This is one of my over-sized paperbacks that I probably got when I was a member of Quality Paperback Books in the early 90's. I had not read this novel.
This book was released in 1993 and despite great critical reviews, it did nothing. Then, in the 2010 it gained traction in England and was re released. It's now a film called NOCTURNAL ANIMALS with Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Mike Shannon. I can't wait to see the film although many changes have been made. Tony's story is set in rural Texas instead of along a desolate freeway in Pennsylvania. And Susan runs a prestigious art gallery, and as far as I can tell, there's no mention of her husband, Arnold. The release date for the film is November 23, 2016. Can't wait.
This is a 'story within a story'.
Twenty years later Susan gets a note from her ex husband, Edward. He's finally written a book and he wants her to read it and offer her critique. His novel is more or less included in it's entirety, NOCTURNAL ANIMALS. This is written in the style of Cormac McCarthy or Donald E. Westlake.
Tony Hastings, wife, Laura, and teenaged daughter, Helen. They are driving all night from Ohio to their summer cabin in Maine.
Edward Sheffield is the author, and nearly 25 years earlier he was married to Susan.
The only contact Susan has had from Edward is the occasional Xmas card that was written by his new wife, Stephanie.
Susan Morrow is married to Arnold Morrow, a heart surgeon. He is at a medical conference for three days and this allows Susan a time to read the novel. Susan has three kids and a dog and cat.
Ray Marcus/Lou Bates/Steve Adams
Leader of the criminal band is Ray. Teeth too big for his mouth, triangular shaped face with a high forehead, and tends toward the sarcastic.
Lou- drives Tony to the fictitious town of Bailey when they separate Tony from his family.
Turk (Steve Adams)- wears glasses and is killed in a robbery. This case allows Detective Bobby Ames an opportunity to gather clues on the murder/abduction case.
In the movie, Bobby Ames is played by Michael Shannon
When he was fifteen, Edward's father died of a heart attack, his step mother didn't want him, so Susan's family, neighbors, took Edward into their home so that he could finish high school. Edward's real mother had been institutionalized.
Arnold's wife, before he connects with Susan, was also institutionalized.
Susan and Edward don't see each other for eight years. They meet in graduate school at the University of Chicago. Susan became a teacher. This job keeps them solvent while Edward tries to become a writer. He had been studying to become a lawyer.
The end of the book is murky, but works-
Ames gets Tony to come with him. "how much would you do to make this thing right"?
Ames shoots Lou in front of two women (one of them is named Susan) the other is named Ingrid. This woman works in the doctor's office where Bobby Ames is being treated for terminal cancer.
Ray escapes, Bobby has left, and Tony has a gun and finds Ray in the cabin where the rape and murders of his family had occurred. Ray goads him into shooting him, but attacks Tony first.
This is where it gets blurry. Tony has shot Ray dead, but something Ray has done to Tony has left him with a deadly injury. And, he crawls from the cabin and probably bleeds to death while the other police are in the area. Tony is blinded. Could he have been stabbed? And, he might have also accidently shot himself while trying to signal the police.
Susan agreed to see Edward and discuss the novel. She wanted to invite him to dinner to discuss the book, but he never returns her call. You never really know why he doesn't contact her. Maybe there was some real reason for not meeting, or maybe he was just being passive/aggressive. "I'm finally a true author in spite of the fact that you never believed that it was in me"!
I loved the book, although this is not something that I would have thought would be a good subject for a film. Because most of the book is Susan's reflection on her life with Edward in the past, her feelings toward her philandering husband Arnold, and her critique of NOCTURNAL ANIMALS.
Too much of the novel happens between Susan's ears, and this is the biggest strength of the book, but how would you film this?
The film was shown at Cannes and it is one of the most anticipated films of the Fall season.
The author's page at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Wright
Amazon Books link-
https://www.amazon.com/Tony-Susan-Austin-Wright/dp/0446582905
From an article in THE TELEGRAPH, and English newspaper
"As she reads her ex-husband’s book, Susan “rereads” her own real-life saga, “rewrites” her memory. Austin Wright asks: are readers really writers of the books they interpret for themselves?"
"I’ll tell you the last thing he said to me – which may have been the last thing he said to anybody,” says Katharine. “He wasn’t speaking to anyone – he seemed to be in another place. I said to him: ‘Dad, do you recognise me? Do you know who I am?’ All of a sudden he focused on me. He looked sort of mischievous and mysterious, and he said, with a pause between each word: ‘You. Are. Invented.’ And after that he went back into outer space.”"
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