 | |
| Author | Theodore Weesner |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Publication date | June 1972 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 978-0394462783 |
| Followed by | A German Affair |
The Car Thief is the 1972 debut novel by Theodore Weesner. It was excerpted in The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, and Esquire. The Car Thief is about a juvenile delinquent living in Flint, Michigan, in 1959.
It was reprinted in 1987 by Vintage Contemporaries, among the first books picked by the imprint.
Critical reception
The novel received ecstatic reviews. Kirkus Reviews wrote that it was "a splinter-sharp and wincingly realistic first novel which encroaches steadily on the reader before it shafts him altogether." The New York Times gave it a rave, calling a scene near the end of the book "one of the most profoundly powerful in American fiction."
Awards and recognition
The Car Thief won the Great Lakes Colleges Association's New Writers Award. The University of Iowa's Books for Young Adults Program recommended the book, noting that "even though the book is long, it is being read by some students who typically read very little."
References
- The Car Thief | Grove Atlantic – via groveatlantic.com.
- Weber, Bruce (June 30, 2015). "Theodore Weesner, Author of 'The Car Thief,' Dies at 79". The New York Times.
- Weesner, Theodore (January 1970). "The Trainee". Esquire.
- Weesner, Theodore (April 15, 2018). The Car Thief. House of Stratus. ISBN 9781938231018 – via Google Books.
- "VINTAGE CONTEMPORARIES". September 12, 2012.
- "THE CAR THIEF by Theodore Weesner | Kirkus Reviews" – via www.kirkusreviews.com.
- McElroy, Joseph (June 18, 1972). "We are what we drive". The New York Times.
- Greasley, Philip A. (May 30, 2001). Dictionary of Midwestern Literature, Volume 1: The Authors. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253108411 – via Google Books.
- "WINNERS OF THE GLCA NEW WRITERS AWARD" (PDF).
- Nilsen, Alleen Pace; Books for Young Adults Program, University of Iowa; Carlsen, G. Robert; Dybek, Caren (1973). "Books for Young Adults: 1972-73 Honor Listing". The English Journal. 62 (9): 1298–1300. doi:10.2307/813293. JSTOR 813293.
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