Two sharp novellas that vividly complement each other.
Adult boys become adult men in Meyers' first book of two short novels.
At face value, Episcopalian Father Stackpole and Gary, an art history professor, have little in common. In The Man Who Owned New York, which takes place in the early 1900s, Stackpole works for All Angels church, a congregation that invests, builds and prospers—all thanks to owning a big chunk of New York City real estate. When a Kansas farmer calls the church’s land ownership fraudulent, Stackpole is forced to reconcile his own beliefs in the separation of church and bank with the practices of his congregation, while simultaneously vying for the favor of the claimant’s beautiful daughter. In Springtime in Siena, a study trip in Italy is revealed to be a sex-cation, with Gary taking his part in seducing students and townspeople. On this trip, Gary, in his late 20s, finds himself attracted to a woman for the first time, and he confronts his growing interest in the opposite gender. The two novellas are similar and different at the same time. Both are written as memoirs and focus on the transition from frantic adulthood into genuine maturity. Both men are involved in intense relationships for their respective times. Stackpole’s actions are cautiously prescribed per the rules of 1900s courting but include stealing kisses and secret dates. Gary’s boldness reflects a free-love era that seeped into the ’70s. Each story has a dramatically different writing style that plays into the contrast. Stackpole’s story is told with antiquated language, which can feel contrived at times, even as the author fixes Stackpole firmly in time by using flowing sentence structures common in bygone novels, where women are ladies and anger comes off as a devastating betrayal. On the other hand, Michael lives among brusquely described encounters and desires, where sex is a four-letter word and mechanical detail in the bedroom is a matter of course. By expertly separating these stories using substance and style, the author presents two distinct American men in two distinct eras—evidence that the tumultuous transition into adulthood transcends time.
Two sharp novellas that vividly complement each other.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1621418597
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Booklocker.com, Inc.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Suspenseful, full of incident, and not obviously necessary.
Atwood goes back to Gilead.
The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), consistently regarded as a masterpiece of 20th-century literature, has gained new attention in recent years with the success of the Hulu series as well as fresh appreciation from readers who feel like this story has new relevance in America’s current political climate. Atwood herself has spoken about how news headlines have made her dystopian fiction seem eerily plausible, and it’s not difficult to imagine her wanting to revisit Gilead as the TV show has sped past where her narrative ended. Like the novel that preceded it, this sequel is presented as found documents—first-person accounts of life inside a misogynistic theocracy from three informants. There is Agnes Jemima, a girl who rejects the marriage her family arranges for her but still has faith in God and Gilead. There’s Daisy, who learns on her 16th birthday that her whole life has been a lie. And there's Aunt Lydia, the woman responsible for turning women into Handmaids. This approach gives readers insight into different aspects of life inside and outside Gilead, but it also leads to a book that sometimes feels overstuffed. The Handmaid’s Tale combined exquisite lyricism with a powerful sense of urgency, as if a thoughtful, perceptive woman was racing against time to give witness to her experience. That narrator hinted at more than she said; Atwood seemed to trust readers to fill in the gaps. This dynamic created an atmosphere of intimacy. However curious we might be about Gilead and the resistance operating outside that country, what we learn here is that what Atwood left unsaid in the first novel generated more horror and outrage than explicit detail can. And the more we get to know Agnes, Daisy, and Aunt Lydia, the less convincing they become. It’s hard, of course, to compete with a beloved classic, so maybe the best way to read this new book is to forget about The Handmaid’s Tale and enjoy it as an artful feminist thriller.
Suspenseful, full of incident, and not obviously necessary.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-385-54378-1
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Uneven but fitfully amusing.
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding.
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she's determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat’s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe's suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: “No. You definitely can’t kill yourself. This is my wedding week.” After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe's marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe's preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable—if overstuffed—comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There’s some fun to be had here: The wedding party—including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter—takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don’t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.
Uneven but fitfully amusing.Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250899576
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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