Panorama City, Antoine Wilson
Panorama City, Antoine Wilson
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

Panorama City

Author: Antoine Wilson

Narrator: Richard Powers

Unabridged: 8 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/25/2012


Synopsis

With its blend of fool’s wisdom and deeply felt humanity, Panorama City is heir to Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead and Steve Martin’s The Jerk.  From his deathbed*, twenty-eight-year-old Oppen Porter—an openhearted, bicycle-riding, binocular-toting, self-described “slow absorber”—unspools into a cassette recorder his tale of self-determination, from “village idiot” to “man of the world,” for the benefit of his unborn son.  Told in an astonishingly charming and wise voice, Oppen’s account traces forty days and nights navigating the fast-food joints, storefront churches, and home-office psychologists of the San Fernando Valley. Ping-ponging between his watchful, sharp-tongued aunt and an outlaw philosopher with the face “of a newly hatched crocodile,” Oppen finds himself constantly in the sights of people who believe that their way is the only way for him.  Oppen Porter is “an American original” (Stewart O’Nan) for whom finding one’s own way is both a delightful art and a painstaking science. Disarmingly funny and surreptitiously moving, Panorama City makes us see the world, and our place in it, with new eyes. *Not really

About Antoine Wilson

Antoine Wilson is the author of the novel The Interloper and a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He is a contributing editor of A Public Space and lives and surfs in Los Angeles.

About Richard Powers

Richard Powers has published thirteen novels. He is a MacArthur Fellow and received the National Book Award. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Overstory, and Bewilderment was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Patrick

I have been meaning to write a long review of this book, because I think there's a lot in it to pull out and examine, but I am a busy man, and it doesn't look like that's going to happen. So in lieu of something more meaningful, let me just say that I defy you not to like this book. Oppen Porter, th......more

Goodreads review by Roxane

This is a brilliant novel. The protagonist, Oppen Porter, is fully realized and we are quickly pulled into his way of seeing the world. This is a seductive novel in that we know things about Oppen that he doesn't know about himself and still, he is easy to believe and to like and to love. On a craft......more

Goodreads review by Kim

This is a *must* read. I believe it would cause even the most jaded cynic to shed a little of her thick skin. I was sad to say goodbye to Oppen Porter when I closed the book. You'll want to keep seeing the world through his eyes long after you've finished reading Panorama City. Bravo to Antoine Wils......more

Goodreads review by Tim

Από τα καλύτερα βιβλία που διάβασα μέχρι στιγμής το 2019 με πολύ ωραίο χιούμορ. Θα γράψω και τη σχετική κριτική εν καιρώ.......more

Goodreads review by Vanessa

In the beginning, I found it a tad difficult to follow. I was a little confused by the rhythm and the many commas, but after a while I got the hang of it and I truly enjoyed the read. It got to the point where I'd wake up and first thing I did was start reading, cuddled up with my blanket. I really......more


Quotes

“God bless Oppen Porter! His innocence and lack of pretense are our good fortune and our delight. Under his observation, our follies and schemes and manias go up in the brightest, funniest, heartrending flames. This is precisely (and artfully) because he does not judge them. Panorama City is charming and absurd, very funny and, best of all, humane through and through.” Paul Harding, New York Times bestselling and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Tinkers

“Wilson’s Panorama City is a candid and perceptive exploration of how families connect and how society’s most popular methods of advancement may not always be the most beneficial. Oppen is an excellent judge of character, and Wilson’s ability to sketch out such an ideal narrator should be commended. Readers who enjoy Mark Haddon and Greg Olear will appreciate Wilson’s authorial voice, which blends Oppen’s good-natured naïveté and humorous asides with incisive cynicism. A funny, heartfelt, and genuine novel.” Booklist

“Charming and oddball…Panorama City is about our struggle to remain open to one another in a world that categorizes and closes us off at every turn…A bracingly humane story whose narrator’s wisdom and forbearance make you see the world afresh.” New York Times Book Review

“Wilson’s latest quirky offering is written in perfect audiobook format. He gives us Oppen, a young man reminiscent of Forrest Gump, who records his life and its lessons as a dying message to his unborn son. Paul Michael Garcia displays his award-winning narrating skills by capturing both the humor and poignancy of this deceptively simple hero. With a straightforward delivery, Garcia conveys the wonder and confusion Oppen, a self-described ‘slow absorber,’ feels as he carries out his quest to become a ‘man of the world.’ Oppen’s innocence and naïveté provide many amusing situations while his innate morality and uncluttered vision provide a sometimes uncomfortably honest look at values considered ‘smart’ in today’s society. This quick, enjoyable listen brings credit to both author and narrator.” AudioFile

“This is a book you will hold in your head all day long, a book you will look forward to when you get home from work, a book you will still be savoring as you drift into sleep. Panorama City is often very funny. It is filled with joy and wonder and a sort of goodness you had stopped believing might be even possible. Antoine Wilson’s sentences are like diamond necklaces, but his greatest treasure is his human heart.” Peter Carey, New York Times bestselling author

“Oppen Porter is an American original, an innocent who believes he’s bursting with wisdom. The funniest thing is that, despite himself, he actually is…Full of wonders and mysteries.” Stewart O’Nan, New York Times bestselling author

“This funny and wise novel reminds one that the best fiction often treads the subtle line between tragedy and comedy. With ears keenly tuned to the music of language, and a limpid mind slyly hidden behind a persistent soliloquist, Antoine Wilson has written an intricate novel that makes us laugh and cry.” Yiyun Li, New York Times bestselling author

“Wilson’s second novel is fresh and flawlessly crafted as well as charmingly genuine…Fram[es] a classic coming-of-age story in an unexpected way.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Antoine Wilson draws us in to the weird, wonderful world of Oppen Porter, whose advice and lessons are jarringly original, funny, and moving.” Steve Hely, award-winning author


Awards

  • Publishers Weekly Best Book
  • New York Times   Bestseller
  • San Francisco Chronicle Best Book