Bijou

by David Madden

Book by Madden, David

Genres: Fiction

600 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1974

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't remember why I read this book, except that it dealt with a boy's impressions of movies of 1946, often mysteries or thrillers of some sort, because that's what i was reading in this period. it was a current book, so it might have been recommended in the New Yorker, which I was reading then, too. I also was reviewing books and movies at that time, so it might have come across my desk for that reason.

In any event, it's apparently a "roman a clef," as the protagonist is 13 years old, which would have been Madden's age in 1946. This is a "literary" book and is dense at times.

In 1976, Steven King called Bijou "one of the books I admire most in the world." King was lamenting that Madden worked on the book for six years and made about $15,000 in cash as a result of his labors. At the same time, King wrote "Salem's Lot" in eight months (including revisions) and made $500,000.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Madden creates a fictional world in which life, literature, and movies create a tangle of illusion and reality in the mind of his hormonal 13-year-old protagonist, Lucius Hutchfield, who narrates a strange movie-novel in his head that is often difficult to follow. Fans of Forties’ films will enjoy the numerous references to the stars and movies of the time.