That Night (Paperback)

by Alice McDermott (Author) "THAT NIGHT when he came to claim her, he stood on the short lawn before her house, his knees bent, his fists driven into his..." (more)
Key Phrases: real estate woman, Billy Rossi, Diane Rossi, Mickey Meyer

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Further developing the inventive narrative technique she used in A Bigamist's Daughter, McDermott masterfully blurs the lines between reality and illusion, offering a work on several levels. Her narrator reflects on an incident that shattered the serenity and naivete of her suburban world of the early 1960s, when she was 10 years old, and claims that event as a point of departure for her fertile imaginative powers. An opening scene of violence played out under a "bright navy sky" on a soft midsummer night "when Venus was bright," captures the tone and focus of the novel, which recalls the doomed love affair of teenagers Sheryl and Rick. McDermott makes the relationship between her two ordinary, unattractive protagonists poignant and believable. A mesmerizing storyteller, she evokes the aching vulnerability of adolescent love, in this case between two lost, despairing not-quite-adults. The forced parting of the two teenagers also marks a rite of passage for the other families in the middle-class Long Island neighborhood, as parents comprehend that even their fierce love for their children will not be enough protection against life's inevitable blows. In spare prose of remarkable acuity, McDermott captures a time and place and a social era. Her narrative voice, romantically elegiac and yet premonitory of doom, is strong and compelling.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
'A stunning work' Sunday Times 'A wonderfully unfettered, ample novel. One that celebrates voice, personality and feeling when so much fiction avoids those rewarding characteristics' New York Times Book Review 'That Night has universal appeal there is a depth of feeling here which is beautifully - and seriously - realised' Independent 'The author's perceptions of suburban life have a rich detail of the quality of a Cheever or an Updike' Los Angeles Times --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback; Dial Press Trade Pbk. Ed edition (January 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385333307
• ISBN-13: 978-0385333306
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #137,554 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #2 in

  Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( M ) > McDermott, Alice

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, December 3, 2000

By A Customer

This is one of my all time favorites. I first read it when I was barely out of my teens and identified with Sheryl, the teenager who becomes pregnant and is sent away to live with relatives. Now, as a suburban mother, I identify with the mothers whose lives- dashed hopes and dreams - and those of their husbands and children are so vividly described in McDermott's uncanny way of creating a visual and lyrical snapshot of suburban life in the sixties.

Alice McDermott really gets it right. Early love and the inevitable loss of it colors the way we think for the rest of our lives. The memories this novel brings back to me are so strong that this is one of the few books I re-read every few months.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars McDermott makes magic of the moon!, December 8, 1998

By A Customer

If there is a synonym for splendid, it is THAT NIGHT. Reading this superior novel is like taking a journey down the suburban sidewalks of youth, cracked and weathered, but familiar. It is a journey through the high school yearbooks of everyone you have ever loved, their photos smiling out at you in that moment right before the shutter clicks and adulthood begins. McDermotts story is one of first love, between teenagers, told with such an urgency that any "adult" love we may stumble upon later in life pales in comparison. The author writes with a keen eye for detail and a highly tuned ear for the sounds of growing up, and growing away from those we have loved. When this book breaks your heart, and it will, it does so without the sentimental trappings of so many love stories. If you don't love this book--I'll take it off your hands.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved This Book!, November 25, 2002

By A Customer

I loved this book! I graduated from high school in 1959 and this book took me back, no doubt about it. I knew a couple of girls who got pregnant while still in school, and it was as terrible as is depicted in this book. (Thank goodness for progress and change.....) This book has very strong, well-developed, definitive characters, especially the young narrator. I can still feel the book as if I lived in the neighborhood......