The Moviegoer is a 1961 novel by Walker Percy. It won a National Book Award in 1962.
Time magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.1
The Moviegoer tells the story of Binx Bolling, a young stockbroker in post-war New Orleans. The decline of southern traditions, the problems of his family and his traumatic experiences in the Korean War have left him alienated from his own life. He daydreams constantly, has trouble engaging in lasting relationships, and finds more meaning and immediacy in movies and books than in his own routine life.
The loose plot of the novel follows Binx as he embarks on an undefined "search," wandering around New Orleans, Chicago and the Gulf Coast reflecting philosophically on small episodes and interactions. He is constantly challenged to define himself in relation to friends, family, lovers, and career despite his urge to remain vague and open to possibility.
"What is the nature of the search? you ask. Really it is very simple; at least for a fellow like me. So simple that it is often overlooked. The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life."
The novel is heavily influenced by the existentialist themes of authors like Soren Kierkegaard whom Percy read extensively. Unlike many dark didactic existentialist novels (including Percy's later work), The Moviegoer has a light poetic tone. It was Percy's first, most famous, and most widely praised novel.
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