J'ai ete ebloui par la lecture de l'Eloge des femmes mures, mqis le recueil d'essais de Vizinczey m'a emerveille davantage. J'y ai trouve une definition de la litterature des plus judicieuses. "Il y a fondamentalement deux sortes de litterature. L'une vous aide a comprendre, l'autre vous aide a oublier; la premiere vous aide a devenir une personne et un citoyen libre, l'autre aide les gens a vous manipuler. L'une s'apparente a l'astronomie, l'autre a l'astrologie." Quelqu'un l'avait-il jamais mieux exprimé? La critique brillante et sauvage de nos coqueluches litteraires m'a fait bien rire. L'auteur sait evoquer la joie unique que l'on ressent a la lecture d'un bon livre. C'est difficile de croire aue l'auteur est etranger. Je n'avais pas lu Stendhal depuis le lycee et l'essai de Vizinczey m'a fait realise combien j'avais manqué! J'ai recommence la lecture de le Rouge et le Noir et c'est bien plus drole que cela ne l'etait a 16 ans.

Vizinczey's passionate essays remind us of why we read literature. His articulate enthusiasm for great writers will inspire and invigorate you- and it will also surely make you seek out the best in literature (which, of course, includes Vizinczey's own two novels)

We hear nowadays numerous comments on the fate of reading in our schools and universities. The ubiquity of digital technology, the lack of silence, concentration, and solitude, and the substitution of books by videos and compact disks are considered by some critics as the main reasons for the gradual decline in the habit of reading.

In addition, the various programs of study often fail to awaken in the students a genuine and lasting interest in serious texts. Notwithstanding the claims of some academics, it is not the pedantic literary scholarship that makes them turn to the great novels. They come to appreciate masterpieces thanks to the repeated invitations delivered to them in lively lectures and absorbing essays. Students need enthusiastic and intelligent teachers and writers who are able to show that novels, plays and poems are sources of inspiration and wisdom and, above all, contain answers to their most disquieting questions.

Stephen Vizinczey is one of these writers. His Truth and Lies in Literature is not only a collection of beautifully written essays and incisive reviews but also a strong contender for the best introduction to literature that I have ever read. I would recommend this book to all my students. I am convinced that it would stimulate many of them to become passionate readers, ones who would "grab" (Vizinczey's verb) any classic that they could lay their hands on.

Leslie Pennington

The Rules Of Chaos, Or Why Tomorrow Doesn't Work is one of those books that is a must read. Vizinczey skillfully takes the reader on the path to a greater understanding of the nature of humanity and the falsehoods we unknowingly embrace. He startles us with, what initially appear to be, contradictory chapter titles such as Power Weakens As It Grows and Only The Defeated Survive. It is then to chuckle at his skillful disection of these incongruities. There are an abundance of refreshing truisms among the pages. There is: "Cultural history suggests that mankind has a greater inclination to close his eyes than open them, to believe comforting lies rather than disconcerting truths." and "Where there is a will there may not always be a way, but if success isn't certain, neither is failure." This book should appeal to the philosopher, the logician, the sociologist and anyone who continually strives towards intellectual enlightenment. Once one picks this book up and starts reading, the cliche of not being able to put it down may very well apply. Buy this book and keep it for a lifetime.

This book is absolutely excellent. It is very clear about anarchy and what is possible with this world. It is for a higher level reader.

This is the author. I think those who like my work may be pleased to learn that the French edition of the novel, which was published a month ago along with my Truth and Lies in Literature, is already in its 3rd printing and has received favourable reviews. The 5 stars is a summary of the review of the French edition of In Praise of Older Women in the 25 May 2001 issue of LE MONDE. Here is a translation of some extracts: "... For eight years, living from hand to mouth, Vizinczey learned to become a writer in a language of exile. At the end of his apprenticeship, he published a masterpiece, In Praise of Older Women... At the price of discouraging some readers who are fond of sexual spectacles and amorous gymnastics, it has to be said that the novel, far from being about fantasies and neuroses, seeks, like all great novels, to teach those who read it the truth about life. It is a novel of apprenticeship which would be a good thing to offer to young people of both sexes as soon as they approach the enchanted and agonizing shores of sexuality... ... Faced with the youth cult and the barriers between age-classes which bear down on modern societies, where each generation seems to belong to a different period of history, Vajda-Vizinczey "having been lucky enough to grow up in what was still an integrated society", wishes to help to bring about a better understanding of "the truth that men and women have a great deal in common even if they were born years apart". Vajda begins from a simple observation: when adolescent boys and girls, knowing nothing about life and the other sex, want to begin lovemaking, they do it so clumsily, with so many fears, anxieties, preconceived notions and models furnished by bad books that what ought to be a pleasure turns into a struggle. And often for a whole lifetime. After several catastrophic experiences with teenage girls, Vajda, who refuses to look on women as his enemies, decides to rid himself of his sexual illiteracy by learning from those who know: older women. In his peregrinations he not only discovers simple and cheerful enjoyment, sexuality without anguish, free of guilt, sin and acrobatics, he learns the warmth, tenderness, delicacy and complexity of human relations - the voice of the other - the wearing away of time, understanding, habit and how to get around it - the errors, the shames, the joys... The irony, the lightness, the profundity, the naturalness and exactitude of the novelist are found again intact in the texts of the critic... András Vajda reads women the way that Vizinczey makes love with books: with the same desire to understand through pleasure, the same opening up of the mind and the heart, the same freedom, the same lucidity and passion for truth and beauty. You would lose something if you read only one of these books without the other... Vizinczey's intelligence is so bracing, so contagious, that reading his books plunges you into a bath of joy for at least a week."

