Literary Fiction · ThoughtfulA New Orleans stockbroker who finds more meaning in movies than in daily life begins a search at Mardi Gras
The Moviegoer
by Walker Percy
A young New Orleans stockbroker who feels cut off from daily life begins a personal search around Mardi Gras
Jack "Binx" Bolling is a young stockbroker in postwar New Orleans. He feels disconnected from his everyday life and finds more meaning in movies and literature. Alienated after his family troubles and his wartime experiences, he begins a personal search for meaning around Mardi Gras. Knopf published it on May 15, 1961; it is Percy's debut novel.
More about this book
Who
Jack "Binx" Bolling, a young stockbroker.
World
Postwar New Orleans, around Mardi Gras.
What makes it different
It is Walker Percy's debut novel, and movies matter more to its narrator than ordinary life does.
Feel
Reflective and wry. Time included it on its list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- The MoviegoerWikipedia