Starting Out in the Evening

by Brian Morton

Book Overview

Leonard Schiller, an Upper West Side writer of some repute and a relic of The New York Intellectual scene, is courted in the twilight of his life by Heather, a young, ambitious, graduate student from Brown who wants to writer her master's thesis on Schiller's novels. Meanwhile, Schiller's daughter, Ariel, an aerobics instructor, who Heather views as "another boring forty-year-old obsessed with her biological clock," is looking for love and a father...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425168697
• ISBN13: 9780425168691
• Release Date: July 1999
• Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
• Length: 325 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

beautiful story of life, love and passion

This book sat on my bookshelf for nearly five years, and I cannot believe I allowed it to. It is one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. It is deep and sentimental in topic, and yet it reads like a fast paced novel. The characters are intense and mulit-dimensional: Leonard Schiller, a seventy something writer who's life has been dedicated to his art; Ariel, his forty year old daughter in search of her life's meaning and someone to father a child; and Heather, a twenty something aspiring writer and critic who decides to write a master's thesis on Schiller's work.The relationship of the two women will Schiller is incredibly portrayed, as with Ariel Schiller is a loving and nurturing man, and with Heather, his passions are reignited and she makes him feel young. Also interesting is the way Heather and Ariel portray Schiller, and also the way these two women change as Schiller's life circumstances change.The parallels drawn between the three characters is fascinating, especially since each person is so different, and at such a different place in life. Ironically, even though each feels so different from the other, when the older two are compared to Heather in their memories, it seems they are more similar then they think. At the end of this beautiful book, one cannot help but wonder what happens to the characters. Schiller's life goal at the end is to complete his final novel, and I so wish he were a real person so that I could read it. He is a beautiful charcter that brings memories of Morrie Schwartz from Tuesdays With Morrie. If you are looking for a touching, moving, beautifully written book, don't wait any longer. Pick this book up and you will not put it down. Even when you are finished, the characters live on.

Can we get a sixth or seventh star just for this one?

It's been a long, long time since I've ready anything that hit me with the emotional impact that STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING had. THE VIGIL by Clay Reynolds (sadly, out of print the last time I checked) was the last book before this that had me singing its praises so loudly.STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING doesn't use any sort of formula to get the reader involved. Instead, it depends of three-dimensional characters in complicated but life-like situations.As an aspiring writer, I enjoyed a chance to get a glimpse into the creative process and find out what the inner life of a 'real' writer is like. Although it's a book about ideas, it sure isn't dry.This is one I'd recommend to any reader of any age.Bravo.

Luminous Prose

Though much positive already appears here, sometimes you have to add yourself to the crowd. I am a writer and teacher of writing. This prose is truly beautiful and luminous. The clear loving portraits of his characters are unique in that they never veer into the sort of touchy-feely take that so many books do. His characters are distinct and cantankerous, broken and striving for connection, doomed and lovely and by this somehow more whole and human than is at first, seemingly possible. This is a writer who writes a book until it is finished, not until deadline is met. A beauty. Something he can have as a triumph of his own art -- always -- no matter sales, no matter what may come.

Only l6 Reviews?

I should think hundreds of people would have written in praise of this novel. I am 65 years old and was in wonder how an author could so accurately portray both youth and old age. I give it 5 stars because of the joy it brought to me. Am buying paperbacks to give to friends. Sometimes it seemed a bit choppy to me - but this is just my opinion - it still is a wonderful novel and I hope the author thinks about a sequel.

A memorable, profound, tender, lyrical tour de force.

This is an astonishing book. My only disappointment is that it ended. The characters are wonderful, unique, warty, tender and assertive. The insights into the daughter/father relationship and the lover/lover relationship are memorable and profound. From the first sentence to the last, this novel is a reader's fondest dream--a book one cannot put down, for it crystalizes ordinary life so lyrically, so adeptly, so lovingly that leaving it is like leaving a lover whose persona makes daily life a joy.