The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Other Plays
by MARTIN MCDONAGH
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Paperback (08 September, 1998)
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Reviews (10)

He may not be totally Irish, but he's a sort of genius
I haven't seen McDonagh's stuff, but I have read it, and it is indeed brilliant - even if the brilliance begins to grate after six plays written in the exact same manner. It has to be remembered that he grew up in London, because nobody who grew up in Ireland would write quite this way. In fact, plenty of people in Ireland _do_ be talking this way (it's the continuous present tense, used in some rural areas and amongst the urban working class) - they just don't do it quite as intensely, and as often, as he makes out. I believe it's called Creative Exaggeration. As a young Irish playwright, I'm dead jealous, and I would like to make a law against people calling him the best, funniest, whateverest young playwright in Ireland, because nobody's seen the rest of our work yet - but he's onto something, all right. Now let's see what he does next, because surely he can't write the same play _seven_ times.

Martin McDonagh, King of the Irish Theatre
If you enjoy the wit and humor of Tennessee Williams' true life dramas, then this modern Irish playwright needs to be on your shelves. McDonagh uses realism to create a wonderful picture of unpleasant lives. Just as the drama begins to take shape, he tosses in a twist of tragic humor that takes surprise to a new level. His "Beauty Queen" and "Lonesome West" have both been nominated for several awards, and they both are very deserving nominees.

He's brilliant
Although my only knowledge of MM's work comes from seeing a recent production of "The Lonesome West," I would urge you to see/read his work. The man is brilliant! I haven't been this blown away in a long time.

P.S. - "The Quiet Man," his work ain't. ... Read more

Isbn: 0375704876
Sales Rank: 178967
Subjects:  1. Connemara (Ireland)    2. Drama    3. English Contemporary Drama    4. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    5. Plays    6. Plays / Drama    7. Drama / British & Irish    8. Kapital    9. Marx, Karl   

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
by Edward Albee
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Mass Market Paperback (01 August, 1988)
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Reviews (30)

one of the best modern plays
A play in three acts, a very simple setting, and only four characters who live in a small, university town in America: a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. And a "young and innocent" couple, Nick and Honey. They all meet in a room, in Martha and George's house, very late one night, for a nightcap. And then...all hell breaks lose.

The play tears apart both marriages: the middle aged couple, who seem to hate each other and in the end turn out to be much more devoted to each other as it would seem. The young, seemingly perfect couple, who turn out to have lots of problems of their own. In three heart-breaking scenes, using dialogue that cuts like a knife, Edward Albee has written a masterpiece. He manages to give a clear-cut, honest picture of the reality of marriage, the reality of love, and the fears that go hand in hand with love and intimacy. At some point, in act three, Martha talks about her husband- and it's probably one of the best pieces of literature I've read:

"...George who is out somewhere there in the dark...George who is good to me, and whom I revile; who understands me, and whom I push off; who can make me laugh, and I choke it back in my throat; who can hold me, at night, so that it's warm, and whom I will bite so there's blood; who keeps learning the games we play as quickly as I can change the rules; who can make me happy and I do not wish to be happy, and yes I do wish to be happy, George and Martha: sad, sad, sad."

What more can I say? just read the play, and if you get the chance, watch it performed in the theatre, too.

Witty, sassy, funny!
Brilliantly vitriolic, witty, and sassy, this is one of the most engrossing and readable dramas you are likely to come across. At its most basic level, this play is so simple - just four characters, one room, and all the action taking place in the space of a few hours. But in terms of substance this is a powerfully rich and complex work of genius. The writing cuts like a sharp knife, the characters are exquisitely developed and original, and their chemistry is charged with an undeniable energy.

The characters are at odds with each other throughout the play, and yet it is difficult to takes sides with only one of them. They are all both likeable and dislikeable at the same time. George is a mean-spirited passive-aggressive with a huge chip on his shoulder, but it's impossible not to root for him as he joyfully attacks his wife, Martha, for her fondness of the bottle and various other sins. Nick's demeanor is just a tad holier-than-thou, but it is easily forgivable given the outrageous treatment he is forced to endure throughout the evening. Honey, his wife, is a ditz and a lush, but loveable in the same way as an Irish Setter. Any one of the four could easily carry the show, and together they create a powerful tension that keeps the play moving at a brisk pace.

