The Emperor's Children: Summary and book reviews of The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud, plus links to an excerpt from The Emperor's Children and a biography of Claire Messud.
The Emperor's Children
by Claire Messud
Hardcover: Aug 2006,
448 pages.
Paperback: Jun 2007,
496 pages.
From a writer “of near-miraculous perfection” (The New York Times Book Review) and “a literary intelligence far surpassing most other writers of her generation” (San Francisco Chronicle), The Emperor’s Children is a dazzling, masterful novel about the intersections in the lives of three friends, now on the cusp of their thirties, making their way—and not—in New York City.
There is beautiful, sophisticated Marina Thwaite—an “It” girl finishing her first book; the daughter of Murray Thwaite, celebrated intellectual and journalist—and her two closest friends from Brown, Danielle, a quietly appealing television producer, and Julius, a cash-strapped freelance critic. The delicious complications that arise among them become dangerous when Murray’s nephew, Frederick “Bootie” Tubb, an idealistic college dropout determined to make his mark, comes to town. As the skies darken, it is Bootie’s unexpected decisions—and their stunning, heartbreaking outcome—that will change each of their lives forever.
A richly drawn, brilliantly observed novel of fate and fortune—of innocence and experience, seduction and self-invention; of ambition, including literary ambition; of glamour, disaster, and promise—The Emperor’s Children is a tour de force that brings to life a city, a generation, and the way we live in this moment.
Booklist
A stinging portrait of life among Manhattan's junior glitterati
Publishers Weekly
Her writing is so fluid, and her plot so cleverly constructed, that events seem inevitable, yet the narrative is ultimately surprising and masterful as a contemporary comedy of manners.
Kirkus Reviews
A stinging portrait of life among Manhattan's junior glitterati....intelligent, evocative and unsparing.
Library Journal
The reader will be tugged in many directions as these characters' lives intersect in the realms of love, family, friendship, and tragedy.
Elle
Messud’s ambitious, glamorous, and gutsy new novel, The Emperor’s Children, is a leap forward, a marvel of bold momentum and kinetic imagination.
Atlantic Monthly
Riveting . . . . A cheeky exposé of the pundit class in all its privileged splendor. .....Messud extracts considerable suspense from the young cultural pretenders’ attempts to topple the old guard . . . . An excellent read.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Bookworm Too wordy I also really tried with this book. The plot seemed interesting, but the writing was soooo wordy. Sentences seemed to drag on down the page. I had to reread sentences often. I only got through about a fourth of the book and gave up.
Rated of 5
by rachelwf overrated & slooooowwwwww I really tried with this book. It had a very interesting plot & characters but the writer dragged sooo much with her writing, that I put it down less than a 1/3rd through. I know it's been reviewed as a real prize, but I could not finish it.
When asked what The Emperor's Children is about Claire Messud replies....
"That's a big question. I don't think I
have a simple answer. What's it about? I
hope it's about what it's like to be
alive in a certain place in a certain
time. It's about a group of people with
certain aspirations and expectations and
limitations, and the way they contend
with what is thrown at them. Probably in
my mind it's about ambition, and what it
means, or meant, and didn't, in that
particular historical moment. And about
confronting limitations. And about
making a self. All those things. As for
where the inspiration for the novel came
from, it's lost in the mists of time. I
began the novel (with the same
characters but in a different form) in
early 2001, a long time ago; and later
that year abandoned it, because it
seemed impossible to continue. It took...
Infused with the lyricism and take-no-prisoners storytelling for which T.C. Boyle is justly famous, this is a surprisingly rich, allusive, and non-sentimental look at the ideals of the 60's generation and their impact on today's radically transformed world.
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Stranger than fiction, blending tragedy and farce, How to Create the Perfect Wife is an engrossing tale of the radicalism, and deep contradictions, at the heart of the Enlightenment.
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Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
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Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
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U.S. ebook sales up in 2012, but rate of growth is slowing(May 16 2013) In 2012, trade book sales (i.e. non academic book sales) rose 6.9%, to $15.049 billion, and e-book sales continued to grow, although the rate of growth...
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(825 words).
Elle
of 5
by Bookworm
of 5
by rachelwf
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