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עיר החטאים
These people live in Cooper Station, U.S.A.
Anthony Cooper, nephew of the owners of Cooper's Mills, who found his summer's amusement in a violent and illicit love affair...
Chris Pappas, the guy from the wrong side of the tracks, who might lose his job for a "mistake" he made in high school...
Doris Palmer,wife of a wealthy manufacturer, who used her money to hide a secret that only the town doctor--and perhaps Chris--knew for a fact...
David Strong, the music teacher, who hated women but couldn't admit--even to himself--the reason why...
Beneath the semmingly calm surface of this smug New England community, their turbulent passions and fears begin to boil, exploding the hypocrisy hidden behind the guise of the respectable Tight White Collar.
Anthony Cooper, nephew of the owners of Cooper's Mills, who found his summer's amusement in a violent and illicit love affair...
Chris Pappas, the guy from the wrong side of the tracks, who might lose his job for a "mistake" he made in high school...
Doris Palmer,wife of a wealthy manufacturer, who used her money to hide a secret that only the town doctor--and perhaps Chris--knew for a fact...
David Strong, the music teacher, who hated women but couldn't admit--even to himself--the reason why...
Beneath the semmingly calm surface of this smug New England community, their turbulent passions and fears begin to boil, exploding the hypocrisy hidden behind the guise of the respectable Tight White Collar.
- GenresFiction
243 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1960
10 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
About the author
Grace Metalious
18books92followersGrace Metalious was an American author, best known for the controversial novel Peyton Place.
She was born into poverty and a broken home as Marie Grace de Repentigny in the mill town of Manchester, New Hampshire. Blessed with the gift of imagination, she was driven to write from an early age. After graduating from Manchester High School Central, she married George Metalious in 1943, became a housewife and mother, lived in near squalor � and continued to write.
With one child, the couple moved to Durham, New Hampshire, where George attended the University of New Hampshire. In Durham, Grace Metalious began writing seriously, neglecting her house and her three children. When George graduated, he took a position as principal at a school in Gilmanton, New Hampshire.
At the age of 30, she began work in the fall of 1954 on a manuscript with the working title The Tree and the Blossom. By the spring of 1955, she had finished a first draft. However, she and her husband regarded The Tree and the Blossom as an unwieldy title and decided to give the town a name which could be the book's title. They first considered Potter Place (the name of a real community near Andover, New Hampshire). Realizing their town should have a fictional name, they looked through an atlas and found Payton (the name of a real town in Texas). They combined this with Place and changed the "a" to an "e". Thus, Peyton Place was born.
Metalious � the "Pandora in bluejeans" � was said by some to be a dreadful writer and a purveyor of filth, but her most famous book changed the publishing industry forever. With regard to her success, she said, "If I'm a lousy writer, then an awful lot of people have lousy taste," and as to the frankness of her work, she stated, "Even Tom Sawyer had a girlfriend, and to talk about adults without talking about their sex drives is like talking about a window without glass."
Her other novels, all of which sold well but never achieved the same success as her first, were Return to Peyton Place (1959), The Tight White Collar (1961) and No Adam in Eden (1963).
Metalious died of alcoholism on February 25, 1964. "If I had to do it over again," she once remarked, "it would be easier to be poor. Before I was successful, I was as happy as anyone gets." She is buried in Smith Meeting House Cemetery in Gilmanton, New Hampshire.
She was born into poverty and a broken home as Marie Grace de Repentigny in the mill town of Manchester, New Hampshire. Blessed with the gift of imagination, she was driven to write from an early age. After graduating from Manchester High School Central, she married George Metalious in 1943, became a housewife and mother, lived in near squalor � and continued to write.
With one child, the couple moved to Durham, New Hampshire, where George attended the University of New Hampshire. In Durham, Grace Metalious began writing seriously, neglecting her house and her three children. When George graduated, he took a position as principal at a school in Gilmanton, New Hampshire.
At the age of 30, she began work in the fall of 1954 on a manuscript with the working title The Tree and the Blossom. By the spring of 1955, she had finished a first draft. However, she and her husband regarded The Tree and the Blossom as an unwieldy title and decided to give the town a name which could be the book's title. They first considered Potter Place (the name of a real community near Andover, New Hampshire). Realizing their town should have a fictional name, they looked through an atlas and found Payton (the name of a real town in Texas). They combined this with Place and changed the "a" to an "e". Thus, Peyton Place was born.
