| Karoo | 
 enlarge | Author: Steve Tesich
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £3.12
You Save: £4.87 (61%)
New (20) Used (7) from £1.48
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 34033
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 0099777916
EAN: 9780099777915
ASIN: 0099777916
Publication Date: January 7, 1999
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 The World According to Saul December 10, 2007
I bought this book because it was about the movie industry by an insider, Steve Tesich, an Oscar-winning screenwriter whose credits include Breaking Away and The World According To Garp. Karoo is the story of Saul Karoo, known as Doc, a legendary script doctor who rewrites and re-edits other people's films without ever getting his own original work on screen. In the first person, Karoo describes his separation from his wife, his inability to communicate with his adopted son, and his struggles with alcoholism. This is all done in an original, wry and biting way.
The main plot involves Doc Karoo being commissioned by an amoral producer, Jay Cromwell, to recut the last film of a dying cinematic auteur, Arthur Houseman. Karoo hates Cromwell and believes the film is a masterpiece, but he takes on the job through a series of bad judgements and failures of will, prompted by an obsession with a supporting actress in the film. His relationship with the actress leads to dire consequences in his personal life.
This is a very well written novel, based on a refreshingly dark protagonist, which deals with the mess of real life and our incapacity to make brave moral decisions, made all the more poignant by the death of the author shortly after completion.
A Wonder March 1, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Extremely funny and at the same heart breaking. Unquestionably the best book ever about movies but also one of the best books ever about fatherhood, about failure, about drink, about ... oh and one of the most heart-stoppingly amazing final chapters you'll ever read.
Why is this book not number one?
what is wrong with you all?
A brilliant tale of a man at odds with his conscience. September 22, 2000
Saul Karoo is the return of the Anti-hero. Albeit an intellectual one. It is not so much the story that will grab you but Saul's skewed perceptions about love, life & relationships. Saul is a hack. A person who re-writes other peoples movie scripts. He is in an on-going divorce with his wife, suffers from sobriety and 'The evasion of privacy'(he can't stand being alone around people he is supposed to love)Yet, ultimately, Karoo is an immensely sad novel. There is nothing redeeming about our protagonist. Steve Tesich (the author)died four days after the completion of this novel. He won academy awards for the adaption of 'The world according to garp' and 'Breaking away'. If you're into dry inversed logic humour, you'll love it.
A brilliant tale of a man at odds with his conscience. September 22, 2000
Saul Karoo is the return of the Anti-hero. Albeit an intellectual one. It is not so much the story that will grab you but Saul's skewed perceptions about love, life & relationships. Saul is a hack. A person who re-writes other peoples movie scripts. He is in an on-going divorce with his wife, suffers from sobriety and 'The evasion of privacy'(he can't stand being alone around people he is supposed to love)Yet, ultimately, Karoo is an immensely sad novel. There is nothing redeeming about our protagonist. Steve Tesich (the author)died four days after the completion of this novel. He won academy awards for the adaption of 'The world according to garp' and 'Breaking away'. If you're into dry inversed logic humour, you'll love it.
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