Like most classic novels, "In Praise of Older Women" is a simple and wise book. I consider my life meaningfully enriched by having read it. (And how many books can you say that about?) I can understand why the author (to whom I give my thanks) pursued the dubious expedient of personally promoting it here. It cries to be read! But I fear that its European sanity with regards to the eternal dance between men and women will always be a foreign tongue to American readers, saddled as we are with the sexual neuroses of our Purtian founders. What Vizinczey has learned about women, and which he has graciously shared with us, is not feminist and it is not politically correct. It is simply true. People who value doctrinal conformity over thoughtful perception had better stick to Oprah-approved novels instead. Those seeking to understand our human nature a little better before it is lost to the grave are well-advised to start here.

I have just read In Praise of Older Women for the second time. Many reviewers have drawn attention to the wisdom contained in this little book, which slyly presents itself as a breviary for young men without lovers. I am reluctant to insist on its status as "an erotic classic," for fear that to do so would confine it to a very narrow context. Indeed, the erotic scenes do not constitute the heart and soul of the story, nor do they even take up very much room. Rather, the book brings some very subtle psychological observations to bear on human relationships. Note, for example, the analysis of the "rapport des forces" between the older women and the younger hero. Zsuzsa, a "small, colourless woman," struggles to overcome her pride. Her coyness turns to compliance only when Vajda snaps at her, showing his passion (one recalls a scene in The Red and the Black: playing for somewhat higher stakes that Vajda, Julien tears a sword from the wall, imprudently displaying his passion before Mathilde, who briefly sees that he loves her). Other women aim stinging remarks at the young man only to succumb to his advances; or else they are guarded and surly the morning after, suspicious (and, in many case, rightly so) of the young Don Juan's motives. In another case, it is Vajda who is prideful. In his efforts to keep up with an energetic violinist whose relentless athletic pursuits and strange sleeping habits he takes as a challenge, the poor Casanova wears himself down to the bone. Vajda also writes of the anonymous onanists, versions of Dostoevsky's "underground man," who keep to themselves and satiate their erotic cravings in solitude. These misanthropes belong to the category of men who have not opened themselves up to women, who want to seduce and dominate the opposite sex, unlike Vajda, who looks on women as "accomplices." The book is a very strong and subtle critique of pride. When I think back on its contents, I remember not only the pleasant watercolors of Hungary and Rome, the descriptions of bodies and faces, and the maxims worthy of La Rochefoucauld ("Whatever is sanctioned by society as a principal good also becomes a moral imperative"), but also the wry humor that examines human interaction with sympathy and insight. While desire plays a large role in the recollections of the hero, the extent to which the author soars above his past is quite remarkable. To be invited to partake of his calm gaze is a pleasure worth repeating. One can read this book again without tiring of it.

The book was very well received in France. "Un bain de bonheur" was how one reviewer described it. How to account for its popularity in Europe (the book has been a best-seller in Spain and elsewhere I believe)? It is true that eroticism has been raised to the level of a value in France, which deploys its Catholic moeurs like scud missiles against a monolithic (and not wholly imaginary) American puritanism. Ideology aside, the fact remains that France knows how to appreciate good literature.

I see that the author himself has posted a review translated from the French. Good for him. America should know about the European point of view.

In difficult times we like to turn to books, especially to novels. But it would be a mistake to think that only light and syrupy stories bring us relief. On the contrary, we need the company of authors who, thanks to their perceptiveness and creative vigor, describe the world as it is, without false embellishment. We sense that these writers are able to face the worst of all possible worlds because they keep alive in themselves the promise of peace and goodness. For this reason we are moved by their vision.

Vizinczey's Innocent Millionaire brings us such a subtle solace. The novel is an enthralling roller-coaster of fortunes and passions, full of striking dialogues. It even manages to say something new about the birth of love. Marianne, the heroine of an ultimately tragic love affair, is one of the most lovable woman I have ever encountered in fiction, surpassing even the desirable and generous ladies of the author's previous masterpiece In Praise of Older Women. But this is a very different novel. Here the author weaves a tragic love relationship into the story of a fraud, showing how small and ridiculous are all those stupid and greedy people who make our life miserable or dull. If you are satisfied with the world as it is and approve its values, you will scorn this book. But for the dissatisfied reader, it is a rare treat and a unique source of comfort.

