I bought a great copy of Peyton Place when Martin and Dexter and I were on our honeymoon on Mackinaw Island. This copy celebrates Grace Metalious' 75th birthday. She's the author for those of you who are uninformed.
Peyton Place was first published in 1956 and oh, the stir it caused! Back in the mid 1950s, books were either of the highbrow intellectual sort or tabloid type pulp fiction.
Peyton Place erased those boundaries and changed the genre of fiction forever.
Detractors decried it as sensationalist and scandalous and oh my, this young mother uses some four letter words! The shock and horror!
Although it was considered terribly racy at the time, it's rather tame by today's standards.
When questioned about the sexy scenes in the book, Metalious couldn't quite understand all the uproar. "I don't know what all the screaming is about," Metalious is quoted as saying. "Sex is something everybody lives with - why make such a big deal out of it?"
It is a wonderfully well written work that captures the minaute of a small town. If it were set in Howell , Michigan in the 1950s, I'm sure it would have captured my town at that point in time as well.
Although Peyton Place has never achieved classic literary stature, it is a rich, complex book well worth reading.
A great summer read.
I guess I need to put that on my list then, don't I?
Posted by: Rob | June 01, 2005 at 11:25 AM
I couldn't agree more! I love that book and the movie too.
Posted by: Holly | June 01, 2005 at 05:19 PM
We watched the TV show in the 60's with Ryan O'Neal and Mia Farrow. Peyton Place was a big deal back then.
Posted by: Stevie | June 08, 2005 at 06:54 PM