The Fiery Pantheon

by Nancy Lemann

Book Overview

Acclaimed for her "gleeful and contagious love of language" (Los Angeles Times), Nancy Lemann evokes the tattered glamour of fading traditional Southern society like no other writer. Now she introduces the aristocratic Stewart clan of New Orleans, in particular, the self-effacing Grace, who is vacationing with her family at a rambling old resort in Virginia and mulling over her recent engagement to Monroe Collier, her ideal Southern gentleman...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684852055
• ISBN13: 9780684852058
• Release Date: April 1999
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Crazed youth in love

Nancy Lemann's "The Fiery Pantheon" is the sort of book that Edith Wharton would have written, if she had lived in late-twentieth-century New Orleans. It's a wry look at the South and its children -- even the ones who move away -- but it's also an endearingly eccentric love story between two "crazed youths." Grace Stewart has always idealized Southern honor and gentility, and the "lost South" as personified by her fiancee Monroe Collier. But while vacationing at a Virginia resort, she encounters Walter -- a jaded, eccentric New Orleanian who is on the edge of a nervous breakdown. He's very different from the men she idealizes (her "fiery pantheon"), but Grace finds herself interested anyway. And even when Walter returns to New York, he finds himself longing after the elusive Grace and her eccentric ideas. Soon he joins her in her travels across Europe and the Middle East, hoping to win her heart. But will Grace fall back on the familiar -- boring Monroe and the lifestyle she's in love with -- or will she follow her own eccentric heart? "The Fiery Pantheon" is the third novel Nancy Lemann has written about "crazed youth" from the South, and she hasn't lost her touch. The main downside is that the romance between Grace and Walter has more quirk than chemistry, and it's never quite clear why she likes him as much as she does. But the book itself is a charming parade of weird characters, who are usually drunk, depressed or just peculiar. Lemann has a knack with poetic prose ("The world was warm with liquor") that evokes lazy days, tropical climes and ornate houses. And the odd rambling dialogue fits the slightly odd characters, whether they're psychoanalyzing or groaning about atom bombs. Lemann also plays a small trick on readers with her leads: As the book starts, Grace seems like the more normal character, but we soon see that she's playing a part. And Walter, who seemed kind of unstable, is actually the more normal of the two. But they are both "crazed youth," which basically means that they are both ragingly eccentric. New Orleans gets carried around the world in "The Fiery Pantheon," the oddest little romance you will read for a long time. Charming and honorable.

a small jewel

I discovered Nancy Lemann because Tom Robbins said that he reads her. If you like Anne Tyler or Robbins, chances are you'll like this book. Dark, funny humor, with great characters and clever prose. If you're too politically correct to enjoy it, it's your loss.

A madcap, delightful, original novel

When I wake during those ghastly hours of the early morning, I often think of a line from this wonderful, bubbly novel: 4 a.m. is bedtime for many people. Instead of wallowing in life's troubles, I think of a madcap cast of characters removing their tuxedoes, their high heels, and hopping into bed. I highly and happily recommend this cheerful novel!

one of the few true stylist's working in fiction today

People ask if the novel is dead. Reading this truly funny, truly philosphical book reminds me that not only is it not dead, but in the hands of a talent like Lemann, it is gloriously captivatingly alive. The stew of goofy southerners alone make this a great read - but it works on a much more thoughtful level as well. Don't miss this one.