Metalious � the "Pandora in bluejeans" � was said by some to be a dreadful writer and a purveyor of filth, but her most famous book changed the publishing industry forever. With regard to her success, she said, "If I'm a lousy writer, then an awful lot of people have lousy taste," and as to the frankness of her work, she stated, "Even Tom Sawyer had a girlfriend, and to talk about adults without talking about their sex drives is like talking about a window without glass."
Her other novels, all of which sold well but never achieved the same success as her first, were Return to Peyton Place (1959), The Tight White Collar (1961) and No Adam in Eden (1963).
Metalious died of alcoholism on February 25, 1964. "If I had to do it over again," she once remarked, "it would be easier to be poor. Before I was successful, I was as happy as anyone gets." She is buried in Smith Meeting House Cemetery in Gilmanton, New Hampshire.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 27, 2015
Everybody has a past and certain things about their past they's rather be kept quiet. Take this concept to the next level, and you have this book.
Having come from a small New England town myself and having grown up in the 60s, I can say that the attitudes the author describes are not far from reality.
Some readers may be offended by her treatment of homosexuality and Down Syndrome ("Mongoloidism" here), but one has to consider that the book was published in 1960. Back then, the attitudes toward both were all too often like those expressed by the characters in the story. I actually knew a family who institutionalized their two "Mongoloid" children with the support and encouragement of friends and relatives. It was almost expected in 1960 small-town New England.
If Metalious was trying to make a statement about the bigoted, small-minded, provincial people of the time, she succeeded.
I could have done with a bit less description of the weather n the beginning. Additionally, the way she wove in backstory is not as polished as it could have been.
Having come from a small New England town myself and having grown up in the 60s, I can say that the attitudes the author describes are not far from reality.
Some readers may be offended by her treatment of homosexuality and Down Syndrome ("Mongoloidism" here), but one has to consider that the book was published in 1960. Back then, the attitudes toward both were all too often like those expressed by the characters in the story. I actually knew a family who institutionalized their two "Mongoloid" children with the support and encouragement of friends and relatives. It was almost expected in 1960 small-town New England.
If Metalious was trying to make a statement about the bigoted, small-minded, provincial people of the time, she succeeded.
I could have done with a bit less description of the weather n the beginning. Additionally, the way she wove in backstory is not as polished as it could have been.
July 7, 2014
I'm reading all the books by Grace Metalious since she was a native of Manchester, New Hampshire. This is not quite as good as Peyton Place or Return to Peyton Place, but it is better than, No Adam in Eden, which I haven't finished yet. The usual cast of characters and situations that were ahead of their time. At one point I started thinking that the town reaction was too stereotypical. Then I read a passage from a letter the older town doctor wrote to his son the newer town doctor: "Please be good to them, Jess. Everything that has been said of them is true, in part. They are sometimes narrow, vicious, cruel and very small-town indeed, but they are also loyal and once in a great while they will surprise you with their greatness and their nobility." That sums up small town life.
May 14, 2024
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Grace Metalious is the author best known for Peyton Place (one of the best-selling books in publishing history) and Return to Peyton Place. Her third novel, The Tight White Collar, is filled with the passions and prejudices of another small New England town, Coopers Station. It's as racy as promised, bursting with smug hypocrisy, but also timeless and surprisingly well written.
Anthony Cooper returns to the town his grandfather founded, a writer at loose ends. As with each character, we learn about his family history and present struggles. Doris Palmer is the town busybody and prude with the present petition to town council to keep Christopher Pappas from teaching in the school - for fear his wife Lisa has found out about her own sordid past. These are a few of a myriad of characters in the town - everyone has seamy secrets they want to keep quiet, everyone has a secret love - they intersect, have affairs, cover past sins with righteousness, or deal with it in silence. There are several unwed mothers, abandoned children, adulterous pregnancies and abortions. David Strong is the town music teacher who is queer - though he can't face it yet, Margery's daughter is a Mongolian idiot living in a home; storylines that must have been unusual in 1960. I thought it held up today.
