Being therebyJerzy Kosinski

Being There (1970) is a satire on American popular culture by Jerzy Kosinski. The book follows the career of a simple-minded gardener named Chauncey Gardinier, a man without many defining qualities but  assumes the persona of those he watches on television and whose simple statements about gardening are taken as sage wisdom by the powerful becoming the heir to the throne of a Wall Street tycoon, a presidential policy adviser, and a media tycoon. His simple and straightforward responses to popular concerns were praised as 'visionary', however no one is really sure what he is really saying. Many questions surround his mysterious origins and filling in the blanks in his background proves impossible.

Kosinski would also write the screenplay for the much-praised 1979 movie directed by Hal Ashby, starring Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine. The screenplay was coauthored by the award winning screenwriter Robert C. Jones. The film won the 1981 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Film) Best Screenplay Award, as well as the 1980 Writers Guild of America Award (Screen) for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium. It was also nominated for the 1980 Golden Globes Best Screenplay Award (Motion Picture).

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Product Description
A modern classic now available from Grove Press, Being There is one of the most popular and significant works from a writer of international stature. It is the story of Chauncey Gardiner - Chance, an enigmatic but distinguished man who emerges from nowhere to become an heir to the throne of a Wall Street tycoon, a presidential policy adviser, and a media icon. Truly "a man without qualities," Chance's straightforward responses to popular concerns are heralded as visionary. But though everyone is quoting him, no one is sure what he's really saying. And filling in the blanks in his background proves impossible. Being There is a brilliantly satiric look at the unreality of American media culture that is, if anything, more trenchant now than ever.