It is easy to see why Albee's writing has earned him a Pulitzer Prize. What is surprising is that is was another, lesser-known play and not this one that he won it for.

Good read, not so great to watch
I really enjoyed reading the play, the character development, the natural language and conversation, the contrast between the two couples as if shifts from beginning to end. However, I did not enjoy watching the play. Maybe it is because I don't enjoy conflict to begin with, but listening to screaming and angry conversation for three hours was so unpleasant that I wasn't even able to enjoy the aforementioned attributes of the play. Too tense, and I don't know...too much like listening to parents before they get divorced? ... Read more

Isbn: 0451158717
Sales Rank: 13024
Subjects:  1. American    2. Drama    3. Plays    4. Plays / Drama   

Blithe Spirit, Hay Fever, Private Lives : Three Plays
by NOEL COWARD
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Paperback (26 January, 1999)
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Three Brilliants By The Great English Wit
Noel Coward's talent for spinning gossamer plots into rapier-sharp comedy assures his reputation in theatre, and his comedies have such timeless appeal that they remain staples of both English and American theatre. This volume collects three of his most memorable scripts: the fantasy BLITHE SPIRIT, the farce HAY FEVER, and the razor-wicked PRIVATE LIVES.

Of the three, BLITHE SPIRIT and PRIVATE LIVES are best known to the general public through various film versions and frequent revivals. BLITHE SPIRIT concerns a novelist who invites a medium to give a seance that he might learn tricks of the trade for the book he is writing--but the medium is no fake, and she unintentionally summons up the ghost of his first wife, who promptly moves in and makes his second wife's life a living hell. PRIVATE LIVES offers the story of a divorced couple who unexpectedly meet while honeymooning with their new spouses--whom they quickly abandon in order to resume their torrid passion for each other. Trouble is, although they love each other desperately, their personalities are about as compatible as two scorpions in a bottle. HAY FEVER, one of Coward's earliest successes, presents the story of visitors to an eccentric family who are very nearly driven mad before they are able to escape.

Coward was reknowned for his sophistocated and often acid turn of phrase, and all three of these plays contain enough outrageous situations and sharp-tongued lines to make even the worst sourpuss laugh loud enough to annoy the neighbors. Although those unused to reading playscripts may find HAY FEVER a bit hard to grasp, both BLITHE SPIRIT and PRIVATE LIVES read extremely, extremely well--so much so that you're likely to find yourself acting them out as you read! Wonderful fun, and strongly, strongly recommended.

Impressive
I recieved my summer reading list for Honors English a few weeks ago, and under the section that held a list of three play titles to choose from, I came across Blithe Spirit. Having never heard of Noel Coward, or anything of the other two plays in this book (Hay Fever, and Private Lives) I decided to give the book a chance and I am pleased that I did. I am not a huge fan of reading plays, but after I read Blithe Spirit, I felt that I just had to keep going and read the other two. After reading this book, it is now very obvious to me that Noel Coward was a man with extreme talent, and an awful witty sense of humor. While reading these plays you come across some really interesting situations, and characters, and I guarentee that you will be smiling throughout the whole thing.

The only serious challenge to Feydeau in English
Noel Coward's _Hay Fever_, Evelyn Waugh's _Handful of Dust_, and Kingsley Amis's _Lucky Jim_ are, for my money, the three funniest things written in English in the 20th century. I was a drama critic for nearly 12 years, saw hundreds of productions of all kinds from coast to coast in the US and a few in London, and never laughed harder or enjoyed myself more than at a regional US production of "Hay Fever" in the late 1970's. Do it again! Do it again! ... Read more

Isbn: 067978179X
Sales Rank: 92212
Subjects:  1. 20th Century English Drama    2. Drama    3. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    4. Plays    5. Plays / Drama    6. Drama / General   

Micro Fiction: An Anthology of Really Short Stories
by Jerome Stern
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Paperback (01 August, 1996)
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Reviews (5)

