What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

This was a memoir by a man raised in Manhattan whose father was a failed stockbroker and who never gave up believing that the world owed him a living. They lived in an apartment on or near Sutton Place. They only took taxis, no buses or subways for them! If memory serves, great-grandpa had made zillions from copper mines. Grandpa had been a lawyer in New York. Grandma lived in great style on Fifth Avenue. Dad was a loser, and a very snobby loser. Can't remember the title or the name of the author. Been trying to remember this one for years.

Try these memoir listopias.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...

Memoirs by Men.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

When you say 1950s does that mean when it was published, or when most of the things in the memoir took place?

Class: The Wreckage of an American Family by Geoffrey Douglas, maybe?

Rozzer wrote: "This was a memoir by a man raised in Manhattan whose father was a failed stockbroker and who never gave up believing that the world owed him a living. They lived in an apartment on or near Sutton ..."

You remember well for someone who can't remember. That was my book, Class: The Wreckage of an American Family, published by Holt in 1992. And thanks for your interest..Geoffrey Douglas

Oh, COOL. This is the first time I've ever seen the author of a "lost" book show up in the discussion thread!

Yay!

I once posted a link to a painting over in the Art group, and a few days later the artist showed up and made a comment.

Ok, I sent off a PM to Rozzer. Now to wait and see if he gets back to us. He hasn't been active in a couple of months, but it IS summer.

Thank you, Ann! I received your PM (which is rather amazing, for a number of reasons), within three hours after you sent it. I then sent a PM to Geoffrey and am now waiting for Geoffrey's reply. There's no question that it's the right book. And I'm very happy indeed to discover the title and author when I still, to this day (before this message), couldn't remember either. Geoffrey may reply via PM or here in this column, but whatever happens, I'll post here to let you know.

Do you want to hold off on moving this down to Solved until you hear back from Geoffrey, or do you want to go ahead and move it?

Ann aka Iftcan wrote: "Do you want to hold off on moving this down to Solved until you hear back from Geoffrey, or do you want to go ahead and move it?"

Hi. I actually wrote and thought I posted here last night but apparently it didn't take (probably modem/router problems). Answer to your question: I'd like to hold off until I get a response from Geoffrey and share it with you here to finalize this thread.

Hi, all. I just sent a reply to Rozzer. And thanks again for your interest.

Hello, people. Geoffrey just sent me a gracious reply. He let me know that he had indeed written other books, though he didn't name them. I then went onto Amazon and discovered that he has written a total of four books, and that Amazon has a "Geoffrey Douglas" page, available at http://www.amazon.com/Geoffrey-Dougla.... I'm going to buy and read his other books. If they're as good as his first ("Class," which I highly recommend) then Geoffrey is a writer to remember.

Ann: If you care to, this thread can now be terminated (a happy termination) and archived or whatever GoodReads does with such things.

'Youngblood Hawke' also came to mind.

Feliks wrote: "'Youngblood Hawke' also came to mind."

Hmmm. Care to say more about "Youngblood Hawke," which I haven't yet read?

Oh, wow! Glad everything worked out:)

I believe that 'Youngblood Hawke' was written by Herman Wouk who (although he was later to become one of America's greatest WWII historical-fiction authors) began his career writing about adolescents, coming-of-age, and young adulthood. His themes were family duty vs ambition; and young people beginning their lives and careers in the big city. 'Youngblood Hawke' was one such novel (as was, 'Marjorie Morningstar'). Both were made into movies--the former with actor James Franciscus and the latter with Natalie Wood. The character Franciscus played was rather a sort of young Truman Capote type; a brash new writing talent trying to break down the gates of the literary world and 'write the great American novel'. The story follows him along as he gradually realizes the thinness and superficiality of this goal as compared to simply becoming a full, well-rounded, mature, compassionate human being.

Well, I have to say, in summing it all up, that if I'd had the faintest idea that the author himself would show up I'd probably have softened the snark in my opening question. One is advised not to speak ill of the dead, but actually I'd prefer not to speak ill of the living unless they really deserve it (and so many do). Geoffrey didn't deserve it. Exeunt omnes.

Well, I have to say, in summing it all up, that if I'd had the faintest idea that the author himself would show up I'd probably have softened the snark in my opening question. One is advised not to speak ill of the dead, but actually I'd prefer not to speak ill of the living unless they really deserve it (and so many do). Geoffrey didn't deserve it. Exeunt omnes.