Will Barrett (also the hero of Percy's The Last Gentleman) is a lonely widower suffering from a depression so severe that he decides he doesn't want to continue living. But then he meets Allison, a mental hospital escapee making a new life for herself in a greenhouse. The Second Coming is by turns touching and zany, tragic and comic, as Will sets out in search of God's existence and winds up finding much more.
The Second Coming
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Browse the best books of summer including blockbusters, beach reads, and editors' picks in our Summer Reading Store. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Splendid...a beautifully textured novel...a distinguished work of art.... Walker Percy's perception luminously lights up obscure depths of experience without at the same time explaining that experience away."--The New York Times Book Review
"What a pleasure . . . His best nook since The Moviegoer . . . and among the most admirable American novels of the past few years."--The New Republic
"He is a beguiling, uniquely gifted novelist who deserves to be read in order and in full."--Newsweek
"What a pleasure . . . His best nook since The Moviegoer . . . and among the most admirable American novels of the past few years."--The New Republic
"He is a beguiling, uniquely gifted novelist who deserves to be read in order and in full."--Newsweek
From the Inside Flap
Will Barrett, a lonely widower, suffers from a depression so strange and severe that he decides he doesn't want to continue living. But then he meets Allison, a mental hospital escapee making a new life for herself, living alone in a greenhouse. What follows is by turns touching and zany, tragic and comic, as Will goes in search of proof of God and winds up finding much more.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Walker Percy (1916-1990) was one of the most prominent American writers of the twentieth century. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, he was the oldest of three brothers in an established Southern family that contained both a Civil War hero and a U.S. senator. Acclaimed for his poetic style and moving depictions of the alienation of modern American culture, Percy was the bestselling author of six fiction titles--including the classic novel The Moviegoer (1961), winner of the National Book Award--and fifteen works of nonfiction. In 2005, Time magazine named The Moviegoer one of the best English-language books published since 1923.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
78 of 83 people found the following review helpful
By Tara
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'd have missed out on what was probably the most profound reading experience of my life.
I read Percy's "The Moviegoer" a few years before I read "The Second Coming." I appreciated Percy's craft, but wasn't particularly fond of "Moviegoer." I, like most passionate readers, will devour all the works of an author when I find a new one I like. Suffice it to say that "Moviegoer" didn't send me in search of the rest of the Walker Percy canon.
Years later, I met someone (of whom I thought very highly) who recommended two books to me: "Second Coming" and "A Confederacy of Dunces." I read Confederacy first (which was also fantastic) and then, somewhat reluctantly, picked up "Second Coming." I think I fell in love before the end of the first chapter. By the time I was finished, I knew this book was my soulmate. I was also sad because I knew that it might be decades before I would ever read another book that would touch me as deeply as this book did.
This story is a difficult one to do justice to in a brief description. I know every inch of this book, as I read it at least once a year now. If you enjoy an introspective, character-driven story, PLEASE read this book. While it's not a romance, it's the most quiet yet compelling love story I've ever read. Percy truly created the OPPOSITE of "inevitable conflict" (i.e. Blanche and Stanley in "Streetcar"); Will and Allie are inevitably one.
This novel is truly underread and underrated. As a another reviewer wrote, I wish I could give this book far more than 5 stars. If I had to spend 50 years on an island with one book, I'd be found on the beach with a dog-eared copy of "The Second Coming."
I read Percy's "The Moviegoer" a few years before I read "The Second Coming." I appreciated Percy's craft, but wasn't particularly fond of "Moviegoer." I, like most passionate readers, will devour all the works of an author when I find a new one I like. Suffice it to say that "Moviegoer" didn't send me in search of the rest of the Walker Percy canon.
Years later, I met someone (of whom I thought very highly) who recommended two books to me: "Second Coming" and "A Confederacy of Dunces." I read Confederacy first (which was also fantastic) and then, somewhat reluctantly, picked up "Second Coming." I think I fell in love before the end of the first chapter. By the time I was finished, I knew this book was my soulmate. I was also sad because I knew that it might be decades before I would ever read another book that would touch me as deeply as this book did.
This story is a difficult one to do justice to in a brief description. I know every inch of this book, as I read it at least once a year now. If you enjoy an introspective, character-driven story, PLEASE read this book. While it's not a romance, it's the most quiet yet compelling love story I've ever read. Percy truly created the OPPOSITE of "inevitable conflict" (i.e. Blanche and Stanley in "Streetcar"); Will and Allie are inevitably one.
This novel is truly underread and underrated. As a another reviewer wrote, I wish I could give this book far more than 5 stars. If I had to spend 50 years on an island with one book, I'd be found on the beach with a dog-eared copy of "The Second Coming."