Maximus Minimus
There is something peculiarly strange and enticing about a 250 word or less short story, which is what Micro-Fiction is all about. Nietzsche said, "It is my ambition to say in ten sentences; what others say in a whole book." and this pocket-sized book quite nearly delivers on that idea. With the several great stories compiled here, amongst the run of the mill good ones and not so good, one obtains the euphoria of having read a novel but in several short minutes. That's the novelty as well as the sticking point that makes it worthwhile. Through a stilting of character build-up and plot formation the reader is treated to and surfeited with a story-line and climax without the usual bombast and self-serving rhetoric which encompasses many novels. I'm a great believer in the economy of words and saving the reader unnecessary heavy eye-work on tedious detail and this fits the bill.

Although some of the fictions are amorphic and seemingly without any structure, they seem to be the most enticing, at least to me. But the majority present a story-line, often novel, which are to the point and leave the reader with a stamped impression and miles of possibility for examining what led what to where and why and how. In the back cover synopsis the reader is asked to ponder, "How short can a Micro be,..." and then challenges them to find out, "Look up Amy Hempel's contribution(which there are two), and you'll see." And see you will:

Hostess

She swallowed Gore Vidal. Then she swallowed Donald Trump. She took a blue capsule and a gold spansule--a B-complex and an E--and put them on the tablecloth a few inches apart. She pointed the one at the other. "Martha Stewart," she said, "meet Oprah Winfrey."

She swallowed them both without water.

--Amy Hempel

Of the several series of minimalist fiction in print (Sudden Fiction, Flash Fiction, etc.) I found this volume the most satisfying as well as the one I came back to the most. In fact when I was done reading it through the first time I did several internet searches to see if I could uncover more similar works. Sadly, with the passing of the editor and brainchild behind the collection back in 1996, the sub-genre has seemingly been left behind. Let's hope there is a revival and a subsequent significant publication(s) to follow.

Micro Fiction is Macro Fun
Micro fiction is a great collection of compositional muscle flexing. Some wonderful, some horrible, each one of the story-lets contained within this book is enjoyable to read, if only for the experiment. It is as though the collection of authors is trying to "even the score" with the Picture, by seeing how few words it really has to take to impart deep meaning. It may even encourage your own attempt at concise writing. This book is great fun, easy to put in your bag and short enough per segment that you don't mind people interrupting your concentration on a crowded train. Watch out, though: it's over quickly.

Good introduction - mixed collection
Stern provides an introduction relating short-shorts and micro-shorts to teaching tales, fables, jokes and similar short tales with ancient roots both in literary and oral cultures. In doing so, he takes the short-short out of "current fads" and puts it into legitimate literature.

His collection is based on a limit originally of 250 words, raised to 300 - micros not just short-shorts. The collection gleaned from contests is a very mixed bag - some tales are memorable, some interesting and forgetable, a handful you wonder how they made the cut. These fall into the normal percentages that an anthology normally presents.

Memorable tales: The Poet's Husband by Mollie Giles - a wry look at listening to your spouse's confessional poetry. The Halo by Michael McFee - the difficulties (and solutions) to raising Jesus. Worry by Ron Wallace - observations on worry as a dominate family member. Painted Devils by Fred Chappell - a friendship in trench and safety.

A few of the tales strike be as character sketches not narratives; a few seem to have been squished and mangled into a contest form rather than allow the tale to dictate its form. But given all that, this is a pleasant introduction to the smallest of the small. ... Read more

Isbn: 0393314324
Sales Rank: 179616
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Short Stories (Anthologies)    4. Short stories    5. Novels, other prose & writers   

Civilwarland in Bad Decline: Stories and a Novella
by George Saunders
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Paperback (01 February, 1997)
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Editorial Review

George Saunders, a geophysicist, maps out magical realism with this short story collection. He puts an American spin on that sensibility in the sensationally good title tale, where things in a "Westworld"-like amusement park go extraordinarily wrong, but in ways in that make perfect sense to any denizen--or reader--in the modern world. CivilWarLand is hilarious, yet ultimately sad and moving--and isn't that life in a nutshell? And how can you resist any writer who cooks up titles as good as "Downtrodden Mary's Failed Campaign of Terror"? ... Read more

