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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN num: 9780060088927
ISBN number: 0060088923
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 432
Printing Date: April 01, 2003
Publishing house: Harper Perennial
Release Date: April 15, 2003
Sale Popularity Level: 439561
Studio: Harper Perennial
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Marking the thirtieth anniversary of Theophilus North, this beautiful new edition features Wilder's unpublished notes for the novel and other illuminating documentary material, all of which is included in a new Afterword by Tappan Wilder.
The last of Wilder's works published during his lifetime, this novel is part autobiographical and part the imagined adventure of his twin brother who died at birth. Setting out to see the world in the summer of 1926, Theophilus North gets as far as Newport, Rhode Island, before his car breaks down. To support himself, Theophilus takes jobs in the elegant mansions along Ocean Drive, just as Wilder himself did in the same decade. Soon the young man finds himself playing the roles of tutor, spy, confidant, lover, friend, and enemy as he becomes entangled in the intrigues of both upstairs and downstairs in a glittering society dominated by leisure.
Narrated by the elderly North from a distance of fifty years, Theophilus North is a fascinating commentary on youth and education from the vantage point of age, and deftly displays Wilder's trademark wit juxtaposed with his lively and timeless ruminations on what really matters about life, love, and work at the end of the day -- even after a visit to Newport.
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Rated by buyers 
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There are a few book in my life which I never stop reading--"Walden" is one, "The Little Prince" is one, and "Our Town", also by Mr. Wilder, is another. The observations in these books,the lessons from these books, the spirit of these books. . .are ever fresh, ever pertinent.
"Theophilus North" is not one of these books. It is an entertaining read, however. A busybody--Teddie North--visits Newport, RI for a summer and changes the town. He is loved by some; hated by others. There's charm in the book and fun and sex, but not much wisdom.
So it is time for me to shelf this book; it is time for me to return to "Our Town".
Rated by buyers 
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I've lived long enough to be able to judge novels by how many times I'm willing to re-read them. I've read Theophilus North about 20 times...
If it's not my favorite novel of all time, then it's definitely within the top five. The main character really appeals to me, a supremely independent, intelligent, well educated soul, who repeatedly, almost against his will, gets entangled in the lives of those with whom he comes in contact while on a summer vacation in Newport - always to the benefit of those fortunate enough to to be a target for his 'meddling'.
I know this is a fable, not a true story... but, oh, how I wish there were people like this in the world...
Rated by buyers -
this author, which has written books so beatiful, has given the world this one which is also beatiful, but pointless, i guess that the main character is himself. the book does not have a plot or at least is not going anywhere, but it is not boring, and it is a good read. i just loved it, even though when i finished i had the sensation of not being told anything new. the book has gone into oblivion and will propably stay there, the one i read i took it from the library and i was the only one who got it from the shelf in more than a decade, i guess it is there in the shelf at the library, waiting for another ten years until some reader will take it down, and write another pointless review about it....
LUIS MENDEZ luismendez@codetel.net.do
Rated by buyers -
I read this book more than 20 years ago as a college student and I still find myself thinking about it now. I was a persnickety English student and I wouldn't have imagined the book was making much of an impression on me at the time. Maybe I needed to age considerably before I could appreciate Wilder's idea that you do get everything you wish for -- just not on your schedule, and seldom packaged as you may have hoped or expected.
Rated by buyers -
At once a nice travelogue of Newport, Rhode Island, in the 1920's and a novel of human interaction, "Theophilus North" is a well-written and engaging (at first) book. It's just hard to understand why Wilder wrote it. There is so little of it in the way of dramatic or comic invention. The protagonist is a bodhisatva (a saint on earth) who spends his days doing good. All the time. You keep expecting some rising action - after 100 pages you yearn for it - but it never comes. Just one good deed after another. It isn't a bad read, and it might even be a good thing to put into the hands of teenagers (if you can get them to sit still for it). But there's no inner struggle going on in this very first person narrative. And that makes ultimately for a weak plot. The book was something of a hit when it very first came out, but it has since sunk to the obscurity it probably deserves. That saddens me, because I thought the author's "Our Town" and "Skin of Our Teeth" to be some of the finest writing this side of Heaven.
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