In the summer of 1960 a legendary director took a cast of movie icons into the Nevada desert to make a movie from a screenplay by a famed playwright. The Misfits was one of the most anticipated films of the 20th century, but difficult shooting locations, an unstable leading lady, an aging leading man, a crumbling marriage, and an undisciplined director all conspired to make behind-the-scene events as dramatic as the movie itself.
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"Arthur Winfield Knight is one of our greatest storytellers. He makes the weighty stuff of history stand on its hind legs and dance, and his characters, whether made by God or by Knight, are as hard to leave behind at book's end as a house filled with close friends. I'm a fan to the death." -- Loren D. Estleman, author of LITTLE BLACK DRESS
A fine novel from a fine writer. By framing the story within the making of The Misfits, Knight provides unique insights into the characters of Marilyn Monroe, Arthur Miller,and other enigmatic personae of their times. -- Marcia Muller, Author of THE EVER-RUNNING MAN (Sharon McCone Mysteries)
A fine novel from a fine writer. By framing the story within the making of The Misfits, Knight provides unique insights into the characters of Marilyn Monroe, Arthur Miller,and other enigmatic personae of their times. -- Marcia Muller, Author of THE EVER-RUNNING MAN (Sharon McCone Mysteries)
From the Publisher
With MISFITS COUNTRY the author gives the reader a fictional look behind the scenes of the making of the movie THE MISFITS. The real life movie stared Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable in their final on screen performances. The troubled Montgomery Clift also stared in the movie that was directed by the iconic John Huston with a screenplay by Arthur Miller who was at the time married to Marilyn Monroe.
With MISFITS COUNTRY the author takes the reader inside the heads of these larger than life personalities and their strained relationships, as they spend their days in the blistering Nevada desert trying to make a movie and their nights under the neon lights of Reno. The reader is taken back to the waning days of Hollywood's golden era and to time when Reno really was "The Biggest Little City in the World!"
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Review of Misfits Country,
This review is from: Misfits Country (Paperback)
Originally pulblished in Small Press Review:
Review of Misfits Country, a novel by Arthur Winfield Knight --by Maura Gage Cavell, Professor of English and Director of the Honors Program at Louisiana State University at Eunice Misfits Country, a novel by Arthur Winfield Knight, is now available through Tres Picos Press, P.O. Box 932, Freedom, CA 95019 ([...]), for $14.95, ISBN: 978-0-974309-1-8. The story hinges around the making of the movie The Misfits, a screenplay by playwright Arthur Miller, which was written for and stars his wife, Marilyn Monroe. By the time the movie was being filmed, this relationship was failing. The other key figures in the novel include director John Huston, and leading men Montgomery Clift and Clark Gable. The characters in Misfits Country are imagined versions of their real-life counterparts. While this is not history, the reader will feel he or she is actually meeting up with these key figures as they are developed so believably and realistically. This may be fiction, but it is well-researched fiction. The reader is taken behind-the-scenes to meet these characters during production time. When Marilyn has self doubts about her ability to play Roslyn, John says, "'Don't be silly. Roslyn was written for you'" (14), but he changes his mind about her acting abilities when he realizes he never had her on her knees: "'Yeah, well, we all make mistakes"'(15), so he is both kind and cruel to Marilyn within a short period. Combined, they have insecurities, drinking, drug, and gambling problems, issues with aging, marriage, love, and location--a hot desert. Even the minor characters are painted realistically. The description of Thelma, "She had a face like a used newspaper, but she knew things" (26) is not atypical of the way the characters are depicted--in a lively fashion. The significant characters have many miseries, and yet there is a true tenderness between them, and it is easy to care about them. Marilyn and Monty care about each other, and they might even be in love on some level, but he is gay and she has been used up by men, and so their love remains unconsummated. It is an odd love affair. Their relationships and lives have been riddled with pain, love, hate, loss, and so the way they connect is tenuous, stormy, and unpredictable. While they may often be lost and flailing about in their own lives, they can be kind to one another, share true affection, even while they are grappling with their own various ways of being lost. Marilyn says early on, "'I can't seem to find...the way back to my room'" (9), showing herself to be literally lost, and then she says, adding to this idea so much more resonance, "'I think I'm lost'" (9). And Monty, a gay man playing a cowboy, has his own issues. With their flaws intact, they manage to make this film a work of art. As John so eloquently reminds everyone after Marilyn and Clark have met and she is happy that he likes her, "'Now that we're all so happily introduced, let's get the goddamn picture underway. We've got a film to make, people'" (11). As the poster for the movie The Misfits claims, "It Shouts and Sings with Life," so does Misfit's Country. Even the setting is lively; as Clark and Kay drive, they travel "east, past the Mustang Ranch. It was probably the most famous whorehouse in America" (127). Knight gets and keeps our attention. The vivid and accurate details of the setting seem perfect for the horse wranglers and cowboys in the film. This novel is primarily a love story of Monty and Marilyn and is developed in a sequence of chapters entitled with the names or job titles of the characters they are about. The chapters flow like scenes; the characters' various voices and points of view pull us along to create "the big picture" (no movie pun intended). The chapters read like poems, and the novel reads as if it were a collection of poems, culminating in a certain sad beauty calling out to the human spirit.
23 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Sure, it's interesting, but kind of creepy too.,
This review is from: Misfits Country (Paperback)
The author plainly states that "Misfits Country" is a work of fiction. By using the names of extremely famous actors for his characters, however, he allows us to feel that we are voyeurs into the extraordinary lives of these larger than life stars from the fifties. This novelette does not fit into the genre of historical fiction; I really don't know how to classify it, except as expressed in the title of this short review.
11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
one word: AWFUL,
This review is from: Misfits Country (Paperback)
Misfits Country goes beyond bad and reaches a whole new level of terrible writing. The story is bland and repetitive. The characters are flat and predictable. The names of famous celebrities do nothing to help the book because NONE of the personalities that made the celebrities larger than life are present. Really, any name can be attached to the characters betwixt the binding, and the reader wouldn't be able to differentiate one from the other. These characters are lifeless and uninspired. I don't think I have ever been more disappointed in a book the way I was with this one. I won't even mention the numerous errors within the text. I was expecting a good story featuring larger than life figures in history and what I got was anything but... Avoid.
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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Virginia City, New York, Mzsfzts Couratry, Marilyn Monroe, Los Angeles, Quail Canyon, San Francisco, Misfits Country, Long Shadow, The Misfits, Odeon Bar, Pyramid Lake, Truckee River, Old West, Lake Tahoe, Dirty Dick, Cal-Neva Lodge, Happy Birthday, Old Heenan, Clark's Mercedes, Mzsfzts Country, Jim Jones, Virginia Street, Sky Room, Lone Ranger Browse Sample Pages:
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dried lake bed Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Virginia City, New York, Mzsfzts Couratry, Marilyn Monroe, Los Angeles, Quail Canyon, San Francisco, Misfits Country, Long Shadow, The Misfits, Odeon Bar, Pyramid Lake, Truckee River, Old West, Lake Tahoe, Dirty Dick, Cal-Neva Lodge, Happy Birthday, Old Heenan, Clark's Mercedes, Mzsfzts Country, Jim Jones, Virginia Street, Sky Room, Lone Ranger Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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