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Miss Lonelyhearts (1933)

by Nathanael West

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
8063329,326 (3.43)68
Day after day, 'Miss Lonelyhearts' sits in his office responding to letters from 'Broken-hearted, Sick-of-it-all, and Desperate', dispensing words of hope, inspiration, and other platitudes to get his readers through their tormented days. But it's all getting to be too much for Miss Lonelyhearts. Under the weight of his colleagues' mockery and the endless gloom of his correspondence, Miss Lonelyhearts finds himself crippled with cynicism and dysfunction. Set in New York City at the height of the Great Depression, Miss Lonelyhearts stands as one of the most intelligent and hilarious works of the 20th century. Laced with dark humour, irony, and razor-sharp insight, this novel is as hauntingly relevant today as it was nearly a hundred years ago. 'Wildly funny, desperately sad, brutal and kind, furious and patient, there was no other like Nathanael West.' - Dorothy Parker 'In dark times, Miss Lonelyhearts shines the brightest light in the blackest places. For this reason West's novel has never felt more alive than today.' - The Daily Beast 'A miniature comic epic.’ - Edmund Wilson 'Rendered with scalpel-precision . . . Nathanael West’s masterpiece is a mercilessly unsympathetic novel on the theme of sympathy.’ - Jonathan Lethem  … (more)
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» See also 68 mentions

English (32)  Italian (1)  All languages (33)
Showing 1-5 of 32 (next | show all)
Dark, dirty, bitter and funny. A man struggling with morality and losing his mind in the process. Beautiful filth. I need to have a bath now.
Also some of the sentences were so compelling that i had to reread them a bunch of times and savour their delicate composition.

( )
  rubyman | Feb 21, 2024 |
This short novel was much better than I expected to be. It deals with the heavy, existential topic - the point(pointlessness) of living - deftly and, as other reviewers have touched on, is timeless in its style and message. It was nice to wallow in the pointlessness, the ridiculousness and the ineptness of both being and human beings. It was nice to watch someone else dealing with it and to entertain the manner in which he did so. It reminded me of one of my favourite books, 'The Blood of the Lamb' by Peter de Vries, but also, 'Catcher in the Rye', 'Nausea', 'Death of a Salesman', 'Post Office' and 'The Sweet Smell of Psychosis' came to mind as I read it. It's worth a read, if you don't mind musings on the meaninglessness of it all!
( )
  Dzaowan | Feb 15, 2024 |
I am not at all sure as to what the point of this book is to be. Every once in a while, I grabbed a thread but then it disappeared. There may be some nice writing contained within this book but the plot, or lack thereof, overshadowed it. ( )
  Kimberlyhi | Apr 15, 2023 |
Many reviewers seem to extract a lot from this short novella, but the main takeaway for me is that you wouldn't want to be a woman in 1930s New York City. ( )
1 vote BibliophageOnCoffee | Aug 12, 2022 |
An impressively black-hearted comedy. Like Scoop meets Catch-22, but at just 100 pages it feels rather flimsy by my usual standards. ( )
  alexrichman | Nov 9, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 32 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (15 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
West, NathanaelAuthorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Coates, Robert M.Introductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lustig, AlvinCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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The Miss Lonelyhearts of the New York Post-Dispatch (Are you in trouble?-Do-you-need-advice?-Write-to-Miss-Lonelyhearts-and-she-will-help-you) sat at his desk and stared at a piece of white cardboard.
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This entry is for Miss Lonelyhearts alone. Do not combine with edition of Miss Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust
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Wikipedia in English (1)

Day after day, 'Miss Lonelyhearts' sits in his office responding to letters from 'Broken-hearted, Sick-of-it-all, and Desperate', dispensing words of hope, inspiration, and other platitudes to get his readers through their tormented days. But it's all getting to be too much for Miss Lonelyhearts. Under the weight of his colleagues' mockery and the endless gloom of his correspondence, Miss Lonelyhearts finds himself crippled with cynicism and dysfunction. Set in New York City at the height of the Great Depression, Miss Lonelyhearts stands as one of the most intelligent and hilarious works of the 20th century. Laced with dark humour, irony, and razor-sharp insight, this novel is as hauntingly relevant today as it was nearly a hundred years ago. 'Wildly funny, desperately sad, brutal and kind, furious and patient, there was no other like Nathanael West.' - Dorothy Parker 'In dark times, Miss Lonelyhearts shines the brightest light in the blackest places. For this reason West's novel has never felt more alive than today.' - The Daily Beast 'A miniature comic epic.’ - Edmund Wilson 'Rendered with scalpel-precision . . . Nathanael West’s masterpiece is a mercilessly unsympathetic novel on the theme of sympathy.’ - Jonathan Lethem  

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I'm tired of violence / on women's bodies used as / fodder for men's angst (PeanutsToSpace)
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