The Blood of the Lamb: A Novel

Peter De Vries

Jun 2005 · University of Chicago Press

About this ebook

"Peter De Vries, the man responsible for contributing to the cultural vernacular such witticisms as "Nostalgia ain't what it used to be" and "deep down, he's shallow," was, according to Kingsley Amis, "the funniest serious writer to be found on this side of the Atlantic." But De Vries life and work were informed as much by sorrow as by laughter, and that dynamic is nowhere better seen than in The Blood of the Lamb." "The most poignant of all De Vries's novels, The Blood of the Lamb is also the most autobiographical. It traces the life of Don Wanderhope, reared in a strict Dutch Reformed home in Chicago, and follows him through family tragedy, love affairs, and, finally, his daughter's terrible illness. In a narrative that is by turns wildly comic and deeply moving, De Vries writes with a powerful blend of grief, love, wit, and rage."--BOOK JACKET.

About the author

Peter De Vries (1910–1993), the man responsible for contributing to the cultural vernacular such witticisms as "Nostalgia ain't what it used to be" and "Deep down, he's shallow," was, according to Kingsley Amis, "the funniest serious writer to be found on either side of the Atlantic." But De Vries's life and work was informed as much by sorrow as by wit, and that dynamic is nowhere better seen than in his classics Slouching Towards Kalamazoo and The Blood of the Lamb. First published in 1982 and 1965, respectively, these novels reemerge with their sharp satire and biting pain undiluted by time.