Although each character had grandparents, parents and children, she did an impressive job of structure, with one storyline flowing seamlessly into another. Everyone had the right amount of coverage, and no one was disrespected. Metalious does a good job of portraying pettiness and small town bigotry. Perhaps it is too similar to Peyton Place (which I have yet to read) but I found it solid and entertaining. The controversial Peyton Place was published in 1956, Return to Peyton Place in 1959. Metalious published one other book in 1963, No Adam in Eden. She died the next year at age 39 from symptoms of alcoholism.
Grace Metalious is the author best known for Peyton Place (one of the best-selling books in publishing history) and Return to Peyton Place. Her third novel, The Tight White Collar, is filled with the passions and prejudices of another small New England town, Coopers Station. It's as racy as promised, bursting with smug hypocrisy, but also timeless and surprisingly well written.
Anthony Cooper returns to the town his grandfather founded, a writer at loose ends. As with each character, we learn about his family history and present struggles. Doris Palmer is the town busybody and prude with the present petition to town council to keep Christopher Pappas from teaching in the school - for fear his wife Lisa has found out about her own sordid past. These are a few of a myriad of characters in the town - everyone has seamy secrets they want to keep quiet, everyone has a secret love - they intersect, have affairs, cover past sins with righteousness, or deal with it in silence. There are several unwed mothers, abandoned children, adulterous pregnancies and abortions. David Strong is the town music teacher who is queer - though he can't face it yet, Margery's daughter is a Mongolian idiot living in a home; storylines that must have been unusual in 1960. I thought it held up today.
Although each character had grandparents, parents and children, she did an impressive job of structure, with one storyline flowing seamlessly into another. Everyone had the right amount of coverage, and no one was disrespected. Metalious does a good job of portraying pettiness and small town bigotry. Perhaps it is too similar to Peyton Place (which I have yet to read) but I found it solid and entertaining. The controversial Peyton Place was published in 1956, Return to Peyton Place in 1959. Metalious published one other book in 1963, No Adam in Eden. She died the next year at age 39 from symptoms of alcoholism.
August 11, 2022
Re-read.
It was definitely a pleasure to go back to Metalious' forgotten post-Peyton Place works. Whilst No Adam in Eden was a rather vicious, inverted fairy tale, The Tight White Collar is a more subdued continuation of Metalious' sly curtain twitching narration.
I think her writing, although trashy (not a bad thing. Pulp is always pleasurable) and rather shameless in places, is definitely readable and rather nicely illustrates the turmoil which plagues her tormented creations. In this novel we have a slew of characters populating Cooper Station. The wealthy Cooper family, who are failing to thrive, a rival family dynasty (of two), the Palmer clan, who like to lock swords, two idealistic school teachers and their two Desperate Housewives, a kindly, lonely (a common theme in this novel) doctor and an isolated music teacher who feels far from the Madding Crowd.
I enjoyed the unexpected story of Doris Palmer, which was sordid and deliciously bonkbuster before the advent of the genre. The music teacher tale also probably broke new ground, as did Margery Cooper and the well-written description of the mother facing an impossibly difficult decision for her daughter. The book, however, more or less thrives under Lisa Pappas, the wife of one of the two schoolteachers. Knowing how brief, unhappy and messy Metalious' life was, there's a feeling that Pappas was Metalious muse for a happy ending, that she didn't herself.
All in all, an unbalanced but worthy novel full of Metalious' determined writing and vibrant characterisations. I always think the use of beery tears to describe drunks at a funeral is superb. I remembered it several years ago when I first read it and marveled at her jaded ingenuity.
It was definitely a pleasure to go back to Metalious' forgotten post-Peyton Place works. Whilst No Adam in Eden was a rather vicious, inverted fairy tale, The Tight White Collar is a more subdued continuation of Metalious' sly curtain twitching narration.
I think her writing, although trashy (not a bad thing. Pulp is always pleasurable) and rather shameless in places, is definitely readable and rather nicely illustrates the turmoil which plagues her tormented creations. In this novel we have a slew of characters populating Cooper Station. The wealthy Cooper family, who are failing to thrive, a rival family dynasty (of two), the Palmer clan, who like to lock swords, two idealistic school teachers and their two Desperate Housewives, a kindly, lonely (a common theme in this novel) doctor and an isolated music teacher who feels far from the Madding Crowd.
