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A Sport and a Pastime
A Sport and a Pastime | James Salter
A tour de force of erotic realism, a romantic cliff-hanger; an opaline vision of Americans in France. . . . A Sport and a Pastime succeeds as art must. It tells us about ourselves. The New York Times Book Review Twenty-year-old Yale dropout Phillip Dean is traveling Europe aimlessly in a borrowed car with little money, until stopping for a few days in a church-quiet town near Dijon, where he meets Anne-Marie Costallat, a young shop assistant. She quickly becomes to him the real France, its beating heart and an object of pure longing. The two begin an affair both carnal and innocent. Beautiful and haunting, A Sport and a Pastime is one of the first great American novels to speak frankly of human desire and the yearning for passion free of guilt and shame. This ebook features an illustrated biography of James Salter including rare photos from the authors personal collection.
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mjtwo
A Sport and a Pastime | James Salter
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Pickpick

27 Dec-11 Jan 23
Well-written prose depicting the sexual relationship between a rich, white American college student and a French shopgirl during his sojourn in provincial France. His privilege and her somewhat naive complicity did disturb me a little as the story moved to its inevitable ending. Salter‘s writing is crisp and beautiful, however, and this is more of an exercise in writing lovely (1960s era) erotica than a fully fleshed out novel.

CloakNQuill I‘ve been meaning to pick this up. Really enjoy Salters writing. 2y
mjtwo @CloakNQuill it is beautifully written. I think I will dig out some of his other work. 2y
11 likes2 comments
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MirrorMask
A Sport and a Pastime | James Salter
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"He is determined to perform the most gentle act, but he doesn't know exactly where to enter. He tries to find it. His arms are trembling. Suddenly he feels her flesh give way and then, deliciously, the muscle close about him. He tries not to press against anything, to go in straight. She is breathing quickly, and as he withdraws on the first stroke he can feel her jerking with pleasure. It's the short movements she likes." ? #ReadingResolutions

MirrorMask She thrusts herself against him. Moans escape her. Dean comes—it's like a hemorrhage—and afterwards she clasps him tightly. 6y
62 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Yossarian
A Sport and a Pastime | James Salter
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“Jim‘s book had a rave review in the Times and Kirkus Review called it “as erotic a novel as any since Henry Miller . . . We were amazed that it didn‘t sell.”

— Paris Review 222.

I‘m always on the lookout for lost gems. This one is going on my TBR.

BarbaraBB It‘s a great book. Typically Salter! 6y
Leftcoastzen I haven‘t read Salter though he‘s been on my radar for years.Need to get to his books one day. 6y
50 likes1 stack add2 comments
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azulaco
A Sport and a Pastime | James Salter
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I went to the used bookstore yesterday to see if they had a copy of one specific book. They didn‘t, but I dropped $35 anyway. I should know better than to go into used bookstores.

On the positive side, I found a copy of A Sport and a Pastime, which I‘ve been wanting for awhile. Also two cool 1960s-era Nancy Drews.

review
Read66
A Sport and a Pastime | James Salter
Pickpick

Beautifully written. This was the first time I read James Salter and I will be adding more by him to my wish list at the library.

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ReadingEnvy
A Sport and a Pastime | James Salter
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I got #sucked into kindle deals today and got these four, all already on my TBR list.

