Synopsis
The dazzling new novel from the prize-winning, bestselling author of Middle England.
In the heady summer of 1977, a naive young woman called Calista sets out from Athens to venture into the wider world. On a Greek island that has been turned into a film set, she finds herself working for the famed Hollywood director Billy Wilder, about whom she knows almost nothing. But the time she spends in this glamorous, unfamiliar new life will change her for good.
While Calista is thrilled with her new adventure, Wilder himself is living with the realisation that his star may be on the wane. Rebuffed by Hollywood, he has financed his new film with German money, and when Calista follows him to Munich for the shooting of further scenes, she finds herself joining him on a journey of memory into the dark heart of his family history.
In a novel that is at once a tender coming-of-age story and an intimate portrait of one of cinema's most intriguing figures, Jonathan Coe turns his gaze on the nature of time and fame, of family and the treacherous lure of nostalgia. When the world is catapulting towards change, do you hold on for dear life or decide it's time to let go?
Publisher information
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
- ISBN: 9780241989715
- Number of pages: 256
- Dimensions: 197 x 129 x 16 mm
- Weight: 182g
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
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One of life's pleasures
Following Coe's political and social look at Brexit in present day Britain, he returns to one of his loves - film.
The story follows the making of Billy W... READ MORE
Revenge for Auschwitz
To paraphrase Billy Wilder’s thoughts: if everything is going wrong with your life, do you really want to go out to watch a movie called ‘Despair’?
For m... READ MORE
Mr. Wilder and Jonathan Coe
In 2018, one month after the publication of Middle England, the third in a sequence of novels following the lives of characters first encountered in Rotter... READ MORE
Nostalgia and celebrity
Jonathan Coe has always been an extraordinary writer; each of his books encapsulates a period of time whether it be in What A Carve Up and the greed of the... READ MORE
Gentle reading
Travelling across the USA in the mid 70s, Calista is introduced to the Hollywood director Billy Wilder and his partner Mr Diamond. When their latest film p... READ MORE
Not the Coe I know
Usually, I love Coe’s writing...but this mixed genre, I found underwhelming and a bit puzzling. What sort of book Coe is aiming for? Begins with promise wh... READ MORE
Beautifully Written
Mr Wilder and Me is a novel that takes real people and events and brings them to life with the addition of the authors imagination. Billy Wilder and most o... READ MORE
Novel set in LOS ANGELES and EUROPE
The book opens and there is a list of the places to which the reader will be transported. Perfect for literary tourism!
London / Los Angeles / Greece / Mu... READ MORE
A look back at film-making before #MeToo
The central character in this story is Calista Frangopoulou, a young Greek girl and talented musician who, through a series of coincidences, becomes some k... READ MORE
Sublime
I'm so grateful to the publisher for access to a free advance e-copy of Mr Wilder and Me via NetGalley.
Jonathan Coe's new novel imagines an encounter bet... READ MORE
Better and Better
I've read all of Jonathan Coe's novels and he just keeps on getting better and better. After reading Middle England, at face value I wasn't sure if Mr Wil... READ MORE
A very different Coe
Usually, I love Coe’s writing...but this mixed genre, I found underwhelming and a bit puzzling. What sort of book Coe is aiming for? Begins with promise wh... READ MORE
ENJOYABLE READ!
I did enjoy this book! It was funny, informative and I learned a few things! The novel was well written and transported you to a bygone age of film makin... READ MORE
A pleasant read
Starting off in the present day, but mainly set in the seventies, we follow our main protagonist Calista Frangopoulou, as she sets off to the USA, to backp... READ MORE
FIlm, fact and fiction combine to entertain and engage.
This is a half way through review which I'll update when I've finished.
I was intrigued from the first page, the picture painted of the mother and child o... READ MORE
Literary fiction
Calista, a young Greek woman is travelling in America with a friend with who she is invited to dinner with Billy Wilder. After she returns home she is con... READ MORE
Love Note to Wilder
This book is a love note to Mr Wilder and to the art of film making. If you’re like me or like Calista the main character, you’ll have no idea who Mr Wilde... READ MORE
Jonathan Coe - Mr Wilder and Me
With her twin daughters about to leave the family nest, Calista has to reassess her life. Before focussing on raising the girls, she had a career in the fi... READ MORE
A pleasant read
Starting off in the present day, but mainly set in the seventies, we follow our main protagonist Calista Frangopoulou, as she sets off to the USA, to backp... READ MORE
Enjoyable and well written
Mr Wilder and Me - Jonathan Coe
Publishers Penguin
Publication date 5/11/20
An enjoyable well written and original read. Not as savagely funny as the aut... READ MORE
This is a homage to Wilder more than anything else and, as such, is a really interesting read.
Jonathan Coe’s state of the nation novels are always very engaging and thought-provoking. His characters are utterly recognisable and their predicaments a... READ MORE
Affecting and Poignant
The first book I read by Jonathan Coe was the What a Carve Up with its consideration of the greed of the Thatcher era and recently I read Middle England wh... READ MORE
Interesting and Enjoyable
I read this book courtesy of NetGalley. An interesting and enjoyable read. This book seemed to be a departure from Jonathan Coe's usual style and subject... READ MORE
Cinophile's treat
A beautifully written treat for cinophiles and for those who love stories about/set in that world.
A very real story about real people
I loved this book for well over the first half, became slightly disinterested in the part that was written as a script and then fell back in love with it b... READ MORE
Jonathan Coe at his best!
Jonathan Coe is one of my favourite authors and Billy Wilder is my favourite director from Hollywood's Golden Age, his work includes Sunset Boulevard, Ni... READ MORE
Wonderfully glamorous and nostalgic
This was a beautifully evocative novel, exquisitely written and meticulously researched. Calista is reflecting on a moment in time that changed the course ... READ MORE
Loved it!
This is the story of how a young Calista who is Greek/English meets film director Billy Wilder and writer Iz Diamond by chance. She amuses Wilder with her... READ MORE