I enjoyed the unexpected story of Doris Palmer, which was sordid and deliciously bonkbuster before the advent of the genre. The music teacher tale also probably broke new ground, as did Margery Cooper and the well-written description of the mother facing an impossibly difficult decision for her daughter. The book, however, more or less thrives under Lisa Pappas, the wife of one of the two schoolteachers. Knowing how brief, unhappy and messy Metalious' life was, there's a feeling that Pappas was Metalious muse for a happy ending, that she didn't herself.
All in all, an unbalanced but worthy novel full of Metalious' determined writing and vibrant characterisations. I always think the use of beery tears to describe drunks at a funeral is superb. I remembered it several years ago when I first read it and marveled at her jaded ingenuity.
February 4, 2022
Este es mi pueblo y esta es mi gente. Te recomiendo que seas bueno con ellos. Cuanto se ha dicho de ellos es en parte verdad. A veces son de criterio estrecho, maliciosos, crueles y pueblerinos, no cabe duda; pero también son leales, y en algún momento singular, aunque no muy a menudo, te vas a quedar sorprendido de su grandeza de alma y de su nobleza.
Aquí un fan de Grace Metalious. Como el resto de sus libros, este también se podría resumir en "Grandes demonios, pueblos pequeños". La historia es, fundamentalmente, la de Cooper's Mill, un pequeño pueblo de Nueva Inglaterra que se ve sacudido por la llegada de los Pappas, Chris y Lisa. Él es el nuevo maestro de la escuela y ella una mujer aburrida de su propio matrimonio.
La presencia de la pareja afecta de manera inesperada la vida de un puñado de locales, incluyendo Nate Cooper, heredero de la familia más rica del pueblo; Anthony, su sobrino bohemio, que rehuye la fortuna familiar; Margaery, belleza sureña con una hija con diversidad funcional; Doris, la metomentodo local de pasado turbio; David, un músico que aun no ha aceptado su homosexualiad; o Jess, el médico local.
Las historias de unos y otros se entrelazan en un folletín de escenas subidas de tono, infidelidades, hipocresía y secretos a punto de ser destapados. La prosa no es ninguna maravilla, con capítulos que se remontan varias generaciones inecesariamente, situaciones al borde de la credibilidad y elipsis en los momentos más inoportunos. Y, sin embargo, hay algo reconocible y reconfortante en "Los hipócritas". Reconocible, las dinámicas pueblerinas de quienes hemos vivido en sitios pequeños. Reconfortante, la familiaridad y aridez de estos mismos lugares.
¿Es una buena novela? Pues yo diría que no. Con los mismos temas y de mejor ejecución es "Peyton Place", de la misma autora. Y, a pesar de ello, tiene algo especial, una cierta alma, un rayo en una botella, que encapsula la nobleza y la bajeza, la sordidez y la esperanza, de la vida en los lugares donde todo el mundo se conoce.
August 10, 2018
Хорошо записанные истории и сплетни из жизни маленького американского города. Истории очень похожие - любовь, секс, почти всегда заканчивающийся рождением детей, брак, измена.
Дело происходит в 50-х годах прошлого века, и некоторые вещи сегодня шокируют. Книгу перевели на иврит сразу после ее выхода на свет на английском, и язык устаревший, очень отличающийся от современного. Видимо по-английски все звучит намного резче.
Вообще, книга со своей атмосферой, своим стилем.
Дело происходит в 50-х годах прошлого века, и некоторые вещи сегодня шокируют. Книгу перевели на иврит сразу после ее выхода на свет на английском, и язык устаревший, очень отличающийся от современного. Видимо по-английски все звучит намного резче.
Вообще, книга со своей атмосферой, своим стилем.
February 21, 2025
One dimensional characterisation. Basically how much they like sex. Poor plot construction: elaborate back stories created for even peripheral characters.
And, no plot to speak of.
I particularly abhorred the way a baby with Downs Syndrome was described as a Mongolian idiot. The authorial voice was all for shutting them away out of sight.
I'm aware it dates from 1964 but it's still disgusting to read.
