Bicycle Days

Bicycle Days is the debut novel by American author John Burnham Schwartz published in 1989 on his 24th birthday.[1] It began as an undergraduate thesis for Harvard's East Asian Studies department and became a critically acclaimed bestseller. It was inspired by his time living in Japan.[2]

Bicycle Days
First edition (US)
AuthorJohn Burnham Schwartz
Cover artistScott Hunt
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
PublisherSummit Books (US)
Heinemann (UK)
Publication date
1989
Media typePrint
Pages255
ISBN0-671-66600-2

Plot Introduction

The book follows Alec Stern as he arrives in Tokyo, newly graduated from Yale. He starts a new job, living with a Japanese family; the book portrays his life in Japan as he adapts to the culture, made far easier by his ability to speak Japanese ...

Reception

Reviews were generally positive :

  • The New York Times, "Reminiscent of A Good Man in Africa...or one of Kingsley Amis's gentler comodies of manners."[3]
  • Publishers Weekly called this a "promising, if overly self-absorbed debut novel." [4]
  • People commented "it's too bad Schwartz wrote his intimate story in the third person. As it is, Schwartz outlines the most incidental happenings of Alec's life without letting us get inside his mind. It's as if a great deal yet not nearly enough has been revealed in Bicycle Days."[5]

Publication history
  • 1989, US, Summit Books, ISBN 0-671-66600-2, Pub date May 1989, Hardback
  • 1989, UK, Heinmann, ISBN 0-434-67778-7, Pub date Nov 1989, Hardback
  • 1990, US, Plume Books, ISBN 0-452-26421-9, Pub date May 1990, Paperback
  • 1990, UK, Minerva, ISBN 0-749-39132-4, Pub date Nov 1990, Paperback
  • 1999, US, Vintage, ISBN 0-375-70275-X, Pub date Apr 1999, Paperback
  • 1999, UK, Phoenix, ISBN 0-753-80764-5, Pub date Nov 1999, Paperback

Official website

References
  1. John Burnham Schwartz | Nantucket Book Festival Archived 2013-12-19 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2013-09-01.
  2. PW: 'Bicycle Days' Author Returns Retrieved 2013-09-01.
  3. rear cover, Minerva p/b edition, publ 1999, ISBN 0-7493-9132-4
  4. Bicycle Days: John Burnham Schwartz: 9780375702754: Amazon.com: Books Retrieved 2013-09-01.
  5. Picks and Pans Review: Bicycle Days : People.com Retrieved 2013-09-01.
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