EvieBee I bought Rabbit Cake, also! Now to read it. 7y
Scurvygirl Got Rabbit Cake as well! Damn you, Litsy (and Amazon)!! 7y
See All 17 Comments
Susannah These are all available today?! Terrific! 7y
ReadingEnvy @Susannah there were hundreds of pages of deals... is that normal? It seemed like a lot. 7y
ReadingEnvy @mrsmarch is it good? 7y
ReadingEnvy @Scurvygirl @EvieBee84 I've been circling Rabbit Cake for a while. 7y
Susannah @ReadingEnvy, in my experience they have lots of deals on books you'd have no interest in buying. 😉 But this looks amazing! 7y
mrsmarch @ReadingEnvy I really enjoyed it. I like bios of historical women and this one was well written. 7y
ninjypants aahhhhh such a great great book 7y
NoleyReid Rabbit Cake is my new favorite book--hope you love it as much as I did! 7y
batsy I've heard so many good things about Salter, I've been meaning to get to him. 7y
ReadingEnvy @batsy I've read one and immediately wanted to read more - 7y
ReadingEnvy @NoleyReid oh great! High praise! 7y
ReadingEnvy @ninjypants I think I'll start it today! 7y
batsy @ReadingEnvy 👍 Adding this one too 7y
71 likes1 stack add17 comments
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BarbaraBB
A Sport and a Pastime | James Salter
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Pickpick

Read in 2015. Remember liking it, but don't remember what is was about.

andrew61 My pet hate rich american young men in france ☺ 7y
BarbaraBB Haha, now I remember the story indeed 😀 7y
6 likes2 comments
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bookwrm526
A Sport and a Pastime | James Salter
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I definitely #cantspeakfrench even though I did take French as a foreign language in high school...but I do love a good novel set on France. These are some recent reads. #melodicmay

Graciouswarriorprincess I loved Perfume. 8y
30 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Theliterarystew
A Sport and a Pastime | James Salter
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I want to read these two just because of their gorgeous covers. Has anyone read these? #asportandapastime #jamessalter #thehidinglace #trezzaazzopardi

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shawnmooney
A Sport and a Pastime | James Salter
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I have yet to read this.

JanuarieTimewalker13 @shawnmooney I enjoyed All That Is- just checked my GR review -3 stars for story, 5 for his writing. I read it after he passed and reading the NYT obit. Pretty sure they called him a "writer's writer". Somewhere in the cobwebs of my brain I remember that-I think...lol 8y
32 likes1 stack add1 comment
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EmilyAnne
A Sport and a Pastime | James Salter
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It's been too hot to read much today, but at least I got to a used book sale! All these for $5 🤓😍☺️

Varshitha Wow,, that's great!! 8y
4 likes1 comment
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brendanmleonard
A Sport and a Pastime | James Salter
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It's Your Fave Is Problematic Day! (or week 😂) Both James Salter (top) and Saul Bellow (bottom) have birthdays today, and both are mid century writers whose work continues to be looked at through a necessary critical lens. But man, those sentences. I wish everyone would read Salter.

brendanmleonard This one is also phenomenal: 8y
Imagineannie @brendanmleonard there's a Salter novel for $2.99 on Amazon today - it's about mountain climbing. I'm now tempted, although A Sport and a Pastime might be a better first Salter? 8y
brendanmleonard @Imagineannie that's one I haven't read but Salter is a great nature writer. 8y
17 likes3 comments
review
mauveandrosysky
A Sport and a Pastime | James Salter
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Mehso-so

The narrative approach is fascinating and the writing is crisp and beautiful in its simplicity, but in stories like this I like getting into the heads of the characters, and that's just not what Salter was going for. Objectively, it's great; subjectively, it left a lot to be desired.

mauveandrosysky I always feel so dumb rating a classic novel as "so-so" ? 8y
mllemay @mauveandrosysky me too, but hey, just because it's a classic doesn't mean everyone has to love it! 8y
mauveandrosysky @mllemay totally! And for the most part I can "appreciate" them even if I don't particularly enjoy them. 8y
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squarepeginroundhole @mauveandrosysky Don't. I agree with @mllemay . I loved Light Years so tried this. I bailed on it so you still beat me. 8y
mauveandrosysky Ooh, Light Years sounds much more up my alley, @squarepeginroundhole. I may have to check that one out! 8y
squarepeginroundhole @mauveandrosysky Try it and let me know. I don't know many who've read it. Would love the hear others' opinion. It has a unique writing style. I think he only does it in this one too. 8y
6 likes1 stack add6 comments
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mauveandrosysky
A Sport and a Pastime | James Salter
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