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Kaye Wayfaring in "Avenged"
Four stories capture the key moments in the life of two-time Oscar nominee Kaye Wayfaring, star of the film "Avenged"--from the filming of the movie on location to its brilliant premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House
181 pages, Hardcover
First published May 12, 1984
About the author
James McCourt
19 books25 followersJames McCourt was born in 1941.
McCourt was raised in New York City and educated at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School and Manhattan College, when it was considered the Irish-American Harvard. McCourt briefly studied acting at the Yale School of Drama, but left with fellow student Vincent Virga in 1964 to go to London, to experience the exploding theater scene there. McCourt and Virga have been a couple ever since then. They stayed in London for two periods, from 1964 to 1967, and 1969 to 1971, resettling in New York City.
After McCourt’s story was published in the New American Review, the legendary writer and social commentator Susan Sontag helped McCourt find a publisher. In 1975, McCourt published the expanded “Mawrdew Czgowchwz” in book form. Christopher Lehmann-Haupt in The New York Times called the book “A gloriously flamboyant debut. Take it in spoonfuls and you'll find passages to fall in love with. Sooner or later, you may even find yourself reading them aloud to your friends.”
McCourt was raised in New York City and educated at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School and Manhattan College, when it was considered the Irish-American Harvard. McCourt briefly studied acting at the Yale School of Drama, but left with fellow student Vincent Virga in 1964 to go to London, to experience the exploding theater scene there. McCourt and Virga have been a couple ever since then. They stayed in London for two periods, from 1964 to 1967, and 1969 to 1971, resettling in New York City.
After McCourt’s story was published in the New American Review, the legendary writer and social commentator Susan Sontag helped McCourt find a publisher. In 1975, McCourt published the expanded “Mawrdew Czgowchwz” in book form. Christopher Lehmann-Haupt in The New York Times called the book “A gloriously flamboyant debut. Take it in spoonfuls and you'll find passages to fall in love with. Sooner or later, you may even find yourself reading them aloud to your friends.”
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 26, 2019
Hilton Als reads the title story for the New Yorker fiction podcast, which after two or three listens finally started to open up to me as a great story, one about the consciousness of a genuine and talented actress, thinking about acting per se, the situation of mind and body needed to emerge in a role. I went on to read all three of the other pieces by scavenging the New Yorker archive.
Two years later, June 30, 1980, we got “The Scan of Illyria.” On the beautiful California coast, Kaye Wayfaring finishes shooting for Avenged, in sort of a fugue state as she focuses her dramatic powers, dreams, remembers her brother, and performing Twelfth Night in college, the last coming to her because she’s been asked to reprise her role as Viola for her new friend. “Fear eats the soul to keep fit.”
Then there is “Wayfaring at Waverly in Silver Lake,” from November 4, 1985. Kaye Wayfaring thinks of how Hollywood and LA constantly change, and stars like Marylin Monroe and Peg Entwistle were victims of the shallow pursuit of fame. Kaye is stronger than that, like the fancy house she inherited, and perhaps thanks to her New Yorker status. McCourt fantasizes an inward dreamer of a diva who won’t succumb to self-destruction.
Finally we find the story “In Tír Na Nóg” in the February 15, 1988 issue. Kaye Wayfaring did not get more movie roles in Hollywood after Avenged, but she married and had twins, and enjoys chocolate and old acquaintances of her wealthy family, so things are not so bad, all in all.
What manner of literature is this? Did the New Yorker hit a baroque peak of over-ornamented stories in general at this time? (You’ll need to bone up on terms like Billet-doux, irredentist, hors concours, and Tacadobe. Oh, and slainte, scuppernong, taffrail, and coracle.)
Two years later, June 30, 1980, we got “The Scan of Illyria.” On the beautiful California coast, Kaye Wayfaring finishes shooting for Avenged, in sort of a fugue state as she focuses her dramatic powers, dreams, remembers her brother, and performing Twelfth Night in college, the last coming to her because she’s been asked to reprise her role as Viola for her new friend. “Fear eats the soul to keep fit.”
Then there is “Wayfaring at Waverly in Silver Lake,” from November 4, 1985. Kaye Wayfaring thinks of how Hollywood and LA constantly change, and stars like Marylin Monroe and Peg Entwistle were victims of the shallow pursuit of fame. Kaye is stronger than that, like the fancy house she inherited, and perhaps thanks to her New Yorker status. McCourt fantasizes an inward dreamer of a diva who won’t succumb to self-destruction.
Finally we find the story “In Tír Na Nóg” in the February 15, 1988 issue. Kaye Wayfaring did not get more movie roles in Hollywood after Avenged, but she married and had twins, and enjoys chocolate and old acquaintances of her wealthy family, so things are not so bad, all in all.
What manner of literature is this? Did the New Yorker hit a baroque peak of over-ornamented stories in general at this time? (You’ll need to bone up on terms like Billet-doux, irredentist, hors concours, and Tacadobe. Oh, and slainte, scuppernong, taffrail, and coracle.)
Displaying 1 of 1 review