Paradise, Barthelme's third novel, comically but urgently expresses a concern for the elusive satisfactions of marriage, sex, career, money, and, to a certain degree, spirituality in the confusing context of a modern urban existence. The quest for such satisfactions is, however, a failure. The paradise of the novel's title remains unrealized even though the protagonist, Simon, is allowed to sample all the presumed ingredients of such a perfect state of happiness. Simon, a successful, fiftythree-year-old Philadelphia architect, finds a bomb under his car, perhaps placed there by a frustrated contractor.
The situation provides an excuse for him to get away not only from his job but also from an increasingly unsatisfying marriage and have a year on his own without work in New York City.
Meditating on his failing marriage and questioning the substance.....
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