The Origin of the Brunists (Coover, Robert) [Paperback]

Robert Coover (Author)

Book Description

Series: Coover, Robert | Publication Date: November 30, 2000

Originally published in 1969 and now back in print after over a decade, Robert Coover's first novel instantly established his mastery. A coal-mine explosion in a small mid-American town claims ninety-seven lives. The only survivor, a lapsed Catholic given to mysterious visions, is adopted as a doomsday prophet by a group of small-town mystics. "Exposed" by the town newspaper editor, the cult gains international notoriety and its ranks swell. As its members gather on the Mount of Redemption to await the apocalypse, Robert Coover lays bare the madness of religious frenzy and the sometimes greater madness of "normal" citizens. The Origin of the Brunists is vintage Coover -- comic, fearless, incisive, and brilliantly executed. "A novel of intensity and conviction ... a splendid talent ... heir to Dreiser or Lewis." -- The New York Times Book Review; "A breathtaking masterpiece on any level you approach it." -- Sol Yurick; "[The Origin of the Brunists] delivers the goods . . . [and] says what it has to say with rudeness, vigor, poetry and a headlong narrative momentum." -- The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Originally published in 1966, The Origin of the Brunists was a sensational debut that won the William Faulkner Foundation Award for Best First Novel and instantly established Robert Coover's fictional mastery. Set in a small mid-American town, it begins with a coal-mine explosion that claims ninety-seven lives. Giovanni Bruno--hawk-faced, silent, some say deranged--is the only survivor. A lapsed Catholic given to peculiar visions, Bruno is adopted as a prophet by a group of secretive small-town mystics. "Exposed" by the town newspaper editor, the Brunist cult gains international notoriety and its ranks swell. As its members gather on the Mount of Redemption--above the site of the mine disaster--to await the apocalypse, and the fabric of the community begins to unravel, Robert Coover lays bare the madness of religious frenzy and the sometime greater madness of "normal" citizens. The Origin of the Brunists is vintage Coover-fearless, incisive, and brilliantly executed.

"A novel of intensity and conviction...[Coover] may become heir to Dreiser or Lewis.... He has splendid talent."--The New York Times Book Review

"A breathtaking masterpiece on any level you approach it."--Sol Yurick, author of An Island Death

"[The Origin of the Brunists] delivers the goods; it explodes on the reader...says what it has to say with rudeness, vigor, poetry and a headlong narrative momentum."--The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

Robert Coover has won fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts, and has been the recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, the Rea Award for the short story, and the Lannan Literary Award for Fiction, among other honors. He has taught at Bard College, the University of Iowa, Princeton University and currently teaches electronic and experimental writing at Brown University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (November 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802137431
• ISBN-13: 978-0802137432
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #896,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, September 29, 2001

By 

Andrew Ng Hock Soon "just a reader" (Perth, Western Australia Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Origin of the Brunists (Coover, Robert) (Paperback)

Having read Coover's later books, I was rather skeptical if his earlier ones would be as good - and was pleasantly surprised. In fact, I would rate Coover's first novel as his best work: taut, earthy and powerful, it chronicles the rise and fall of a cult group called the Brunist (following the name of the so-called founder of the group, Giovanni Bruno) and how even a small, seemingly harmless and insignificant group of people can become potentially threatening to the larger community. But what I truly admire about this novel is the slow, subtle building of the narrative terror and hysteria. Coover is indeed a master of suspense and anti-climaxes, building up very tensed episodes to end them in slick, sometimes frustrating, bathos. But this only makes the novel more rewarding as the reader is never on solid ground. The prose continuously shifts and distabilises the reader's suppositions, making it almost impossible to stop reading (this is not an exaggeration). I highly recommend this electrifying novel and hope that it will reach a very wide audience.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Origin of the Brunists - B-grade people meet religion, November 4, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Origin of the Brunists (Hardcover)

Robert Coover's first novel, Origin of the Brunists, shows how he won so many awards for his poetry and short fiction. This is a book you won't forget. The book throws a strange group of definitely substandard people together, adds a set of bizarre events, shakes, and comes up with the most bizarre - but plausible - religion you have ever seen. Metaphysics, virtual Forteanism, downright stoicism, you name it, it gets thrown in and sort of works. The book is a study of the individuals, not the religion, but the religion serves to hold the people together. I haven't read this book in 15 years, and I'm aching to get another copy. If you like this book, try Coover's Universal Baseball Association - J. Henry Waugh, Prop., or a collection of his poetry and shortstuff, Pricksongs and Other Delights. At least one of these is in print.

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant and Insightful, January 31, 2012

By 

Eric Backes (Santa Monica, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Origin of the Brunists (Coover, Robert) (Paperback)

This book is at once brilliant, insightful, and extremely well written. The story provides a wicked parody of religion as it examines the birth and growth of a cult in a small town.