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The Hundred Brothers
Antrim's best, so far
Odyssey through postmodern hysteria
100 Brothers is not better than 4
Original

Hundred Brothers, The
Donald Antrim
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World: A novel
The Verificationist: A Novel
The Afterlife: A Memoir
The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil
In Persuasion Nation

ASIN: 0517703106
Release Date: 1997-01-28

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There are, as the title says, one hundred brothers in Donald Antrim's novel. This sprawling fraternity has gathered in the family library for a dinner and over the course of a few hours, the author serves up sibling rivalry, revelry, and mayhem in meticulous, unflappable style.

For the most part, The Hundred Brothers skates along on the strength of its comic ingenuity. Yet Antrim has some serious points to make about masculine pride, vanity, and terror--not by invoking them directly, but by inflating them to monstrous (and mirthful) proportions. And the narrator's comments about his rampaging kin often have a larger, melancholic resonance to them. Indeed, when he points out "the complexities of our interdependence and the sorry indignities that pass as currency between us in lieu of gentler tender," he might be talking about any family--even one in the single-digit range.

Book Description

A comic novel by the critically acclaimed author of Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World. Doug and 98 of his 99 brothers (George has run off with embezzled funds and a girl named Jane) gather in the huge family library for dinner, drinking, and some late-night football. Throughout the evening, the chaos grows into a complex web of conflicting memories, hurt feelings, rivalries, alliances, and shared awareness. 208 pp. Author tour. National publicity. Print ads. 20,000 print.

Customer Reviews:

The Hundred Brothers.......2004-07-22

Donald Antrim?s ability to capture the many facets of the human psyche is astounding. Every character comes complete with something of a synopsis of his experience or a tale of a major life event, which defines the character. Beyond the authors? genius the book is a cynically well-written story about the complications of life, and coping mechanisms. ?I crouched down and the dog came to me. It was a shame, really, that I had no doggy treats along with the morphine in my pockets. I said, like a true master, ?That?ll do, boy.? This book is funny as hell, read it, think and laugh, only if you like laughing though. If not, this book isn?t for you.

Antrim's best, so far.......2004-06-29

Most reviewers seem to focus on whether or not this book exemplifies post-modernism and whether or not that's good or bad. Unfortunately, I've never been able to figure out what postmodernism is, so I can't help ya there.

All I know is Pynchon and Delillo just confuse me, Vollman makes me laugh but I can't figure out what the hell he's driving at, but Antrim just makes me feel good all over.

Maybe it's the way he introduces all 100 brothers, in order, in about 5 pages, and then blithely writes the rest of the book as if you're going to remember who they all are. Which is a good hook, because, who hasn't been to a social function where you get introduced to a few dozen people within 5 minutes, after which you're supposed to remember everybody?

Maybe I just identify with the hapless, socially retarded dope of a narrator who just wants everyone to get along but ends up, well, no spoilers, in a unique and singularly undignified situation.

But it's not simplistic comedy - it's a bit like one of those Borges stories where you think, "ok, this is gonna be a quick read, only 12 pages" and then you find it takes a good 2 hours to make a bit of sense of it.

Well, you could compare it to a lot of things, but that wouldn't do it justice, because the best part is, it just ain't quite like anything you've read before.

Odyssey through postmodern hysteria.......2004-06-25

In the course of one evening, 100 brothers--ranging in ages but all born on the twenty-third of May--congregate at their dilapidated family library for drinks, dinner, and plenty of good ol' fraternal mayhem--not to mention the ritual Dance of the Corn King. Within this frenzy is narrator Doug, a not-yet recovering alcoholic and genealogist, with a skewed and strangely odd (though the dichotomy of the absurdly surreal with the all too familiar is a bit astonishing) perspective of the night's events.

Doug is no innocent amid his brothers, who range in careers from pschoanalysts to tripping tropical botonists. The fact that the narration comes from one just as sick and perverted as the rest of the crowd guarantees plenty of hilarity throughout the entire novel, enough to cause even the stodgiest reader a couple of unexpected laughs.

This novel confirms my belief that Donald Antrim is one of the most keenly intelligent writers of contemporary fiction. His acute observations of modern life and hilarious perversions of reality are concurrently odd and fascinating. After reading "Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World," and now this, I am immensely looking forward to reading "The Verificationist." Antrim is one author to look out for.

100 Brothers is not better than 4.......2004-02-20

What do you do when you can not write in depth about a subject or at least you can not depend on language to carry your work? You write a postmodern mess that carries the reader along on a wild joyride, and leaves the reader in the end with nothing but good entertainment.

This work exemplifies tendancies in contemporary fiction to not write literature as much as write anything that mocks it. If you can not write Literature, then take the necessary elements of literature(in this case plot and character) and stretch it to the extreme producing an original but utterly empty postmodern cartoon.

