Firecrackers. A Realistic Novel
Firecrackers. A Realistic Novel is a 1925 novel by American author Carl Van Vechten which explores the temerity and hedonism prevalent during the 1920s Jazz Age in the United States.[1] Van Vechten dedicated this particular novel to his friend James Branch Cabell. The book is considered to be the fourth entry in a series about New York's "Upper Bohemians" and chronicles the further adventures of characters which appeared in Vechten's earlier works such as The Blind Bow-Boy (1923) and The Tattooed Countess (1924).[1]
.jpg) Cover of the first edition in 1925 | |
| Author | Carl Van Vechten |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Published | 1925 (Knopf) |
| Media type | Print (hardcover & paperback) |
Synopsis
You must think of a group of people in terms of a packet of firecrackers. You ignite the first cracker and the flash fires the fuse of the second, and so on, until, after a series of crackling detonations, the whole bunch has exploded, and nothing survives but a few torn and scattered bits of paper, blackened with powder.
During 1924, a blasé coterie of affluent New Yorkers are inordinately excited by a handsome and athletic newcomer to their social circle, Gunnar O'Grady, "a youth with the appearance of a Greek Adonis."[1] Alternately seeking and avoiding their attentions, this enigmatic individual drifts through a series of menial vocations including furnace repairman, florist, waiter, and acrobat. He becomes an object of sexual fascination to many within the circle, including a precocious young girl, a thrill-seeking wife, and a bored husband. Tensions escalate as various persons within the coterie vie for O'Grady's companionship and O'Grady finds his own desires stymied.
References
- The New York Times 1925.
- Van Vechten 1925, p. 126.
Bibliography
- "New York of 1924 in a New Van Vechten Novel". The New York Times. August 9, 1925. pp. 38–39. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
- Van Vechten, Carl (2007) [1925]. Firecrackers. A Realistic Novel. New York: Mondial. ISBN 978-1-59569-068-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)