Emma Who Saved My Life (70 page)

Authors: Wilton Barnhardt

BOOK: Emma Who Saved My Life

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That was probably the most-beloved president of our university soft-pedaling human trafficking for UNC's gainâand he wrote that as late as 1907.

There is no one, particularly local historians, who will say a word against this sanctified place.

Additional Praise for Wilton Barnhardt's
Emma Who Saved My Life

“With a polished assurance rare in a first novelÂ â¦ Wilton Barnhardt unreels flashy scene after scene in convincing detail and sharp, snappy dialogue.â¦
Emma Who Saved My Life
is the kind of shooting star that will make readers watch the skies eagerly for Barnhardt's next one.”

â
Washington Post Book World

“This is an immensely winning book.â¦ In Wilton Barnhardt we have a new novelist who looks around him[,] a young novelist with a sense of history.”

â
Los Angeles Times Book Review

“
Emma
is a winnerâa book of enormous charm, full of sharp, often acid, character sketches, memorable scenes, alternately touching and uproariously funny, that linger in the memoryâand told in a narrative style so cunningly paced and organized that it is difficult to believe this is really the work of a first-time writer.â¦ One of the most promising fictional debuts in many years.”

â
Publishers Weekly

“Some of the funniest and most insightful reading produced in recent years.â¦ A first novel with wisdom and fun, a fiction debut that is being compared, with good reason, to those of Thomas Wolfe and J. D. Salinger.â¦ Barnhardt's book is essential reading.”

â
Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Barnhardt shows a genius for pacing in a parade of vibrant scenes that range from poignant to sidesplitting.”

â
The Plain Dealer
(Cleveland, OH)

“A big, funny, engaging, unsentimental, and sometimes even wise book.”

â
New York Post

“New novelists are plentiful. New novelists who create memorable characters, an insightful story and thoughtful wit are rare. Wilton Barnhardt is one of the rare ones.”

â
Newsday

“Wilton Barnhardt has a gift for carving out sparkling, unforgettable scenes and creating people not quite like any others you've seen before.”

â
San Diego Tribune

“A delightful first novel by a new talent. In a first-person narrative, all hinges on the narrator, and Barnhardt has created a clear and witty voice in Gil Freeman.â¦ Barnhardt shows a remarkable talent for dialogue and characterization.”

â
Houston Chronicle

“
Emma
engages irresistibly, and repeatedly makes you laugh out loud.â¦ Gil Freeman's voice will invade your consciousness.”

â
Baltimore Morning Sun

“Mr. Barnhardt writes in tumble-fast, pared-down prose that propels his reader forward. His writing is worldly and slightly wicked.”

â
Raleigh News & Observer

“Loaded with bright, biting wit all wrapped up in an odd and charming love story.â¦ The book is about love, good friends, and living in one of the most off-center cities in the world. And with it, Barnhardt has made a loud, satisfying splash.”

â
Women's Wear Daily

“A terrific reading experience.â¦ Wilton Barnhardt's account of a young man trying to make it in the New York theater in the '70s is the most entertaining book of the year. The fact that it also shows some depth and understanding is just icing on this literary cake.”

â
Richmond News Leader

“Excellent.â¦ Wilton Barnhardt well succeeds in writing about people who do not reach the top.â¦ Gil's story is simultaneously hilarious, obscene and touching. Barnhardt's outstanding dialogue, fine character sketches and many memorable scenes make up this promising first novel.”

â
The Chattanooga Times

“
Emma Who Saved My Life
is not just a promising first novel, it's a smashing success.â¦ If ever there was a modern writer who can really hit his stride with acid and satirical repartee, Barnhardt is the man.”

â
Macon Telegraph & News

“
Emma
shines with the fresh discovery of life and dreams. It is the ebullient, energized story of a young man's awakening and growth, both funny and hopeful, with a Thomas Wolfian reach. It is a gem of a first novel.â¦ The charactersÂ â¦ are strikingly drawn, wizards and fakirs, and their scenes are wildly memorable.”

â
The State
(Columbia, SC)

“A rich and entertaining book. It's very, very funny, and it's a heartbreaker.”

â
San Jose Mercury News

“One of the most delightful first novels this side of paradise.â¦ As a story about people and things they do when they actually live.
Emma Who Saved My Life
is one of the richest, most rewarding novels of recent years.”

â
Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“
Emma Who Saved My Life
is probably one of the best âcoming-of-age-in-New York' books written.â¦ Wilton Barnhardt at 28 has created a remarkable work in this, his first novel, showing a sensitivity and wit far too often absent in modern literature.â¦ If [his] second book is anything as funny and touching and filled with wonderful characters as
Emma,
it is sure to be another winner.”

â
Indianapolis News

“Barnhardt has written a delightfully funny account of those years [the 1970s] without being either cynical or saccharine. And many of usÂ â¦ will find the people we know and the places we love accounted for in this, his first, and hopefully not last, novel.â¦ Barnhardt's writing is so packed full of details that you get the feeling you could use the book as a road map.â¦ Nothing in this novel rings false.”

â
Milwaukee Journal

“Funny and endearing.â¦ A very energetic debut, full of lights, cameras, action, and New York moments, some archetypal, others arch.”

â
Kirkus Reviews

“Barnhardt takes on the hokeyest American subjectâescaping the little-town blues, going right for the heart of it, New York, New York, etc. But this story's not set to Muzak. It's straight-from-the-gut Sinatra. Barnhardt pulls it off with his sense of timing and honest writing.”

â
Boston Herald

“
Emma
the bookâlike Emma the womanâis not so easily forgotten.â¦ Densely packed with robust anecdotes and portrayals. Barnhardt endows all his charactersâeven the walk-onsâwith indelible charisma.”

â
Grand Rapids Press

“This is brilliant, entertaining, compelling, fascinating novel.â¦ Gil's voice is endearing, frank and self-effacing.â¦ A stunning, witty story.”

â
Dallas Morning News

“This wonderful first novel does that angst-ridden decade up rightÂ â¦ anyone who lived it will love it.”

â
New York Daily News

“Wilton Barnhardt's novel is both funny and serious. His characters resonate with youth and dreams and energy and life.â¦
Emma Who Saved My Life
is a vigorous and memorable story. Wilton Barnhardt's first novel is well-constructed, well-paced, and best of all, well worth reading.”

â
New England Bookpage

A
LSO BY
W
ILTON
B
ARNHARDT

Show World

Gospel

Lookaway, Lookaway

W
ILTON
B
ARNHARDT
is the author of three other novels:
Gospel, Show World,
and
Lookaway, Lookaway.
A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he is the director of the masters of fine arts in creative writing program at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, where he lives.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

EMMA WHO SAVED MY LIFE.
Copyright Â© 1989 by Wilton Barnhardt. All rights reserved. For information, address Picador, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

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Lyrics from
Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me)
by Lew Bron, Sam H. Stept, and Charlie Tobias. Â© 1942, 1954 Robbins Music Corporation. Copyright Renewed 1970, 1982 Robbins Music Corporation and Ched Music Corp. International Copyright secured. Made in the U.S.A. All Rights Reserved.