Every once in a great while- if you are lucky- you enounter a book or a writer so special that you cannot help but buttonhole everyone you meet in an effort to share the good news with them. Thanks to the miracles of cyberspace, I can now buttonhole strangers all over the world and let them know via this forum what a wonderful writer Stephen Vizinczey is and how I feel it has enriched my life. An Innocent Millionaire is not just Vizinzcey's best novel it is, at least in my opinion, the greatest novel of the 20th century. I re- read it regularly and find new depths of meaning and insight in it each time. Also, like a missionary, I do my best to get others to read it as well. In the little over four years since I discovered the novel myself, I have bought at least one additional copy of the book every month to pass along to someone I feel would appreciate it. Again, like a missionary, I cannot claim to have had a 100% success rate. But I have found no one who merely "likes" the book; the ones who enjoy itlove it passionately and, as I, begin anxiously seeking out Vizinczey's other works. The novel certainly had that sort of almost intoxicating effect on me; after I first finished AIM I became desperate to get a copy of Truth and Lies in Literature. In those pre- Amazon days, my local distributor couldn't get a copy and jokingly suggested I try driving to the University of Chicago and try my luck there. With only the slightest hesitation, I did in fact make that five hour drive for that book and never regretted it. Vizinczey's work is so special and so mentally invigorating that it is easily worth such effort. Though Iunhesitatingly call, An Innocent Millionaire Vizinczey's greatest work, Truth and Lies in Literature is another favorite of mine. It is a collection of marvelous essays about literature.What a feast! . And, at the time in my life when I read this book, I desparately needed such an injection of passion. I was an undergraduate literature major . And, at the time in my life when I read this book, I desparately needed such an injection of passion. I was an undergraduate literature major and my teachers were doing an outstanding job only of sucking all the pleasure out of every book we read- making me forget why literature had ever mattered to me. But his essays helped refresh my memory- and it is another title I regularly re read. I really do not know how to say this but I truly feel as if I have learned quite a bit about the world from Vizinczey'swork and for that I shall always be profoundly grateful.

On the advice of a good bookseller, of the kind that has now practically disappeared, I read An Innocent Millionaire quite some time ago. Through that novel I discovered Stephen Vizinczey. The quality of the book inevitably led me to read all his other work, including his essays, which are models of clairvoyance.

I acquired the habit of reading some decades ago, and that habit not only taught me to distinguish the good literature from the bad, but also to appreciate it as a source of knowledge, rather than only of entertainment.

The novel that I am referring to is a veritable fountain of knowledge. It is ideal for those who do not know the USA (or the world), and even more so for those Americans who wish to comprehend their country. Although the future of a work of art is not predictable, this may well be one of those novels that, in a hundred years, will be read to learn of a culture and of a civilization.

But I am not writing these lines to praise An Innocent Millionaire. Its caliber has already been recognized by people such as Graham Greene and Anthony Burgess. And the critics have unanimously (or almost) rated it as one of the books of the century.

I am writing to identify a significant error that I have found in some critiques. In many of these, the book has been categorized as an "adventure novel." Due to the current understanding of the meaning of the word "adventure" this is totally misleading.

The first (and perhaps the best ever) adventure novel from the Western Hemisphere, from which all subsequent novels originated, was Adventures of the Ingenious Knight Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605), by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. The fact is that the word "adventure", from Latin adventurus or advenire, simply meant 'things about to happen'. Today, unfortunately, it is associated with the leaps and bounds of James Bond or Indiana Jones.

I do not believe that there is a single novel (including those written in the past tense) in which there are not 'things about to happen'. Even the epic poems of Homer could be considered adventure novels. Especially The Odyssey, a work that was transformed, in the cinematographic version with Kirk Douglas, into what is today considered an "adventure".

I condemn those critiques that lightly pigeonhole works of art. An Innocent Millionaire is a book full of ideas and concepts, with brilliant dialogues that are not only meant to sustain actions. Perhaps this is the reason that MGM is taking so long to make the film. If the novel is not well understood, there is a distinct risk of transforming a contemporary epic poem written in prose (I prefer this classification for An Innocent Millionaire), into a banal adventure.

Pablo Urbanyi

As a Hungarian I may tell you this one is not a classic. It's an under-the-average story of an over-estimated writer. If you want to know the Hungarians read the history of Hungary. I think then you'll understand everything about my country. Or come to Hungary and see how we are. You may find us a bit pessimistic but we love to laugh. We are not that sad !!

I love Moricz`s style, and the way he captures the fragility of our existence. A great book.

I don't see how one of the previous reviewers could complain about the main character of this novel being weak and naive...after all he is a small child! This book is one of the finest depictions of of child's coming of age that I have ever read. The book should not be taken as indicative of Hungarian mentality, but it does reflect the tragic tone of the Hungarian society at the time the book was written: just after World War One. The writer projects these feelings back into an autobiographical child's world of 1889. If you can't understand this book, then you must have forgotten what is was like to be a child: confused by the behavior of adults, often scared, and undoubtedly impressed by your own potential to grow. Another good book by this author, translated into English is "Relations", published by Corvina.