The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
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5.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $0.99
Publisher Description
In 1860 Baltimore, Benjamin is born with the physical appearance of a 70-year-old man, already capable of speech. At five, Benjamin is sent to kindergarten but has to be quickly withdrawn after he repeatedly falls asleep during child activities. When Benjamin turns 12, the Button family realizes that their son is aging backwards….
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous story is the basis for the motion picture late in 2008 starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett and directed by David Fincher.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The impending release of a movie version starring Brad Pitt has made this humorous tale, formerly among the least known of Fitzgerald's short stories, a hot property. DeFillippis and Weir's adaptation preserves the original's straight-faced tone describing the career of a man who begins life in his 70s and grows progressively younger. If bystanders find this more than "curious," they usually are just irritated at Benjamin for not behaving like other people. He himself is surprised as his body morphs, but is always open to new possibilities; his good-natured adaptability gives the social satire a gentle edge. Readers should, of course, look up Fitzgerald's original, but there's much to enjoy in this handsome little hardbound book. Cornell's sepia watercolor panels are especially clever at showing physical and emotional changes as Benjamin moves backward through life while America rolls forward for 70 years. A useful, gracefully written afterword by Donald G. Sheehy, professor of English, completes the volume nicely.
Customer Reviews
Curious Story
Interesting to think of living life backwards. Quick read to stir the imagination.