Reviews (32)

A Promising and Fulfilling Debut
I think the reviewer (The NY Times, was it?) who described Saunders as the illegitimate offspring of Nathaniel West and Kurt Vonnegut, as much as I usually hate such analogies, hit the proverbial nail right on the head. Saunders' endearing sense of humor seems to me to be a cross of those two literary giants'. However, there is nothing derivative or hackneyed about this collection at all. In fact, I think he is the most original and interesting of literature's new voices. Though many of the stories share much in common, the collection is, as a whole, diverse and extremely enjoyable. Maybe even cathartic? I found "Civilwarland in Bad Decline" to be one of the most enjoyable collections I've read in years and I'd recommend it to anyone searching for something new from the world of literature.

Enjoyably bizarre and very humorous
George Saunders is an excellent new writer in the vein of Denis Johnson ... he is funnier than Johnson, and not quite as wordy in my opinion. That being said, if you like Johnson, you'll like Saunders.

The title story is probably the best in this collection, though I think the "400 Pound CEO" is a close second. Both of these stories have a cruel sense of irony, likeable characters who can't seem to get much right, and a wicked ending. There is a pattern to Saunders' work, but I've never found it monotonous because of the variety of events and turns of plot.

If you're interested in very different fiction, then pick up this slim volume. Be prepared to laugh and be prepared to be more than a little disturbed.

Great ideas but poor narration
George Saunders'prose rolls of the page slick and swiftly. Every one of these stories contains a fantastic and highly original Idea and mixes near future sci fi with elements of magic realism as each main protaganist confronts an existential problem in an insane world. So why not five stars? Nabokov said that a great storyteller should be an 'enchanter'and who could disagree? Saunders' plots work, I found myself able to suspend disbelief and the humour made me laugh often, these pieces are very inventive and insightful into the American Condition. Unfortunately for me, they were not very involving. The problem lies with his style of narration, I found that his lack of description and slow moments had me turning the pages fast, but upon finishing these stories I was left amused yet uncaring and feeling as though I had not been engrossed or 'taken in' - not enchanted. The reason for this is as I have mentioned, that these stroies are all action akin to the novels of Chuck Palahniuk, they keep you turning the pages so fast but overall, the resrained and unelaborate senences lack mood and atmosphere, I found it hard to fully put myself in the shoes and minds of the characters and imagine what the characters were going through. The world they inhabited was only ever partly convincing. Another gripe is that when stripped to the core, they are all essentially the same character facing the same problem. I'm English and the problem may be that this clipped, terse and minimalist style of prose has not, thankfully, caught on over here. Less is not allways more - try some of the shorter works by writers such as Will Self, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Poe, Maupassant, Peter Carey, Ballard - to name but a few - and see what I mean. ... Read more

Isbn: 1573225797
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Science Fiction    3. Popular American Fiction    4. Science Fiction - General    5. Short stories   

Pastoralia: Stories
by George Saunders
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Paperback (12 June, 2001)
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Very unsatisfying
I was very close to giving this book only 2 stars because of the overall feeling I got, but actually I enjoyed "Winky" and "The Falls" a bit. The rest, however, lack something significant that Saunders *did* have is his last collection, "Civilwarland in Bad Decline".

In his last collection, the characters were pitiful, unlucky, or otherwise sad. Yet there was a sense, by the end of each story, that somehow that didn't matter, somehow there was something beautiful and redeeming to be found. "Winky" and "The Falls" continue this to a certain degree, but stories like "Pastoralia" do not. In fact, "Pastoralia" left me incredibly unsatisfied. It is a completely opposite idea from the stories in his last collection.

Many people seem to like "Sea Oak", especially the decomposing Aunt, but I fail to see why. To me, the returned Aunt is completely unconvincing as a character. It's as if Saunders wanted her completely selfish (wanting sex, her insistence that "I got nothing"), and yet also completely concerned for her family (wanting to save Troy). Instead of, say, making this a personal conflict within the Aunt, he tries to make the two feelings compatable. I don't buy it.

One last thing to note: the stories are very funny. Much more so than his last work. But, unfortunately, I don't think that makes up for the lack of beauty and goodness.

