to New York.... Read more ›
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Didn't make it as far as Brooklyn, alas
Whether Jew or non-Jew himself, Brooklyner Davis represents a late manifestation of bleak broad-brush burlesque in the vein of Bruce Jay Friedman and the terminally depressing... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Simon G. Barrett
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful pacing, and humor
The problem with republishing a book from another era, even one as recent as 1970s New York, is that subtle contextual clues are hard to decipher, or are miss read. Read more
Published 7 months ago by las cosas
4.0 out of 5 stars
neglected classic
Maybe yu have to be of a certain age to enjoy the humor, the lack of PC and the sheer good writing.
'A Meaningful Life' is about, among other things, the great American quest... Read more
'A Meaningful Life' is about, among other things, the great American quest... Read more
Published on February 26, 2010 by Yellow Dog's friend
3.0 out of 5 stars
Lost In Brooklyn
Some years ago I read Paula Fox's Desperate Characters.I liked it but thought it overated.A Meaningful Life has understandbly been compared to Fox's novel. Read more
Published on December 19, 2009 by JAK
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