Detour is the debut novel of Michael Brodsky. It is the first person partly autobiographical[2] account of an often bored film devotee going to Cleveland for medical school, making observations on everything in his daily life, either in a philosophical manner, or by comparing any given incident with some classic film scene, or both. Halfway through, the narration is interrupted by Steve's story, also told in first person. The novel eventually resumes with the original first person narrator, who finally decides medical school is not for him.
 First edition cover | |
| Author | Michael Brodsky |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Michael Hafftka[1] |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Postmodern literature |
| Published | 1977 (Urizen Books) |
| Media type | Print (clothbound hardcover) |
| Pages | 359 |
| ISBN | 978-0-916354-82-4 |
Editions
editDetour was republished in 1991 by Begos & Rosenberg, with a 1991 copyright, and no indication of any earlier edition, yet textually identical with the 1977 edition.
Detour was republished in 2003 by Del Sol Press, in an expanded, rewritten edition.
Reception
editThis section contains too many or overly lengthy quotations. (February 2023) |
Michael Brodsky is a brilliant writer. I find more affinity with him than with any other recent American novelist.
— Peter Handke, dust jacket
This is an extraordinary and artistically rigorous novel .... [Brodsky] is a master both of technique and of language, his sentences positively crackling with unexpected insights.
— ?, Publishers Weekly
Brodsky's a comer, chockablock with high intentions and nerve.
— ?, Kirkus Reviews
The real protagonist is language: adventures occur, not to people, but to metaphors and images.
— Scott Sanders, Chicago Sun-Times
It should be obvious to serious readers ... that Brodsky ... is a sensitive, original, and insightful writer, one of the best produced by this country in the last 30 years.
References
edit- ^ The dust jacket says "Michael Haffka". See Hafftka's short bio for verification.
- ^ Village Voice 2003 review