My Search for Warren Harding
Published on 6. February 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-0-241-70799-9 (ISBN)
Description
'One of the most original comic novels of the past half century' The New Yorker
'Will leave you so giddy you'll go and kick sand in somebody's face' Houston Post
Perfect for fans of A Confederacy of Dunces, this is Robert Plunket's comic masterpiece: a breakneck, unhinged romp through 1980's LA
Eliot Weiner - snob, shameless opportunist, Morris dancing-obsessive - is on a mission. He has got wind of a trunk of bawdy love letters by Warren Harding, 'the shallowest President in history', now guarded by his octogenarian mistress on her crumbling Hollywood Hills estate. They could reignite his failing academic career - and there's no depth to which he won't stoop, no preposterous scheme he won't undertake, to get at them.
With an Introduction by Danzy Senna
'The author pulled me in so deftly, that after a hundred pages, I seemed to have turned over the keys, so to speak, of my nervous system' Frank Conroy, Washington Post
'A riotous debut: The Aspern Papers performed by the Brothers Marx' Time
'Nothing this funny is being written today' Jacobin
'Will leave you so giddy you'll go and kick sand in somebody's face' Houston Post
Perfect for fans of A Confederacy of Dunces, this is Robert Plunket's comic masterpiece: a breakneck, unhinged romp through 1980's LA
Eliot Weiner - snob, shameless opportunist, Morris dancing-obsessive - is on a mission. He has got wind of a trunk of bawdy love letters by Warren Harding, 'the shallowest President in history', now guarded by his octogenarian mistress on her crumbling Hollywood Hills estate. They could reignite his failing academic career - and there's no depth to which he won't stoop, no preposterous scheme he won't undertake, to get at them.
With an Introduction by Danzy Senna
'The author pulled me in so deftly, that after a hundred pages, I seemed to have turned over the keys, so to speak, of my nervous system' Frank Conroy, Washington Post
'A riotous debut: The Aspern Papers performed by the Brothers Marx' Time
'Nothing this funny is being written today' Jacobin
Reviews / Votes
One of the most original comic novels of the past half century * The New Yorker * There's a subversive thrill to reading this novel... Elliot Weiner is a snob. He's vain, shallow and shameless. He's lazy and untrustworthy. He's a bitch too, quick to make an acid observation. And these are just some of the reasons why he's a brilliant narrator. Who wouldn't want to spend 300 pages in his company? * The Times * My Search for Warren Harding is essentially a picaresque novel and, as in all such works, we meet with grotesques. I am reminded of Lolita. A nasty person with a fancy prose style teaches us about America... Weiner, in the grand tradition of the comic unreliable narrator, reveals himself to be a half-insane monster... That's the thing about a certain kind of bitchiness: it's rarely dull... Exquisite * The Spectator * A satirical evisceration of the Hollywood celebrity scene... a madcap plot, and a host of vivid supporting characters * The Herald * Most of all what My Search for Warren Harding conveys is a devil-may-care, not-giving-a-damn energy that makes no concessions to taste, simply offers its manic vision to the reader and says "take it or leave it". I'll take it * The Critic *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 194 mm
Width: 127 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
226 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-70799-9 (9780241707999)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Persons
Robert Plunket (Author)
Robert Plunket was born in Greenville, Texas, in 1945, but raised in Havana and Mexico City. After college he moved to New York and became Mr Chatterbox, the gossip columnist for Sarasota Magazine. He has published two novels, My Search for Warren Harding (1983) and Love Junkie (1992). He is retired and lives in a trailer park in Englewood, Florida, where he enjoys collecting old quilts and raising succulents from scratch.
Robert Plunket was born in Greenville, Texas, in 1945, but raised in Havana and Mexico City. After college he moved to New York and became Mr Chatterbox, the gossip columnist for Sarasota Magazine. He has published two novels, My Search for Warren Harding (1983) and Love Junkie (1992). He is retired and lives in a trailer park in Englewood, Florida, where he enjoys collecting old quilts and raising succulents from scratch.