HERE COMES, THERE GOES YOU KNOW WHO

by William Saroyan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 13, 1961

William Saroyan has written his autobiography and it is, of course, unorthodox. There's the Saroyan of tears and laughter, the light fantastic, the smart crack; he's the lyrical madman, All-American half, Schubert Alley guru. He's also a rags-to-riches original; from Fresno-born Armenian hooligan to Depression era clown; from vaudeville poet of the common man onwards to Broadway game. Later, the other stages: tax dodger, mystic drunk, devoted papa, skirt chaser, world traveler. But above all there's just Saroyan, the most unforgettable character Saroyan ever met. Vignettes of school, the family round table, newspaper routes, freight hitching, popular songs, Postal Telegraph flutter the pages, Mencken and Nathan, Shaw and even Andrew Jackson pop from anecdotes. Scenes of NY in the Thirties, Moscow and Paris in the late Fifties float by, and there's a saucy, sullen letter to the State Department. Along with the oddball prose and the on the level candor, Saroyan places high in the whimsey sweepstakes and is a push-over for sentimental profundities. He is also full of frenetic queries, e.g. ""What happens? What is it that really happens to man?"" The general reader will be hard put to answer, but the Saroyan fan, loyal all through his ups and downs, ins and outs, will find it an engaging, eccentric entertainment.

Pub Date: Jan. 13, 1961

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster-Trident Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1961

Categories: NONFICTION