I give Mr. Antrim three stars for entertainment. Its a fun book. But not much else is there.

Original.......2001-11-23

Donald Antrim is profoundly original, as he continues to take the novel to a new place in literature. Not always a easy read but always fun and full of insights. I do like 'The Verificationist' and 'The Elect Mr. Robinson' better, but as in all his books it is unlike any book one has ever read.Each brother gave me thoughts on myself my family and the world.I love his dark humor. I'm looking forward to his next book.

Brother Berthold tells a story;: One hundred little stories, to be used as illustrations for sermons and catechetical instructions,

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Brother Berthold tells a story;: One hundred little stories, to be used as illustrations for sermons and catechetical instructions,
Leo Wolpert
Manufacturer: Frederick Pustet co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

When man took to the skies: one hundred years ago this month, in Kitty Hawk, N.C., the Wright brothers gave the world powered flight.(Times Past): An article from: New York Times Upfront

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When man took to the skies: one hundred years ago this month, in Kitty Hawk, N.C., the Wright brothers gave the world powered flight.(Times Past): An article from: New York Times Upfront
Sean Price
Manufacturer: Scholastic, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008IR458
Release Date: 2005-07-31

Book Description

This digital document is an article from New York Times Upfront, published by Scholastic, Inc. on December 8, 2003. The length of the article is 1675 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: When man took to the skies: one hundred years ago this month, in Kitty Hawk, N.C., the Wright brothers gave the world powered flight.(Times Past)
Author: Sean Price
Publication: New York Times Upfront (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 8, 2003
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Volume: 136 Issue: 6 Page: 24(5)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Fostering love: Julia Kraus, 17, has never been lonely. How could she be, growing up with hundreds of brothers and sisters? Here is her inspiring story ... siblings. : An article from: Girls' Life

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Fostering love: Julia Kraus, 17, has never been lonely. How could she be, growing up with hundreds of brothers and sisters? Here is her inspiring story ... siblings. : An article from: Girls' Life
Sandy Fertman Ryan
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000BM8A8Q
Release Date: 2005-09-29

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Girls' Life, published by Thomson Gale on October 1, 2005. The length of the article is 1330 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Fostering love: Julia Kraus, 17, has never been lonely. How could she be, growing up with hundreds of brothers and sisters? Here is her inspiring story of sharing her home--and her parents!--with foster siblings.
Author: Sandy Fertman Ryan
Publication: Girls' Life (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 12 Issue: 2 Page: 66(3)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

The Three Musketeers & Brothers Karamazov (THE ONE HUNDRED GREATEST BOOKS, VOLUME 4)

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The Three Musketeers & Brothers Karamazov (THE ONE HUNDRED GREATEST BOOKS, VOLUME 4)
ALEXANDER DUMAS & FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY
Manufacturer: MULTILINGUA FOR AMERICAN EXPRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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ASIN: B000FLCQGU

Product Description

DECORATIVE BOXED SET OF AUDIO TAPES, 120 MINUTES EACH ,2 TAPES EACH OF THE THREE MUSKETEERS AND 2 TAPES OF BROTHERS KARAMAZOV. NEW AND FACTORY SEALED CASSETTES

The Prince Consort and his brother;: Two hundred new letters,

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The Prince Consort and his brother;: Two hundred new letters,
Albert
Manufacturer: Appleton-Century
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B000859DSW

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The Prince Consort and His Brother Two Hundred New Letters
Hector (editor) Bolitho
Manufacturer: D. Appleton - Century Company, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RQ4KSK

Incunabula: Books of the Fifteenth Century from the Presses of One Hundred Towns. Part I: Towns of Austria, Belgium, Czecho-Slovakia, England and France. No. 533

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Incunabula: Books of the Fifteenth Century from the Presses of One Hundred Towns. Part I: Towns of Austria, Belgium, Czecho-Slovakia, England and France. No. 533
Maggs Brothers
Manufacturer: London: Maggs Bros.,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IUASAO

The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner: With Nearly One Hundred Original Drawings and Decorations Done from Sketches Made in the Tropics Specially for This Work by the Brothers Louis and Frederick Rhead

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The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner: With Nearly One Hundred Original Drawings and Decorations Done from Sketches Made in the Tropics Specially for This Work by the Brothers Louis and Frederick Rhead
Daniel Defoe
Manufacturer: Harper & Brothers, New York
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FFE21S

Jean de Berry: Le frere du roi (Collection Saga. Histoire)

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Jean de Berry: Le frere du roi (Collection Saga. Histoire)
Pierre G Duhamel
Manufacturer: Royer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 2908670356

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