Recalling all the women he has ever loved, public relations man Ira Holloway explores his sexuality and the profound hold it has on him. By the author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain. 75,000 first printing.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Known for the psychological acuity of his six previous novels and for the short story collection, A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain , for which he won the Pulitzer last year, Butler here moves into new territory. This is a literary novel about the physical chemistry of sensual love, told in lyrical prose via a sensitive narrator who venerates the memories of the many women with whom he has coupled, and who "hears" the whispers of their voices, which are interwoven into the text. At 35, Ira Holloway is a man who lives intensely through his senses; the slightest visual or olfactory stimulation releases sensual memories, which he recollects in a highly charged stream of consciousness. Holloway's sexual experiences go back to his youth in Wabash, Ill., his service in Vietnam, his affairs in Zurich and in New York, where he currently works in public relations. But Holloway is not a conventional, and thereby contemptible, womanizer; he is a man whose eroticism is coupled with a true appreciation of female sexuality and respect for women as individuals. More than a mere litany of sexual unions, the novel is, au fond , the record of Holloway's tormented marriage to a woman in the grip of a religious obsession that accelerates from eccentric to insane, and the anguished decisions he makes for the sake of their son. While the descriptions of erotic love are integral to the plot, the highly charged sensuality, the details of the rising stages of lust and the relentless stream-of-consciousness monologue sometimes grow wearisome. Some may empathize with Holloway when he confesses: "I can become a little overwhelmed by the vast chorus that sings all around me, all the women, their throats throbbing in an Ode to Joy." 75,000 first printing; author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Butler has already published six novels to subdued response, but his first collection of stories, A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain ( LJ 5/1/92), won the Pultizer Prize. This new novel details the rich, erotic life of Ira Holloway, an ordinary 40-year-old guy.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
One man's desire,
By
This review is from: They Whisper (Paperback)
If you're looking for a great story, you might want to pass on this. If you're someone who can appreciate a book for a writer's command of language, than take the chance. I found the book a beautifully written meditation upon the ever-waxing and waning of one man's desire from that age of ten when he became transfixed by the foot x-ray of Karen Granger through the madness that overtakes his intensely jealous wife, Fiona. For me a very good writer slows down my senses and reminds me to pay attention to all that encompasses moments such as that first glance, that first kiss, that turn of the foot, the first touch, those whispers behind the outward manifestations of desire. "For myself, I'm just trying to understand why my life is so powerfully compelled by soft touching, joined flesh, complex parts of a self unseen." I can't say I loved the book (and there is an element of self-indulgence to it), but I can say this 300 page love letter left me with my senses more attuned to those subtle moments of desire and sensuality that normally get overtaken by life's noisey rush.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Writing=5 Stars, The Story? 1 Star,
By lxsinmarin (Bay Area, California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: They Whisper: A Novel (Hardcover)
This is beautifully written. Whether you approve of Ira's point of view about women and sex, I have no doubt from my own life experiences that he speaks the truth from a man's point of view. So I think it can be very illuminating for women who are trying to get how men approach women.However, as beautifully written as it is, the prose becomes repetitious. Eventually the erotic charge is lost, the desire & longing become predictable and unless you are very patient and committed, you will find yourself skipping long sections.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Obsessively obsessive?,
By A Customer
This review is from: They Whisper (Paperback)
What I admire about the novel is the lyrical intensity of its (often successful) attempt to recreate erotic obsession. What I don't admire is a redundancy of detail and motif that often veers toward monotony. Scenery is well drawn (Southeast Asia, NYC, various rural outposts of the US) and dialogue is generally terse. Though plot is not a dominant element here, being subsidiary to image and tone, it's sometimes a bit formulaic, especially the end. It's worthwhile if you're a patient reader and enjoy psychic/linguistic convolutions.
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