7.8 /10 1 Votes
Language English Media type Print Country United States of America | 3.9/5 Goodreads Publication date 1966 Originally published 1966 Publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pages 352 pp (Paperback edition) Genres Fiction, Children's literature Nominations National Book Award for Fiction Similar The Second Coming, Love in the Ruins, The Thanatos Syndrome, Lancelot, The Moviegoer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Last Gentleman is a 1966 novel by Walker Percy. The narrative centers on the character of Williston Bibb Barret, a man born in the Mississippi Delta who has moved to New York City, where he lives at a YMCA and works as a night janitor. Will suffers from a "nervous condition," which causes him to experience fits of déjà vu and amnesiac fugues.
Early in the story, Will meets the Vaughts, a Southern family temporarily living in New York City so that their son, Jamie, can receive medical treatment there. Mr. Vaught invites Will to return to the South with his family and serve as Jamie's caretaker. The novel focuses on the relationship between Will and the Vaughts, and on Will's continuing search for his own identity.
Walker Percy followed the story of The Last Gentleman in The Second Coming.