Birdy
1st Edition
Published on 2. August 2012
300 pages
978-0-00-745809-7 (ISBN)
Description
An extraordinary story of war and friendship from one of America's most revered authors of the 20th Century
Two teenagers form an unlikely friendship in pre-War Philadelphia. Al is obsessed with lifting weights, looking good and chasing girls. Birdy is obsessed with flight.
Birdy's passion becomes all-encompassing. Birdy wants to fly.
A few years later these young men find themselves emotionally and physically scarred by Word War Two. Al is called to an army psychiatric hospital to help the doctors there treat his friend, who he finds squatting on the floor of his cell and acting like a bird.
This haunting and brilliant novel has electrified readers the world over. It has truly become a modern classic.
In 1984, Birdy was turned into an award-winning movie directed by Alan Parker and starring Nicholas Cage and Matthew Modine
Two teenagers form an unlikely friendship in pre-War Philadelphia. Al is obsessed with lifting weights, looking good and chasing girls. Birdy is obsessed with flight.
Birdy's passion becomes all-encompassing. Birdy wants to fly.
A few years later these young men find themselves emotionally and physically scarred by Word War Two. Al is called to an army psychiatric hospital to help the doctors there treat his friend, who he finds squatting on the floor of his cell and acting like a bird.
This haunting and brilliant novel has electrified readers the world over. It has truly become a modern classic.
In 1984, Birdy was turned into an award-winning movie directed by Alan Parker and starring Nicholas Cage and Matthew Modine
Reviews / Votes
'Wonderful' DORIS LESSING'Will become a classic' PATRICK WHITE
'Most memorable... Wharton is exceptionally gifted' JOHN FOWLES
'It is as good as Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest... and perhaps it is better' GUARDIAN
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Product notice
Reflowable
File size
0,75 MB
ISBN-13
978-0-00-745809-7 (9780007458097)
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
Person
William Wharton was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1925. During the Second World War, Wharton served in the US army, until an injury led to his discharge. In 1978, Wharton's first novel, 'Birdy', was published to critical acclaim. Before his death in 2008, Wharton penned 8 further novels, and 3 memoirs. The most recent memoir, 'Shrapnel', was published for the first time in English in 2012.
