The Last of the Savages (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Jay McInerney
- First Published: 1996
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: 1965-1995
- Setting: Connecticut, Tennessee, Massachusetts, the Himalayas, Ecuador, Greece, New York, and London
- Principal Characters: Patrick Keane, Will Savage, Taleesha Johnson Savage, Lollie Baker, Cordell Savage, Elbridge Savage, Cheryl Dobbs
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, 1960’s, Parents and children, Class conflict, Racism, Friendship, Guilt, Schools or school life, Fathers, Himalayas
- Locales: New York, NY, Connecticut, Tennessee, London, England, Massachusetts, Ecuador, Greece, Himalayas
The Last of the Savages is an ambitious novel of historical sweep and manifold themes, suggestive of both F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Faulkner, which addresses issues as diverse as racial guilt, class differences, sexual repression, the 1960’s, and the inescapability of the past. While greatly different in theme and scope from McInerney’s first and best- known novel, Bright Lights, Big City, his fifth novel, like the first, explores the heart and soul of a young man striving to come to terms with his place in the world.
The novel flashes between past and...
[The entire page is 1920 words long]
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