« Department of Analogy Quibbling | Main | Home Cooking »

Precocious

12 May 2008 09:08 am

Today's my dad's birthday, which seems like as good a time as any to link to this 1972 Time review of his first novel, Hide Fox, and All After:

It is not often that a writer sees his main character as clearly and directly as Rafael Yglesias sees Raul, the precocious 14-year-old who bombs out of private school in this brief and crystalline first novel. The author avoids displays of virtuosity, the pleasures of romantic posturing, and all other possible uses of fiction except this one: to watch with great care a being who fascinates him. The steadiness and detachment of his view would be remarkable in any case, but are truly astonishing for a writer who was exactly 15 years old when he wrote the novel.

He had, however, reached the advanced age of 17 by the time the book actually came out. These days, though, he's an old man -- happy birthday!

Share This

Comments (16)

"Old man"? Ouch. 54 is not old.

Your father is younger than me: I remember when his book came out. I plan on writing a novel someday about the pleasures of late-blooming, procrastination, and kidding oneself.

I loved "Fearless", btw, but my wife won't even let it in the house.

"Old man"?! (That hits a bit too close to home.) You're joking, right?

Fun fact: He and your grandmother each published their first novel the same year -- 1972 -- when *she* was 57 (still not old). (Doubleday and Houghton-Mifflin, respectively.) Now that must have made for some interesting dinner-table discussions.

I really enjoyed his book Dr. Neruda's Cure for Evil.

"Old man"? Ouch. 54 is not old.

There is only one widely agreed-upon test for oldness: Clinton or Obama. We just don't have the data to determine whether Rafael Yglesias is old or not.

Fearless is one of the most emotionally powerful films I've ever seen; it helped me a great deal in trying to understand the death of my sister, which had happened 11 years earlier--when I was 17, and she was 14. Ever since I figured out that you were his son, I've meant to ask you to thank him for me, but assuming he reads his birthday messages from his son, I'll just do it myself. Thanks!

Happy Birthday, Matt's dad! Agreed that 54 is (barring a preference for Hillary) not old.

As Dennis the Peasant from MP&HG would say, "I'm 54 - I'm not old!"

--ltc, who turned 54 in March

I was a big fan of "The Game Player" when I was a kid, which is one of the reasons that I started reading *your* blog. Happy Birthday to your dad.

I'll second Jim Naureckas' comment. I became acquainted with the work of the elder Yglesias from seeing Fearless, which I consider one of the most extraordinary, underrated films of the 1990s. I'd be fascinated to learn (some day) the origins of changes from the novel: RY's own modifications in adapting the work for screen, changes arising from collaborating with Weir...? Regardless, it produced a profound and deeply moving result. Happy Birthday, Rafael Yglesias!

Since your writing didn't reach a wide audience until you were in college, I guess that makes you the slow child of the family.

Yeah, happy birthday, Rafael. And I'm impressed that Time has archives online from 1972, even if it means reading Time.

Everyone's missing out on a key question: Matt, what age did you read Hide Fox, and All After at?

Matt, I'm your father. You were raised in NYC by Raul because you never could shake the colic living on a moisture farm with your Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Still, you're a good boy for wishing Raul a Happy Birthday. May the fours be with ewe. Love, Pops

D'oh. Rafael, not Raul. It's hard to see through this damn helmet.

Hey, Matt, I'm 59 and anybody calling me "pops" gets called "boy" in return - and I don't think you want that.


Comments closed May 26, 2008.

Copyright © 2008 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.