Sunnyside

Just as enjoyable as his previous "Carter Beats the Devil," Glen David Gold has written a multi-layered novel about celebrity, the foolishness of war, the growth of Hollywood during the World War I era, and Charlie Chaplin. By turns humorous, tragic, and historical, it should bring forth comparisons with "Ragtime," "USA," "The Given Day," and similar evocations of the United States during the early 20th century. Despite its length, readers will want to stay the course and savor the author's rich style. Highly recommended. Wm. H. Young

I just finished the tome of a novel that is called Sunnyside. I was impressed with it, but it is quite a read. The only real problem that I had with the novel is that Gold does not tell how much is fiction and how much is true. Being an admirer of Chaplin, I would like to know the facts and the fiction of the story. Otherwise, I found it an engaging read. I really enjoyed it.

Does it really matter if the previous reviewers felt the need to rehash every plot line and then respond to it? Or if they described each character and it's place in the narrative? Or comprehensively listed what they felt was, or wasn't, relative to the novel? No, no - a thousand times no! This is a work of genius - staggering, profound, pitch-perfect. I was spellbound, as before, by Mr. Gold's prose and vivid details - captured by every page. Read it.

What is one to make of Glen David Gold's second act, "Sunnyside," which comes more than seven years after his much praised first novel, "Carter Beats the Devil"? As with Carter, Gold again demonstrates his extraordinary gifts - characterization, humor, and perfectly metered prose, as well as exceptional research - are not for this author tricks but sheer magic. Yet where Carter followed a story that was linear and easily deciphered, "Sunnyside" follows not one track but several. And if like most readers you follow these various paths expecting that Gold will eventually bring them together in some tidy ending, you are sure to be disappointed. Instead these separate stories circle each other and occasionally almost, but never quite touch, having in common the period leading up to America's involvement in World War I. Gold gives us one story of handsome Leland Wheeler, the son of a woman lighthouse officer and a Wild West scoundrel who dreams of Hollywood fame against his mother's wishes; a family of Russian Jewish grifters who dream of riches; Hugo Black, an intellectual who searches for glory but has the misfortune of being sent to Siberia as part of the Allies ill conceived plan to undermine the new Bolshevik regime, and, of course, Charlie Chaplin. One hardly knows what to say about the Chaplin story, as it engages so many other varied plots, sub-plots and characters (and so many characters! Doug Fairbanks, Goldwyn, McAdoo, Zukor, Mary Pickford, Rin tin tin , etc, etc, etc) as Gold attempts to present and critique Hollywood's formation. I cannot sufficiently praise either Gold's prose or his research. Here is historical fiction presented by a master, who weaves a spectacular tapestry of facts, fiction, and opinion creating a whole that runs through with pathos and humor. His sentences sing and his observations often give a reader pause. So what is one to make of Sunnyside's strange disassociated structure? From the novel's outset Gold makes very clear that he sees in this period the birth of modern mass culture, with Chaplin filling the essential role of that culture's celebrity. Perhaps that is why he organized the novel in this way, to demonstrate how disjointed society has become and reflect the impact of celebrity on its members. One cannot know for sure what this author intended, and at times one may become frustrated by the novel's seemingly obtuse structure. One thing is certain, in the hands of a lesser writer, the attempt would have sunk into a disastrous morass and it is a testament to Gold's tremendous talent that he can keep this work afloat and his reader engaged. One may puzzle over Gold's intent, but Sunnyside offers no room to doubt his gifts. By any standard, Sunnyside is an unconventional piece of story telling and I am reticent to attach the word novel to a work so unusually structured. Many readers will find the work to not be their cup of tea and will wonder whether they should dive into its 500+ pages

I loved Carter Beats the Devil. So much so that I was wary of reading Glen David Gold's new book, Sunnyside. How could he top his brilliant debut? Well, in short, he did. He blew it away. Sunnyside is an extraordinary novel. Rich, complex, funny, moving. Subtle and epic. The plot is too large and finely tuned to recap here, but Gold fearlessly tackles the creation of modern celebrity, the rise of Hollywood, World War I, and the small triumphs and tragedies of normal men and women in the chaotic and unknowable beginnings of the American Century.