Quirky, often funny, well written... and oddly unengaging...
I really wanted to like this book. A close friend who shares a lot of my taste in writing (Borges, TC Boyle, ZZ Packer, Lester Bangs, etc.) recommended it as great contemporary short fiction, and since I trust his taste I'll chalk it up to a difference in opinion, but I just couldn't get into "Pastoralia."

I read the book back-to-front, mainly because the last short story, "The Falls," was also the shortest, and I thought a quick read would give me a sense of what Saunders is all about. As it turns out, this was one of my favorite stories in this collection. Saunders effortlessly moves between two very distinct worldviews and creates in Morse a convincing narrator who's paralyzed by his own indecisiveness and self-doubt. The ending left me a little flat, but as a raw writing exercise it was really excellent and left me optimistic about the rest of the book.

On the whole, though, I was really let down. My two biggest criticisms are: 1) Saunders uses the same rambling, stream-of-consciousness style throughout every story. He has a distinct voice and at first I enjoyed getting inside his (neurotic, typically pathetic) character's heads, but after awhile I found the long, run-on sentences and terse writing style (there's almost a complete abscence of anything but the most basic description) to be very tedius. His narrators are all so similar in their overanalysis and cynical worldview that after awhile I couldn't truly distinguish one character for another. I've got to agree with whoever said that Saunders is better at creating caricatures than characters. 2) Saunders stories really lack any emotional heft to them. I've read that his stories are very dark and bleak (agreed) but also that there's a real pathos to his writing, and I fail to see it. His characters are ALL paralyzed by the same trite meaningless of the modern world, and reading about their various neurosis and quirks without any greater understanding of what makes them tick or any attempt to transcend their pathetic existance was about as engaging to me as reading the nutritional information of a McDonald's happy meal. I don't know people like this, I'm glad that I don't, and after 2 or 3 rounds of essentially the same character I found that I cared less and less what happened to them.

I give it two stars because from a completely stylistic point of view, there's some redeeming merit here. Saunders obviously writes well and his best stories, like "The Falls," are a blueprint for subtly moving between points of view. "Winky" was another highlight for me for the same reason. But without any real core theme other than "modern life is trite, meaningless and stupid" (not much of an original thought) this just reads to me like very well-written hyper-realism by somebody who doesn't have much to say.

I've seen Saunders compared to TC Boyle, but for my money Boyle is the much better writer; he creates characters who are flawed and trapped in their own mileau, but characters who are also believable and close enough to reality that their challenges ring true and made me care about the outcome. Saunders reminds me an awful lot more of Frederick Barthelme, another skilled writer who manages to document modern life without ever really making the reader care about it.

Bizarre, Grotesque, Absurd, and all too real!!!
Comparisons with other writer's do not do justice to Mr. Saunders! His zany, laugh out loud, heart rending tales, are simply in a class of their own! And his stream of conscious narrations are about perfect! Take the bike riding boy in one tale. This youngster daydreams in a sci-fi world wishing for weird things to happen to his neighbors. How many other boys, and girls, have done the same, but who else can write about it like Mr. Saunders! Or the narrator of "The Falls", obsessed with his grown up neighbors, and wondering how to greet his odd "friend". Then Mr. Saunders reverses course, and into the mind of the frustrated artist antagonist, all the while sending a sly warning about two girls boating towrds the falls! There's the daydreaming barber with no toes, who lives with his mother, wondering about making the first move towards a beautiful, but awkwardly overbuilt, fellow student at a course for driver's caught speeding, not to mention the all too real instructor. Who would not want to be a student in this unique author's creative writing class?! The title tale also has its strange moments, as does the entire collection of a real original in contemporary writing!! ... Read more

Isbn: 1573228729
Sales Rank: 54407
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. General    4. Short Stories (single author)   

Bright Lights, Big City (Vintage Contemporaries)
by JAY MCINERNEY
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Paperback (12 August, 1984)
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Reviews (67)

Light reading. Nothing more. Nothing less.
How did this book become so popular? How is it that all the reviewers either love it or hate it? There's nothing to it.