56 of 62 people found the following review helpful
By John
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
When I read books, I mark up the text and write in the margins pretty thoroughly, and when I am finished with the book, I go back through and copy down my favorite passages. Usually there is only one or two quotes to write down, but The Second Coming was a different matter. Walker Percy has such extraordinary insights and power with words that passage after passage, with their humor, wisdom, and beauty, pierces straight through me. It took me two hours to copy all of the passages I wanted.
The Second Coming is one of the greatest novels that I have ever read, and that is partly because of the quirky story at its heart. Will Barrett, a rich and successful widower, is trapped in his life, a sort of living death. His big first step begins to happen in the first wonderful episode of the novel when he is playing golf and begins to realize it. "Knowing about what is going to happen is having a chance to escape it. If you don't know about it, it will certainly happen to you." From there, Will begins to try to find how to live his life. The other primary character is Allison, a girl escaped from a mental hospital now trying to find out how to live in a world totally new to her. Together, they embark on a quest to be born again into life.
The Second Coming is one of the greatest novels I have ever read. Percy was trained as a physician, and he took those skills to literature. In The Second Coming, he diagnoses American society and tries to find a cure. There is some real wisdom there and most importantly, some real hope. This is a novel that is vastly underrated and one that should not be missed (along with all of Percy's other novels).
33 of 36 people found the following review helpful
By Hugh Pearson
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I've long been familiar with the name, Walker Percy, and of his well-known relative who helped settle the Mississippi Delta, and was one of the most powerful and wealthy planters in that region. But it wasn't until I finally picked up "The Moviegoer" to figure out why that book is so well-respected, that I finally understood why Percy was considered such a phenomonal writer by those in the know. His style is PERFECT. His themes -- PERFECT. I have never read a writer I am more enthralled with. And I like "The Second Coming," too. This guy, if anything, is UNDERRATED. He is as profound as Faulkner, but EASY TO UNDERSTAND (my 11th grade English teacher always taught that you can be as profound as you wish, as long as you make your writing understandable to EVERYONE, ranging from an educated king, to the lowliest peasant, which is a policy that I have personally tried to follow as a published author myself). The Second Coming is an excellent story that explores human depths that so many novelists don't even begin to reach. I now intend to read everything I can get my hands on that this outstanding writer ever wrote.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Speedy delivery
I got the book really quick,but for what I paid I wish it was not written in; all the underlining made it a little distracting.
Published 4 months ago by Merci1
5.0 out of 5 stars
2nd read even better
Read this book many years ago and was thrilled. It is even better now that I am older. Some of the thoughts are so dynamic: "with the right tools and enough time, I can move... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Nancy W. Markey
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don't waste your money.
How many times does he fall down before you give up on the monotony of this book? Save your money.
Published 17 months ago by J. Bryan
4.0 out of 5 stars
Adventure and Awakening
The hero of this book is Will Barrett, rich, an early retiree and seeker of God. He has led a life that now seems to him to have been death-in-life. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Diethelm Thom
3.0 out of 5 stars
Major Flaws in What Could Have Been a Great Novel
The Second Coming held my interest and I enjoyed reading it, even though it did drag a little sometimes. Read more
Published on September 7, 2010 by Kilmer Lee Horst
4.0 out of 5 stars
Liked it
Quick Review: this book takes place mostly within the mind of Will Barrett, who is sliding in and out of reality throughout the entire book. Read more
Published on March 3, 2010 by Ghost of Jomo
5.0 out of 5 stars
A brilliant literary tapestry
This book is quite easily the best book I have read all year! Granted it's only January 8, but I'm pretty sure the statement will hold. Read more
Published on January 8, 2010 by CDS
4.0 out of 5 stars
Waiting for a Sign
Walker Percy was an unusally gifted novelist. He had the ability to bring the unlikeliest characters to life amid stories that were both fantastic and real. Read more
Published on December 19, 2008 by R. Chaffey
2.0 out of 5 stars
Lecherous Fantasy
The book opens with multi-millionaire widower William Barrett's extraordinary mid-life crisis. Not only is he worried about the meaning of his work and life but he has obsessions... Read more
Published on November 30, 2008 by Martin P. Cohen
5.0 out of 5 stars
First Rate
The all-up guttiest and most lovable heroine I've encountered in some 58 years of reading.
Published on April 28, 2008 by Robert W. Winter
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 2
books:
100
books
cite this book:
See all 100 books citing this book
- Ronald Reagan (Gap) (Great American Presidents) by Heather Lehr Wagner on page 102
- Captain Blood (Penguin Classics) by Rafael Sabatini on page 82
- The Fiction of Walker Percy by John Hardy on 37 pages
- Walker Percy's Voices by Michael Kobre on 23 pages
- The Last Physician: Walker Percy and the Moral Life of Medicine by Carl Elliott on 19 pages
- Conversations with Walker Percy (Literary Conversations) by Lewis A. Lawson on 18 pages
- Writing the Apocalypse: Historical Vision in Contemporary U.S. and Latin American Fiction by Lois Parkinson Zamora on 12 pages
See all 100 books citing this book
