Men in Black [Paperback]

Scott Spencer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1996

"Darkly comic...satirical... lyrical...remarkable."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The funniest novel to date from an author whose previous obsession was, well, obsession, Men in Black is the story of a Jewish, 40-year-old novelist who writes a puffed-up primer on UFOs, under a pseudonym he happens to share with the author of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion." Meanwhile his teenage son is AWOL as a result of his father's sexual transgression. A hilarious send-up of our media culture and a powerful exploration of family life. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Family politics, marital discord, personal integrity, extraterrestrials, the publishing game and the vagaries of the American public find wise and witty treatment in this perceptive, highly readable novel from the author of Endless Love and Waking the Dead. Novelist Sam Holland has moved with his wife and two children to tiny Leyden, N.J., because his writing?despite favorable notices?can no longer pay the rent in Manhattan. To make ends meet, Sam has taken to penning pseudonymous volumes of popular nonfiction?An Intelligent Woman's Guide to Pro Football, Crystal Death (about the hazards of table salt) and, most recently, Visitors from Above, a UFO primer. Now, as his family fabric is seriously fraying (he's at constant battle with his wife, and his adolescent son runs away from home and into serious trouble), and as he is just beginning to realize how he has failed them and others, his UFO book is about to make him rich. Wrenching ironies abound, along with some keen insights into the subtleties of husband-wife and parent-child relationships. There are some awkward shifts between first- and third-person narration, but Spencer's prose is engaging, his characters are etched with tender intensity and the story proves compelling and hard to forget.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 338 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (July 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425153797
• ISBN-13: 978-0425153796
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,033,233 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Scott Spencer was born in Washington, D.C., raised in Chicago, and now lives in upstate New York. He is the author of nine novels, including Endless Love, Waking the Dead, A Ship Made of Paper, and Willing. He has taught at the University of Iowa, Williams College, and Columbia University. His nonfiction has appeared in Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, O, Harper's, and The New York Times.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant brilliant and ever more brilliant, November 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Men in Black (Paperback)

Wrenching and oh so funny --maybe the funniest book I've read in five years. Spencer is a national treasure and this is one of his best. If you're interested in love, lying,families, culture, and, yes, sex, this book will have you in its grip.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvellous Scott Spencer, April 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Men in Black (Paperback)

Roger McDonald writes about Scott Spencer in the Melbourne "Age", 1995"The reason I like Scott Spencer's writing is that it takes me by the nape of the neck and flings me into a world where what happens on the page is as real, as vivid, and as unpredictable as life itself. Years ago Endless Love was his big success, and it still reads brilliantly. Men In Black (Knopf, 1995) is un-put-downable. It is one of those books that as a writer I would have liked to write myself: funny, moving, poetic, and fast-paced. The dialogue is so truthful that it hurts to read it. The depictions of family life and married love would be unbearable if they weren't so truthful and wise. The narrator of Men In Black is an American writer who publishes serious fiction with low sales. His publisher is on his back. He has to produce commissioned non-fiction to keep going. Among his trivia titles are "Travelling With Your Pet", and a book about flying saucers he can hardly remember cobbling together, "Men In Black". The title refers to an urban myth about aliens who pass for humans. They wear summer clothes in winter, winter clothes in summer, and have peculiarly elongated thumbs. In fact, whatever the writer dreams up he slaps onto the page, and in the middle of a family crisis (teenage runaway son, exasperated wife) the book becomes a overnight cult classic. There's a call from his publisher. The author goes on tour across the US impersonating himself. All hell breaks loose. Spencer gives us razor-sharp satire on talkback radio hosts and author-promotion tours, but adds something more. He is a writer with a big heart and a sharp tongue, and the passionate combination of the two is irresistible.Look in vain for Scott Spencer's novels in Australian bookshops. We get container loads of mediocre American books and why he hasn't been picked up beats me. He's stunning."Roger McDonald is the author of six novels, the latest two being The Slap (Picador, Australia) and Mr Darwin's Shooter (Knopf, Australia, and Anchor, UK. in September 1998). He lives in Sydney.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Of The Best Written Books I've Read, August 10, 2000

By 

Geoffrey Kleinman (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Men in Black (Paperback)

After reading Men In Black I started wondering why more writers couldn't write like Scott Spencer. Spencer is so vivid in his details and writes so comfortably, it's a pleasure to read. Men in Black is an extremely enjoyable look into self identity and what happens when we are truly forced to deal with who we are. After reading Men In Black I picked up Spencer's Endless Love which is equally as well written.