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St. Burl's Obituary [Paperback]

Daniel Akst (Author)

4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews) |

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Product Details

Paperback
Publisher: San Diego: Harcourt Brace,; First Harvest Edition edition (1996)
ISBN-10: 015600514X
ISBN-13: 978-0156005142
ASIN: B000KP3G2O
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces

Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,923,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Daniel Akst Page

Daniel Akst is a writer whose columns, essays and reviews have appeared in a variety of publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Wilson Quarterly, Slate, Metropolis and many others. He's also the author of two novels and two nonfiction books. He works as an editorial writer at Newsday, on Long Island, where he also writes a weekly column that is distributed by the McClatchy-Tribune news service. For more information, visit www.akst.com.

Customer Reviews

11 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, Erudite and Entertaining, November 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: St. Burl's Obituary (Paperback)

I've read this book several times and with each rereading find more to admire. It's rare to find a work that is at once original, erudite and unceasingly entertaining. It succeeds on several levels -- as a contemporary allegory, as a character study of the intelligent, funny and tormented-by-his-bulk Burl, and as a rollicking great yarn. Burl's enormous appetite is a terrific metaphor of our consumer society; his journeys through a hilariously gothic America and his virtual death and resurrection are the stuff of great literature.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars utterly funny and thought provoking, October 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: St. Burl's Obituary (Paperback)

This novel entertained me for as long as I could make the reading last. Please call Joel & Ethan Cohen and have them make a moovie of Burl.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nelmackel, May 25, 2005

Douglas L. Nelson "Dougman" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: St. Burl's Obituary (Paperback)

This was a great book. The reviewer 'Gluttony and Tedium' must have read a different book from what i read. I'd love to have dinner with Burl(before his obese-demise), just to share the joy of taste. This book is as good as the movie "The Big Night"--the transforming power of food, both good and bad is profound.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Missing in action.
More than sufficient time passes -- no product, no response. It's not the money as much as the idea that some few ruin the record for small business.

Published 12 months ago by ideas equate

4.0 out of 5 stars St. Burls Obituary
Humorous account of a food addict battling weight and various social problems who has a number of adventures during his incognito absence from New York. Read more

Published 14 months ago by Mister C

5.0 out of 5 stars Someone Needs to Reprint this Book -- It's fabulous
I started reading this book a few days ago, a chapter or section at a time but had to finally sit down today and read it cover to cover in one sitting. Read more

Published on February 16, 2010 by Nan

1.0 out of 5 stars Gluttony and Tedium
When I read the synopsis of this book, it seemed like an intriguing odyssey through the bewildering and often grotesque landscape of modern America. Read more

Published on October 17, 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant book!
I selected this book from the library shelf based on its intriguing cover. I read the first couple of pages right there, and was hooked. Read more

Published on December 14, 2000 by Nicola Mody-Nikoloff

5.0 out of 5 stars I don't know why this isn't a more popular book?
Eventhough at times it seems a bit unrealistic, it is still a great read. I think a lot of people will see a little bit of themselves in Burl even if you are not over weight. Read more

Published on December 8, 2000 by John

4.0 out of 5 stars It was interesting.
I just finished it. I think Part II was much better than part I, but as a whole it was an okay book. I enjoyed some parts more than others. I wouldn't read it again, though.

Published on January 20, 2000 by A Well-Read Reader

5.0 out of 5 stars Sophisticated and entertaining - could one ask for more?
Dan Akst sure is one of the brightest authors I've ever come across. Just to start with that statement. Read more

Published on February 10, 1999 by Doktor D�blinger

› See all 11 customer reviews...

Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.

First Sentence:
THIS WAS BEFORE BURL had written his own obituary. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Burl Bennett, Salt Lake City, Mother Witness, The Tribune, New Jersey, Las Vegas, Joey Gem, Holy Grail, Abraham Alter, Joseph Smith, Long Island, Uncle Lou, Brooklyn Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel, Abe Alter, Janet David Witness, Mort Allen, The Reaper

New!
Concordance | Text Stats

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Citations (learn more)

This book cites 21 books:

Baby Cat-Face (Harvest American Writing) by Barry Gifford in Back Matter
Merry Men by Carolyn Chute in Back Matter
The Beans of Egypt, Maine by Carolyn Chute in Back Matter
Ugly Ways by Tina McElroy Ansa in Back Matter
Rootie Kazootie (Harvest Book) by Lawrence Naumoff in Back Matter

See all 21 books this book cites

6 books cite this book:

Word of Mouth: Food and Fiction After Freud (Literary Criticism and Cultural Theory) by Susanne M. Skubal in Front Matter, and Index
But I Love You Anyway (Harvest American Writing) by Sara Lewis in Back Matter
Heart Conditions by Sara Lewis in Back Matter
Pushing the Bear (Harvest Book) by Diane Glancy in Back Matter
The Book of Mercy by Kathleen Cambor in Back Matter

See all 6 books citing this book

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