Impossible Vacation

Jacket Description/Back: Having detailed the agonies of writing a book in his monologue Monster In A Box, Spalding Gray now gives us the monster itself: a convulsively funny, unexpectedly moving novel about the man eternally searching for a moment of protected pleasure even as he is permanently incapable of finding it. Jacket Description/Flap: Having detailed the agonies of writing a book in his monologue Monster in a Box, Spalding Gray now gives us the monster itself: a convulsively funny, unexpectedly moving novel about a man eternally searching for a moment of protected pleasure even as he is permanently incapable of finding it. Brewster North witnesses his mother's madness but misses her suicide; searches frantically for enlightenment in the Poconos and zipless sex in India; suffers family ennui in Rhode Island and a nervous breakdown in Amsterdam. In the process he emerges as a hilariously complex everyman. And as Gray narrates his hero's free fall, he confirms his own stature as one of our funniest, most eccentric, and most engaging storytellers. Review Quotes: "Quintessential Gray, unique in [its] rueful blend of curiosity, self-mockery and panic."-- The New York Times Book Review"Beautifully written, with all the visually organic wit of Gray's best monologue writing, as well as...emotional power [and] loopy nobility." -- Newsday"An intimate, casual voice, capable of discussing anything from pornographic films to Chekhov's 'Sea Gull, ' from acid trips to family holidays, with lightly ironic candor. One finishes the book impressed by how readily Gray's narrative voice transfers to the page."-- The New York TimesPublisher Marketing: Brewster North witnesses his mother's madness but misses her suicide; searches frantically for enlightenment in the Poconos and zipless sex in India; suffers family ennui in Rhode Island and a nervous breakdown in Amsterdam. And as Gray narrates his hero's freefall, he confirms his stature as one of our funniest, most eccentric, and engaging storytellers. Publisher Marketing: Racked with guilt over his mother's suicide, Brewster North wanders aimlessly, from New York's East Village to the Bhagwan Rahneesh's sex commune in India, to Provincetown, to Santa Cruz. Review Citations:

Publishers Weekly 04/05/1993 (EAN 9780679745235, Paperback)

Booklist 04/01/1992 pg. 1411 (EAN 9780394568942, Hardcover)

Library Journal 05/15/1992 (EAN 9780394568942, Hardcover)

Publishers Weekly 03/30/1992 (EAN 9780394568942, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Gray, Spalding Writer and actor Spalding Gray was best known for writing and starring in autobiographical monologues like "Swimming to ""Cambodia", "Monster in a Box", and "It's a Slippery Slope" where he humorously integrated his anxieties and experiences into stage performances. He was a co-founder of the Wooster Theatre Group in New York City and also appeared in films such as "The Killing Field" and "Kate & Leopold". Contributor Bio:  Gray, Dave Rockwell Gray received his doctorate from the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. He is currently chairman of the Department of English at The Kiski School in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, and has published a translation of Yolando Pino Saavedra's "Folktales of Chile" and many reviews and articles on modern culture and literature.