MRS. WALLOP

by Peter DeVries ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 12, 1970

Biff, bang, bash, take that and that. . . and Mrs. Wallop, representing in full panoply recent fiction's Maligned Mothers towers in Supreme Revenge in a very funny--if extravagantly garrulous--barbed novel. The first driven stake aimed at the heart of Mrs. Wallop, nurse and sometime landlady in the town of Appleton, is the product of Appleton's current favorite son, novelist Randy Rivers. For there she is fixed in print as Mrs. Lusk the landlady; ""In short, nothing alien was human to Mrs. Lusk."" Never mind that, as it turned out, Randy was really writing about his mother. Before that revelation comes forth, Mrs. Wallop has reduced Randy to a mewling retainer, and she is triumphantly dealing with son Osgood who had written his Mother Book. (""I had little doubt as I skimmed through this little valentine. . . that the title character would be another ball breaker I believe they call them."") And on to New York, where Osgood is snared, trussed up and delivered to an admirable future wife who together with Mrs. Wallop ""would make a man of him yet."" Throughout Mrs. Wallop flies high--purchasing and coaching her son's way through a movie based on his work; saving a lifeguard from drowning but almost sinking in her Slim-O-Marie belt; jogging on golf courses, etc. After all, ""the important thing is to put ourselves in other peoples' shoes, get inside their skin."" And as Osgood's stow (presented here in hilarious totality) would indicate--she burrows in for keeps. DeVries in top form.

Pub Date: Oct. 12, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1970

Categories: FICTION