Synopsis
On a winter day in 1916 American capitalism, a world at war, and the emerging mecca of Hollywood intersect to spawn an enduring culture of celebrity. Charlie Chaplin is spotted in more than eight hundred places simultaneously, an extraordinary delusion that brings together the fortunes of three men: Leland Wheeler, son of the world's last (and worst) Wild West star, as he finds unexpected love on the battlefields of France; Hugo Black, drafted to fight under the towering General Edmund Ironside in America's doomed expedition against the Bolsheviks; and Chaplin himself, as he faces a tightening vise of complications--studio moguls, questions about his patriotism, his unchecked heart, and, most menacing of all, "his mother."
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2009-05-05 |
| Size | | Length: | 559 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.8 in | | Weight: | 33.6 oz |
Industry Reviews
"[Gold's] electrifying characters, wildly inventive action replete with comedic mishaps and witty dialogue, and trenchant insights into the absurdity of war and the mythic dimensions of movies...make this...a hilarious, brilliant, and transporting novel." (starred review)
(03/15/2009)
"Gold is a masterful, even heart-stopping storyteller....[who] brings young America to life has he weaves together European battlefields and the backlots of Hollywood."
(05/15/2009)
"As discombobulating as the book is as a whole, its parts are magnificent, and SUNNYSIDE is flooded with funny, horrible and downright bizarre details of early 20th-century life....There are so many dazzling episodes...that I began to think there was nothing Gold couldn't do."
(05/13/2009)
"SUNNYSIDE is a rare fictional portrayal of...[Charlie Chaplin], and Gold's rendition is marvellous. He resolves all the discordant facets of the comedian's riven personality...into a nuanced portrait that is as moving, and at times as funny, as Chaplin's best works."
(06/26/2009)
"Gold's Chaplin will fascinate readers for any number of reasons: his charm, his intelligence, his insecurity, his fitful lurching back and forth between generosity and selfishness....SUNNYSIDE teems with brilliant raw footage seemingly gleaned from the cutting-room floor."
(08/09/2009)
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