Mr. Bridge + Mrs. Bridge (Two Novels) [B2071]

1980 PB + 2010 PB 50th Anniversary edition of the 1959 original, both in nice clean condition. The basis for the movie Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990), starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.

Mrs. Bridge: Written first in 1959. "Again and again. . . I find myself being a Mrs. Bridge evangelist, telling them that it's a perfect novel, and then pressing copies on them. . . What writing! Economical, piquant, beautiful, true." -Meg Wolitzer, The New York Times. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST: "A perfect novel" that chronicles the lives of a wealthy family in 1930s Kansas through the eyes of its matriarch (Meg Wolitzer, New York Times-bestselling author). In Mrs. Bridge, Evan S. Connell, a consummate storyteller, artfully crafts a portrait using the finest of details in everyday events and confrontations. The novel is comprised of vignettes, images, fragments of conversations, events-all building powerfully toward the completed group portrait of a family, closely knit on the surface but deeply divided by loneliness, boredom, misunderstandings, isolation, sexual longing, and terminal isolation. In this special 50th anniversary edition, we are reminded once again why Mrs. Bridge has been hailed by readers and critics alike as one of the greatest novels in American literature.

Mr. Bridge: “A small masterpiece.” —Joyce Carol Oates. The classic novel of a repressed upper–middle–class husband in the American Midwest, written in “spare, whimsical, ironic prose” by a New York Times bestselling and Man Booker Prize winning author (The Washington Post). Walter Bridge is an ambitious Kansas City lawyer who redoubles his efforts and time at the office whenever he senses that his family needs something—even when what they need is more of him and less of his money. Affluence, material assets, and comforts create a cocoon of respectability that cloaks the void within—not the skeleton in the closet but a black hole swallowing the whole household. Together with its companion, Mrs. Bridge (which we also have in Book Nook), this novel is a classic portrait of a man, a marriage, and the manners and mores of a particular social class in the first half of 20th–century America. 

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews of Mrs. Bridge: "This is an observant little book. Rather than epic or grand, it is careful and subtle and tender and cringy. Mrs. Bridge is a rich woman, a willing participant in a rigid society, occasionally trying to burst free but ultimately she is too meek and lacks self assurance. Her problems seem trivial but they are so achingly relayed. By the end I was charmed."; "This book was a welcome surprise. I was immediately impressed at how engaging it was. I love the short anecdotal episodes. I later learned it's considered a minor classic of American literature and I certainly agree."; "Really loved this one. One of the best first paragraphs, character introductions ever. The ending was nicely done."

And from reviews of Mr. Bridge: "Companion to Mrs. Bridge. Brutal. A fascinating and sharply crafted portrait of a mostly unexamined small-minded life, filled with deep Midwestern repression. No one is redeemed."; "Odious man, wonderful writing. I enjoyed Mrs. Bridge and decided to read both simultaneously switching with each chapter. But I tired of Mr. Bridge, not of the writing but of the attention paid to this odious man. I suppose that was the intention of this wonderfully talented author."