A Window Facing West: A Novel [Hardcover]

John S. Tarlton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 24, 1999

This first-person narrative of a baby boomer's mid-life crisis is set in Baton Rouge. Sorrow alternates with good--ol'--boy humor as the hero struggles over three consecutive days surrounding his 47th birthday to come to terms with grief, aging and the disappointments of a childless marriage.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this witty, though sometimes labored debut novel by short story writer Tarlton, middle-aged men are humorously, if unflatteringly, portrayed as horny, dissatisfied 1990s husbands chasing the long-lost and illusory sexual bliss of youth. Gatlin, a financial adviser in Baton Rouge, La., is celebrating his 47th birthday with a wife who knows him all too well, a couple of philandering pals who boast of their revived sexual prowess with a mysterious mistress they both unknowingly share and a wacky, do-gooder buddy who vainly tries to shake Gatlin out of his complacently morose fantasies and self-pity. Gatlin's birthday makes him the same age as his father was when he committed suicide, propelling the son into a masculine meltdown, "a Chernobyl of the mind," as he worries endlessly about sex, his health, his appearance, his hair, his teeth and gums and his business. Though he also frets about his 24-year marriage to Sarah, and her residual sadness after many miscarriages and a stillbirth, his attempts to resume their stalled sex life are clumsy and insensitive. When Gatlin finally gets the courage to approach the woman he thinks his married friends are sleeping with, she rejects him so handily that his fear is reaffirmed, and he concludes that sex is "God's favorite practical joke on middle-aged men." A hilarious battle of wits between Gatlin and a pimple-faced grocery store checkout clerk and an incredibly nutty stage performance before the hardened convicts of the state prison's drama club energize this slim account. Tarlton's topic, the seemingly overdetermined connection between the male midlife crisis, sexual anxiety and fear of death, is familiar and not radically reconfigured here, although the characters' navel-gazing indulgences are alternately pathetic and earnest, tinged with humor and humility. The affecting denouement finds Gatlin no longer "a crusty old bastard," as he and Sarah rescue their marriage from verbal jousting and Gatlin finally finds his place on the river of life. Agent, Maja Nikolic, Writers House. Selected for Barnes & Noble's Discover Great New Writers program. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Gatlin has just turned 47 years old. His two closest friends are having affairsApossibly with the same woman. His wife, Sarah, wants to cut their Louisiana bonds and strike out for the West, where they can renew their lives. Disenchanted with life as it is but reluctant to change, he sits at his window, contemplating the Mississippi, while his young friend Matt urges him to take another look, get a new perspective. The shadow figure of Gaitlin's father proves to be the key to overcoming his crisis. In coming to terms with his father's life and death, Gatlin is able to move on. Tarlton gives the reader insight into the male psyche, grappling with age, sex, fertility, adventure, and change at a difficult time of life. This first novel is well crafted and provocative. Recommended.AJoanna M. Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Coll. of Continuing Education Lib., Watch Hill
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Bridgeworks; 1st edition (August 24, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1882593308
• ISBN-13: 978-1882593309
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,415,556 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book!, October 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Window Facing West: A Novel (Hardcover)

I usually don't care too much about the daily travails of white middle-aged men, but in this book, common-place events are heightened into hilarity and despair by the narrator's deadpan delivery. Well written, acute life observations, deeper relationship issues than one first assumes - and a quick, easy read. A peek into everyman's head. My husband and I rarely read the same books, but this is an exception. I Look forward to Tarlton's next one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Starts as piquant burlesque; evolves into stirring portrait., October 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Window Facing West: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is good writing. Fine steady hand. The novel starts out piquant and burlesque with some overgrown jockstrap snapping and then moves into bitter sweet levels of remorse, beauty, release and longing. Many of the late scenes stop you cold; poignance without pity or affectation. From "the Topless Patio" to the main character's -Gatlin's- father's final unraveling, scene after scene will stay with you long after Tarlton's considerable wit washes away.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Middle aged guy talk that they don't want wives to know., November 4, 1999

By 

Robert D. Downing "The Judge Dude" (Baton Rouge, La) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Window Facing West: A Novel (Hardcover)

Reads like actual conversations middle aged guys have about their wives and sex that the wives never know about. You wonder whether Tarleton has been tapping your phone. Funny and insightful. A great book to read on the plane. Don't let your wife find it.