Neighbors: A Novel [Paperback]

Thomas Berger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 21, 2005

Suburban regular guy Earl Keese confronts the yawning pit of chaos in the persons of Harry and Ramona, a younger couple who have just moved into the only other house on their dead-end street. Literally overnight, Earl's painstakingly controlled world is turned upside down. Soon he is engaged in guerilla warfare with his new neighbors, who seem to threaten the very fabric of his carefully constructed reality.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A wonderfully funny and mysterious book."

-- The New York Times Book Review

"A flawlessly crafted morality play constructed out of the most subtle minutiae of perception and expressionÆas if Henry James had written Waiting for Godot."

-- The Nation

"Neighbors offers a version of reality skewed just enough to give paranoia a good name."

-- Time

About the Author

Thomas Berger is the author of twenty-three novels. His previous novels include Best Friends, Meeting Evil, and The Feud, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. His Little Big Man is known throughout the world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 275 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (June 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743257960
• ISBN-13: 978-0743257961
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,020,499 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There Goes the Neighborhood, September 5, 2000

By 

Bryan A. Pfleeger (Metairie, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Neighbors (Paperback)

It was with great pleasure that I read that Zoland Books was reissuing Berger's classic dark comedy. I had been looking for this book for many years and it has sadly been out of print. The book still stands as one of the funniest books of the last twenty-five years. Earl Keese is the classic surburban gentleman: well rounded, established, slightly boring. He is living the perfect conventional life until his entire world is shattered by the moving in of Harry and Ramona. These are at first glance the neighbors from hell. Younger, less sophisticated, crass and alluring they are everything Keese is not. The first hundred and fifty pages of this novel ranks as one of the funniest set pieces in modern literature. One has to remember that this is a novel of all out guerilla warfare between two adult neighbors. If the idea seems childish at first one has to remember that these are adults acting as children. The odd thing is Keese grows to like these new people at the expense of his own family whom he begins to see as they really are. Wife Enid is a boozy bore, while daughter Elaine is a petty thief. Nothing is to Keese as it has seemed. By the end of the novel Keese is doubting his own way of life and wants to be more like the neighbors that he started out hating. The book is extemely funny biut sort of sad also and well worth the read.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Who is this guy!?, October 30, 2000

By 

dennis l. brooks jr. (los angeles, ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Neighbors (Paperback)

I just finished reading "Neighbors" by Thomas Berger and am convinced that I should never go back to my favorite coffee house again. Every time I went there to read this book I embarrassed myself with spontaneous guffaws, chuckles, whistles, hoots, hollers, snorts, hee-haws, "pfts!" and knee slaps. I drew a tremendous number of piercing looks and some sad glances of well-wishers encouraged to see a man afflicted with such a debilitating case of turrets emboldened enough to step out in public and try to normalize. This is one of the funniest novels I've ever read. Berger has the wit and darkly comedic outlook of Vonnegut and the surrealism and sheer command of the English language that Beckett displays in his best prose. I hate to say that the end of the novel failed to live up to the rather high expectations I had for it but really, who cares? I'm thrilled to have discovered a new favorite author and can't wait to read some more of his work. Probably "Little Big Man" will be next on my list. I highly recommend this novel especially for authors if for nothing else but to study the work of a master craftsman.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat different stylistically from movie, October 15, 2004

By 

Jeremy Ulrey "Bangyrmfhead" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Neighbors (Paperback)

If you're like me you were introduced to the world of Thomas Berger through the movie adaptation of "Neighbors" which featured John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd in one of the most ingenious casting decisions of all time. Perhaps it's because I have such fond memories of the film (believe me, I had a long history with it before ever coming to the book) that I was somewhat alarmed at the book's tone.

Both versions have Earl and Enid living peacably in outer suburbia when Harry and Ramona move suddenly into the only other house occupying their street. What ensues is a comedy of manners in which Harry and Ramona make life hell for Earl (Enid emerges strangely unscathed) all the while playing dumb and rebounding the blame back in Earl's court.

You see, in the movie the ridiculous humor is played more or less strictly for laughs, and in my opinion it's one of the finer black comedies of all time (but then, I have a soft spot for compressed little films that have a wealth of material all occurring during one eventful night - ie. American Graffiti, After Hours, Dazed & Confused, etc). Berger's source novel, on the other hand, plays it a little bit more straight, and in fact hints not too subtly that a great deal of the mischief may be entirely a figment of Earl's imagination. This is all fine and well but Berger seems to take it a bit over the top at times. In particular, Enid and (later) their daughter Elaine seem to be picking on Earl and choosing sides against him more or less at random. Similarly, the ending goes for a Kafkaesque (circa "The Trial") bit of nihilistic mayhem that is unconvincing, insofar as similar incidents had been played out throughout the novel without the extreme response scripted in here. This is all the more disappointing considering the more or less realistic repartee between Earl and the Harry/Ramona tangent. Ultimately Harry has not had to prove his manhood for many a year (if ever) and it's this fatal flaw that makes his failures all the more tragically heroic. I still feel the movie managed to smooth out a few of the more incongruous plot points, but the novel is still an engaging read even after all these years.