The Weekend [Paperback]

Peter Cameron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1995

In the woods of upstate New York, three friends gather on the anniversary of a man's death who was related to them by blood or love. Their idyll is disturbed by the presence of two outsiders, an Italian dinner guest and a young gay man, now involved with the dead man's lover. Thus each event is charged with the tension of trying to recapture something lost.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Three friends gather in the woods of upstate New York on the anniversary of a friend's death, only to be joined by two outsiders in Cameron's latest novel about relationships and love.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Poor Robert. A young painter, he's invited to the country by his new love, Lyle, a middle-aged art critic and a bit of a prig. They are off to stay with the useless John and the unappealing Marian, a rich married couple and Lyle's best friends. Their house is also where Lyle's lover Tony died, exactly one year ago, as we creepily learn. And not only was Tony Lyle's lover, he was also John's half-brother. Get off the train!, you want to yell to Robert. But by the time all the pieces are in place it's too late, and the beautifully controlled horror of the novel has begun. Tensions develop rapidly on all fronts: between the generations, between the new lovers, between the past and the present, between those with hope and those without. And just when you think that the story of this weekend is all memory and conversation, things start to happen. This brief novel confirms what readers of Far-Flung Stories (LJ 9/15/91) and Leap Year (LJ 3/1/90) have long suspected: Cameron is one of our very best writers. For all fiction collections.
Brian Kenney, Brooklyn P.L.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Plume (May 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452274117
• ISBN-13: 978-0452274112
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,359,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A small yet substantial masterpiece, August 30, 2001

By 

Hugh Coyle (SW Vermont) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Weekend (Paperback)

Peter Cameron's gifts as a writer are plainly on display in this beautiful novella of friendship, grief, hope, and honesty. The language is gorgeous (his background as a poet puts him many levels above most writers of the time) and his characterizations are realistic, almost painfully so at times. It's a shame that more people haven't discovered this extremely talented writer. He's right up there with Michael Cunningham, whose book "The Hours" has a similar calm and introspective tone. That isn't to say the two books are the same--just that they handle some rather deep and philosophical ideas without becoming indulgent or heavy-handed. "The Weekend" is a deceptively easy read, but it will leave you thinking and wondering long after the last page is turned.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wondrous, July 7, 2002

By 

"blissengine" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Weekend (Paperback)

One summer weekend in upstate New York, three friends gather on the anniversary of the death of the man who was their centerpiece. The widowed boyfriend's new lover and a surprising dinner guest disrupt the memories and push the tension of the trio into clarity for each as they struggle to regain something lost. Cameron's exquisitely written novel weaves flashbacks into the story, giving the whole an almost lazy summer day atmosphere, just like what the weekend was supposed to be for the characters. Not only is the story beautifully told, but the personal epiphanies of the characters are almost startling in context of the tale, and the human truths about loss and perception are quite universal and sharply rendered. This is a book to treasure.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Small Surprise, October 23, 2001

By 

T. Gabrielli "Thomas R Gabrielli" (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Weekend (Paperback)

This is a very strange, quiet and unsettling book that I would recommend reading. It's like reading a foreign film: minimal plot, GREAT character development and lines that seem to jump off the page at you. And, after it's all said and done, you kinda feel like hugging the book. A definite read!