First warning that you are reading a useless book - someone compares it to THe Catcher in the Rye. Immediately you know that it is going to be filled with disconnected scenes and a narrator with mental problems who reports on it all. However, none of these Catcher in the Rye ripoffs have a narrator as entertaining as Holden Caulfield.

The main character in this book is a self-obsessed Yuppie who snorts coke, screws up in his job and eventually finds a little bit of peace. The second person narration works in defining just how self-obsessed this guy is in that all he's doing is talking to himself about himself. After 100 pages you wonder why he's so enamored.

Anyhow, it's a short book. It reads quickly. A week at most if you are a slow reader will this book take to read. You'll read it. You'll forget about it. But it is ideal to read if you just finished a Dostoyevski book and you don't think you're ready to tackle anything too deep right away.

This book is depressing.
I just read a review of this book in which the author stated that he loved it. He raved about how "fun" of a book it was. Quite the contrary. Quite. I loved the book too, but for different reasons. Bright Lights, Big City was about a lost soul in the depressing eighties. Glitz and glamour and decadence. He was lost in it. Like all of us. And he had a major drug addiction. It wasn't "fun." Was it fun when he coughed and coughed and then found himself with a bloody nose? You don't notice that these problems in his life are serious because of the use of second person. When something happens to you, you are too close to it, you can't see what happens. I got completely wrapped up in that frame of mind and didn't realize until the last chapter that the only thing he had consumed all weekend was crack. Very clever on McInerney's part. I liked the book. Oh, and to the person who wrote that review, I am in a college class and it was on the curriculum. I guess schools are getting a little more liberal!

cocaine decisions
In this supposedly zeitgeist novel of the '80's we see a protagonist who incorporates the essence of that decade: hedonism, urbanity, wealth, cocaine-fuelled nightlife in a competitive social minefield. Coming to think of it, not alot has changed really. Speaking in the second person singular, the writer is following himself around New York as though singing an extended version of "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" by David Bowie.

The structure is innovative and the tone is innane and babbling at times, which reflects our coke-head heroes mentality perfectly. Anything to drown out the sorrow beneath. From his rash decisions to the reasons behind his nihilistic spiral, all questions are answered slowly.
It may seem like I am slating this book but I am not. He is describing a character who is a complete mess. It would be criminal to give cerebral insights and flowery desciptions about such a sullen, defunct lifestyle. Yet pity grows for him as his unfortunate past is revealed. For anyone who has lost someone close to them, his passage of loss is a touching and painful reminder.
It was once described as the Trainspotting of the '80s. Perhaps in an obvious drugs/dilemmas/adventures kind of way, but this novel is more about one man who is a heretic of a scene rather than of how or why a scene works. He is not from a poor background, he is not unemployed, he is not living in a dreary council estate in middle fof Sotland. It is too personal to be considered a social commentary and its singular tragedy surpasses even those of Welsh's protagonists.

So overall, not a fantastic book, not something to bring on holidays, not something to cheer you up, not essentially something to learn from, as the heroes coping mechanisms leave a lot to be desired. A tale of self-indulgent decadence and why. Certainly a book to read at some time in your life. It has its time. ... Read more

Isbn: 0394726413
Sales Rank: 6707
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. General    4. Movie novels    5. New York    6. New York (State)    7. Young men    8. Fiction / General   

The Frog King: A Love Story
by Adam Davies
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (06 August, 2002)
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Editorial Review

A mediocre book leaves you cold. But an almost-great book--that's enough to make you gnash your teeth. In his debut novel, The Frog King, Adam Davies maddeningly fails to recognize and develop the terrific material he has at hand. Harry Driscoll, raised in privilege and Ivy League-educated, is a peon at a prestigious New York publishing house--in fact, the house is called Prestige--and he hates it: hates the menial labor, hates the intellectual pretension, hates the political jockeying necessary to advancement. Driscoll is terrific on the disappointment peculiar to the overeducated and underemployed: "All those years of schooling (Yes I speak Old English!) and resumé building. (Yes I interned on Capitol Hill!) didn't pertain at all to the life that was waiting for me." The insider peek at New York publishing is terrific, too, if scant: "There's a joke at Prestige that The New Yorker will publish any story that ends with the word 'home.'" Davies devotes most of his energy, however, to Harry's somewhat mystifying relationship with his girlfriend Evie. He loves her madly, but he's sleeping around. When he loses her, he continues to lie to her even as he tries to win her back. Davies may have some kind of emotional profile in mind for Harry, but he fails to put it across to the reader. Fortunately, the well-observed social comedy and nicely exaggerated workplace farce more than make up for the rest of the novel's shortcomings. --Claire Dederer ... Read more

