Larry's Party
The novel examines the life of Larry Weller, an "ordinary man made extraordinary" by his unique talent for creating labyrinths. Shields' profound insights into human nature transform Larry from an ordinary, average man into a figure of universal humanity.
 Cover to the first edition | |
| Author | Carol Shields |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Jonathan Howells |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf, Canada |
Publication date | 2 September 1997 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 339 pp (hardback first edition) |
| ISBN | 0-679-30877-6 (hardback first edition) |
| OCLC | 37981919 |
Larry's Party is a 1997 novel by Carol Shields.
The novel won the 1998 Orange Prize for Fiction. In 2001, it was adapted into a musical by Richard Ouzounian and Marek Norman, which starred Brent Carver as Larry. It had its premiere at CanStage in Toronto, Ontario.
Plot
In 1976, Larry Weller is twenty-six years old and employed as a florist in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He accidentally takes a stranger's identical Harris tweed jacket from a coffee shop. The rest of the chapter consists of his thoughts about his girlfriend Dorrie Shaw and his parents Stu and Dot.
In 1978, Larry marries Dorrie, and they honeymoon in England. While there, he discovers his love for garden mazes when he becomes lost in one.
In 1980, Larry turns thirty and invites his family over for a picnic. He and Dorrie have bought a house, and they now have a son, Ryan.
By 1983, Larry is spending all of his spare time working on a maze around his house, and it now takes up both the front and back yards. A frustrated Dorrie calls in a bulldozer to tear down the entire front section of the maze. This event leads to the couple’s divorce.
In 1986 Larry remarries, to a Christian scholar named Beth Prior. Their marriage is, for the most part, happy, though Larry realizes how much he loved Dorrie when they were married. It is also revealed that Larry’s father has colon cancer.
In 1988, Larry has moved to Chicago and became one of only a handful of professional maze designers in the world. Though he is very successful, he thinks back to the maze at his old house in Manitoba and how Dorrie is keeping what is left of it alive. Larry's father dies of colon cancer that year.
In 1991, Larry’s son, Ryan, is twelve and visits him in Chicago. Ryan is a bright boy; he is a good artist and can speak French fluently.
In 1992, Beth publishes her first book, and the couple starts to have fights. In 1994, Larry wins the State of Illinois award for creative excellence for his mazes, but a few months later he and Beth are separated after she moves to England to accept a teaching position, and they get divorced.
In 1996, Larry collapses and falls into a coma for twenty-two days. Beth does not visit him, but Dorrie and Ryan come as quickly as they can. Larry had begun to date a woman named Charlotte Angus.
In 1997, Larry decides to throw a dinner party. He invites his friends, Charlotte, and both of his former wives. As the party is winding down, he experiences a vision of another reality in which he and Dorrie settled their quarrels and never divorced. Exactly how the story ends is not directly stated. We know that Dorrie stayed behind to help Larry clean up, that Charlotte has taken a liking to one of Larry's guests, and that Beth was aware that Larry still loved Dorrie. There is also a dialogue between two unidentified speakers, assumed to be Larry and Dorrie, who say they have always loved each other.
External links
- Larry's Party at Random House of Canada: ISBN 0-679-30951-9
- Larry's Party at CanStage
| Preceded by Anne Michaels - Fugitive Pieces |
Orange Prize for Fiction 1998 |
Succeeded by Suzanne Berne - A Crime in the Neighborhood |