And, no plot to speak of.
I particularly abhorred the way a baby with Downs Syndrome was described as a Mongolian idiot. The authorial voice was all for shutting them away out of sight.
I'm aware it dates from 1964 but it's still disgusting to read.
April 3, 2021
Definitely not on par with Peyton Place or even Return to Peyton Place. Too many characters, too much awkward info dumping, plus the plot doesn't really seem to go anywhere. This book has been in my collection for a number of years and now it's going to Half Price Books. I was really disappointed in it because I enjoyed Peyton Place.
January 17, 2019
Somewhere amid the detailed back stories for each character there's a novel struggling to get out. The 'town meeting' signaled throughout as the moment of crisis goes off like a damp squib and instead of 'The Harper Valley PTA' revelations we get rather tame and inconsequential reportage.
April 2, 2021
This was actually Grace Metalious’s first book. But published after the success of Peyton Place. It was a good read, I think she did a good job with the description of like in a small college town. There is a New Nivel coming out about her real life. “The Seasons of Grace �
April 16, 2022
Absolutely brilliant! Had never heard of this author. All her characters are so real, having lived in a provincial city and knowing what living in a village is like�
And, despite all the cruelty and vulgarity of some of the characters, the kindness and hope of others make up for a good balance.
And, despite all the cruelty and vulgarity of some of the characters, the kindness and hope of others make up for a good balance.
September 19, 2014
This was, perhaps, the weakest of all of Metalious's works. The characters and stories are disjointed, and setting is not enough to tie them together. I feel as though Metalious was looking at her characters as a series of misfits, and trying to pull them in as many directions as possible until they ended up with a sort of placid happiness. Her constantly deviating style, of introducing secondary, even tertiary characters, and then delving into their backstory results in a muddled mess of a narrative, and by never circling around or tying them all together, I was left wondering why we needed to know about them... pulled out instead of in to the story. This novel feels a bit like Sinclair Lewis, always rewriting the same plots, the same characters only with slightly different names. Metalious writes small-town like no one else, but eventually, it would have been nice to see her spread her wings a little.
April 7, 2014
I hadn't been aware that Grace Metalious had written any novels besides Peyton Place and its sequel, but this is surely proof otherwise. It's yet another account of the hidden side of life in a small New England mill town, as conveyed through a succession of individual backstories, but I quite enjoyed it. Metalious was typecast as a dirty-minded scandalmonger by the social mindset of the 50s, but there's nothing in here for the modern reader to find especially salacious, and it's now simply a decent story with better-than-usual insight into the human condition. I'm looking forward to tackling her final novel (No Adam in Eden) next.
June 3, 2012
Pretty interesting_the title..tried to figure out how it tied into this work.Finally,mentioned half way through book.I was disappointed in the work_guess "Peyton Place" was so good.I think this was a reflection of her own life_the alcoholic part_that consumed her after the fame of PP.Im sure at the time it was published in 1960_it was kind of taboo with the sexual scenes described to the "T".Today_people wouldn't even care.Fast read.
July 3, 2010
This book was such a steamy, dramatic, delicious, scandalous surprise! I am inspired to re-read peyton place!
May 12, 2011
a comment about here
June 4, 2012
It was a print version of a soap opera. I kept waiting for some major event to occur to shake up the town, but it was a series of vignettes woven together without any major catastrophes.
May 25, 2014
Love the small town scandals!!!
September 4, 2014
This was a good book, how ever I do wish the author had done more to make it interesting.
July 20, 2023
L'ipocrisia e il puritanesimo della provincia americana, abilmente svelati dalla scrittrice americana che diventò famosa con il clamoroso successo mondiale de "I peccati di Peyton Place"
March 27, 2017
It took me a long time to read this book, not because it's horrible, but because I was sandwiched between two extremely enervating duties with toxic patients. I read this book because I wanted to read works by popular authors back in the 1950s, and Grace Metalious was among the most popular. It's an interesting novel, but it's not as good as Kings Row, and it's much too disjointed to be any better. As a medical doctor, I loved Jess Cameron's story in particular, especially because he was the only one who sublimated his unrequited love.
Yes, it is still a much better love story than Twilight.
Yes, it is still a much better love story than Twilight.
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