Reviews (93)

The Frog King Speaks
Davies first novel is an excellent novel. Jennifer Belle has called it "totally orignal" which is not exactly true, but does have some original moments and characters. You can't help but fall in love with Evie and her extraordinary patience. Harry is hard to love, but somehow you cheer for him. At times he reminded of Rob from High Fidelity (all arrested development and commitment phobic). Nevertheless, our American boy does ok. There are things that Harry goes through that many of us who are single and 28 (or there abouts) and live in the big city go through. He captures, with wonderful and painful truth, the awful feelings of losing someone you love. And the moral of this non-fairy tale fairy tale: To love someone, you must love yourself is not new--but told with humor and heart. The ending was a bit surpising, but not at all disappointing. I read most the book in one day. I enjoyed it. Davies writes very well and he clearly loves language. Was Judith based on Judith Reagan I wonder? I still have some questions, but overall I'd recommend this fine debut. Harry is something of hairball, but to some he may become a hero.

IT ISN'T EASY BEING GREEN
'The Frog King' dances around the 'L' word in special way

The novel "The Frog King: A Love Story" by Adam Davies is an honest depiction of New York City living that explores the frustration of Harry Driscoll as he searches for the answers to healthy relationships and his editorial assistantship at the Prestige Publishing company.
This satirical and comedic new novel, released in August, presents a touching story that will make you laugh, cry and kiss every amphibian that crosses your path.
Driscoll, a condescending Manhattan 20-something, hates his job, is terrified of commitment, denies his alcohol dependency and detests the reckless usage of the word "love" so much, he cannot bring himself to tell his girlfriend Evie Goddard that she is the most fantastic thing that has ever happened to him.
Their serendipitous romance and random displays of affection stand as pillars of wit while Harry's troublesome behavior tests the strength of their untraditional relationship.
Davies' semi-autobiographical narrative demonstrates his true grasp of character detail and cultural awareness.
The story's theme exemplifies Harry's opinion regarding the four lettered "L" word. "I love you is the cliched expression of the moronically unimaginative. It's for greeting cards for people who don't have the originality to say what they really mean," Driscoll says.
His consequential loneliness opens his eyes to friends he never knew he had; from his homeless and admiring 12-year-old buddy, Birdie, to his intriguing coworker and comrade, Jordie Wesselesh.
His Holden Caufield-like demeanor is comparable to the moods of "The Catcher in the Rye," "High Fidelity" and "Amelie". Davies' adventurous literary debut examines the natives of the Big Apple. "The Frog King: A Love Story" illustrates the paradoxical aspects of love and is sure to leap-frog into a special little place in your heart.

I Couldn't Put this Book Down
The Frog King is a perfect example of having exactly what you're looking for right under your nose, but not seeing it. Harry has the perfect girlfriend in Evie (who he loves but can't seem to tell her), yet he continues to womanize. Of course when they break up, he does whatever he can to get her back (yet can't quite stop lying to her).

On top of his woman problems, Harry hates his job at a publishing company and seems to sabotage everything he does there.

Harry frustrated me so much! I wanted to give him a little smack to wake him up. Frustrations aside it was hard to not like him, as he is quite charming. I couldn't put the book down, I just had to keep reading and hoping that things to work out for him in the end. ... Read more

Isbn: 1573229385
Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Bildungsromans    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - General    5. General    6. Humorous    7. New York (N.Y.)    8. Young men   

Harpers Magazine - Regular Ed
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Editorial Review

