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Book Description
The hero of this astonishing novel is called Chance - he may be the man of tomorrow. Flung into the real world when his rich benefactor dies, Chance is helped on his life journey by Elizabeth Eve, the young beautiful, resourceful wife of a dying Wall Street mogul.
Accidentally launched into the wor Continue
Book Details
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- English Books
- Paperback 105 Pages
- ISBN-10: 055299037X
- ISBN-13: 9780552990370
- Publisher: Black Swan
- Pub date: Sep 23, 1983
- Dimensions: 1290 mm x 839 mm Just how big is that?
- Also available as: Mass Market Paperback and Hardcover
Prices Change currency & sellers
| ISBN | Edition | List | Sale | Seller |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9780552990370 | Paperback | $12.86 | $8.78 | The Book Depository |
| Other editions → | ||||
Noa Gafni 
Though Being There has been on my shelf for a long time, I didn't get around to reading it until Inauguration Day 2009. It was therefore unfortunately impossible to follow the story of Chance—Jerzy Kosinski's dimwitted non-protagonist—without drawing parallels to failed vice presidential can ... (continue)
Though Being There has been on my shelf for a long time, I didn't get around to reading it until Inauguration Day 2009. It was therefore unfortunately impossible to follow the story of Chance—Jerzy Kosinski's dimwitted non-protagonist—without drawing parallels to failed vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Though the novel predates the millennial craze, Chance is the prototypical reality TV star; he rises to political fame and public adoration (despite his illiteracy) simply by "being there."
The cover's tagline proclaims him a "new American hero," the praise from Newsweek: "a fabulous creature of our age," and the back cover wonders whether "he know[s] something we don't." Perhaps these descriptions are more in keeping with the film version of the character (who famously walks on water in the movie's final scene), because there's nothing particularly heroic—or even interesting—about this incarnation. Instead, he is exactly as the Russians describe him: a "blank page" upon which the supporting characters project their own interpretations. It's this construct, and its implications for a society that considers itself meritocritous, that make Being There worth reading.
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