A Special Providence: A Novel (Paperback)

by Richard Yates (Author) "The blast of rifles shocked his ears, right and left; he squeezed the trigger and felt the stock of his own rifle drive hard into..." (more)
Key Phrases: platoon house, fluttering rush, platoon runner, Sam Rand, New York, Vander Meer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
“What’s exhilarating about Yates is not his grasp of The Truth, but the purity of his vision and the perfection of his craft.” —Newsday

“Yates writes powerfully and enters completely and effortlessly into the lives of his characters.” —The New York Times Book Review

“[Yates] is an expert.” —Time
-- Review

Review

“What’s exhilarating about Yates is not his grasp of The Truth, but the purity of his vision and the perfection of his craft.” —Newsday

“Yates writes powerfully and enters completely and effortlessly into the lives of his characters.” —The New York Times Book Review

“[Yates] is an expert.” —Time

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Picador (May 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312420404
• ISBN-13: 978-0312420406
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #303,679 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Maybe his second best novel, February 26, 2003

By	Geoff Schumacher (Las Vegas, Nevada United States) - See all my reviews

Richard Yates is underappreciated. The general reading public doesn't know him. He had all but faded into literary history after his death until a recent short story collection revived interest in his work. But discerning readers of modern fiction have always placed him in the same literary class as John Cheever, John Updike and the other better-known modernists of the second half of the 20th century. His best-selling and arguably best novel was his first, Revolutionary Road, which captured 1950s suburban angst about as well as anybody. His second novel, which was published fully eight years later, is A Special Providence. It is not well known but it, too, is an excellent work. It tells the story of a mother and her son. It focuses partly on the mother's constant and fruitless search for artistic respect and financial security as well as on the son's experiences during World War II. Unlike some Yates novels, A Special Providence holds together from beginning to end. But it is especially strong in describing the son's relatively brief and unfulfilling war experiences in the European theater. Yates certainly isn't known as an adventure writer, but A Special Providence reveals his ability to create a compelling, fast-paced narrative when the story calls for it. In fact, Yates is at his best when he is in the midst of a strong bit of narrative. Some of his other novels ultimately failed, and failed to draw readers, because they descended for prolonged periods into plodding narrative and excessive introspection. This doesn't happen much in A Special Providence, and that's why it's at least his second best novel.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More mastery from one of America's best ever ..., March 29, 2009

By	Charlie Stella (Fords, New Joisey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Special Providence (Vintage Contemporaries) (Paperback)

This one was the perfect cap to the Yates collection for me ... mostly because now I can begin rereading his masterful collection, but also because it dealt with (I suspect) his time in the Army during the close of WWII. The back and forth, mom and son, worked well and Yates ability with open endings is overwhelming. Perhaps, the most underappreciated American writer ever, Yates is a pure pleasure to read. He knows how to touch on every single thread of the human condition and to make it vibrate so it can't be ignored.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo!, August 23, 2008

By	Michael Golden "Reader" (ABQ,NM) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Not enough can be said about Yates. In my mind he is probably the best American writer as I can't think of anyone who comes close to his word magic!