Literary, brainy, and left-leaning, Harper's Magazine is an American institution (the first issue was dated June 1850). Its clean, type-heavy design shouts "serious readers only": many pages are two columns of text, period, and the illustrations are mostly art (often photographic) and artistic adornments. The reading, though, is what matters. It's substantive and often sublime. Along with lengthy, thoughtful, frequently controversial articles on politics and culture, you'll find essays, short fiction, in-depth reporting, and a few book reviews. Bylines routinely represent leading writers and thinkers of the day. Standing features include the much-copied but rarely equaled "Harper's Index," in which statistics tell stories; "Readings," a section of excerpts ranging in length from a few lines to thousands of words; and "Annotation," in which a real-life document is reproduced and "explained," usually to devastating political or cultural effect. Each issue is a full meal for the mind. --Nicholas H. Allison ... Read more

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Probably the best available. Powerfully recommended.
I've been subscribing to Harper's for years. In fact, I started after reading editor Lewis Lapham's "Money and Class in America: Notes and Observations on our Civil Religion" and at least one other book, a collection of his essays.

First, Lapham's "column" at the beginning of each issue I cannot recommend enough. In the case of the recent Iraq war, for example, Mr. Lapham had the guts to stand up against it. And he did so in an eloquent and erudite way, less volatile than any stand I was able to publicly make.

The rest of the content is the best I've ever read in an American periodical. For those who refer to Harper's as "leftist," I'm forced to disagree. There have been articles that are not remotely "leftist," with some of which I happen to agree. But most would consider most of the material "liberal."

(While I'm not much of a short story reader, those who read them in this magazine say they're the best.)

Thanks so much, Mr. Lapham, for your erudite commentaries on Iraq, on George W., on 9/11, and on countless other subjects. I look forward to each issue.

Left Oriented Magazine Instructs and Entertains
In June of 1850, a new magazine appeared on the American scene. Created by a New York publishing company called Harper & Brothers, the periodical received the appropriate name "Harper's Magazine." Over the years, the magazine began printing articles and stories from American authors, including William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, Theodore Dreiser, John Muir, Jack London, and many other big literary names immediately recognizable to readers of literature. Harper's also published news about the big stories of the day, such as an article written by Henry Stimson defending the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Astonishingly enough, the magazine nearly folded in 1980 until several big shots stepped in and rescued the periodical with grant money. Needless to say, Harper's Magazine still chugs along, and I recently subscribed to see what this historic publication looks like today. What I found both elated and bothered me. Harper's Magazine is an entertaining read, if the September 2003 edition is any indication, but at the same time the politics expressed in several of the entries left a slightly sour taste in my mouth.

The September issue overflows with articles about politics, book reviews, essays, letters from readers, pictures of artwork, and several excerpts from current literary efforts. There is even a doozy of a puzzle towards the end of the magazine for those who want to test their mental powers. It looks as though the editors of the magazine keep advertising to a minimum (a good thing), and there weren't any of those annoying, and sometimes perfumed, inserts you find in most magazines. Nothing kills a magazine quicker in my mind than detecting waves of some cheap cologne wafting off an article about politics or entertainment.

My favorite odor free articles in this issue of Harper's included a travelogue piece about Waziristan, a rugged region in Pakistan where Taliban exiles mix with hostile Pashtun tribes who possess a decidedly anti-American mentality. The article, written by an American woman, is slightly histrionic in its presentation but it is very informative. Sure enough, a week after I read this article someone on the news mentioned the region in the context of American anti-terrorism efforts, and I was happy to know something about it before hand. Another article worth mentioning is an essay about the public school system written by a retired teacher. The author of this piece derides the crushing boredom of the educational system for both students and teachers, and traces the development of our schools back to Prussia in the 18th and 19th century. While I disagreed with his political leanings, I did find his conclusion that our schools serve as factories to churn out good little sheep that only know how to shop relevant and satisfying. My favorite literary excerpt comes from an Israeli journalist named Oz Shelach, who wrote a book called "Picnic Grounds." The excerpts come in bite sized little fragments that shed some insight into the problems between the Israelis and Palestinians, among other topics. Some of the stuff in this issue of Harper's Magazine is good reading material.

Regrettably, my politics do not mesh well with the staff at Harper's Magazine. I sighed aloud every time I saw a reference to identity politics, specifically in a literary critique about V.S. Naipaul written by Terry Eagleton. I should be fair and state that I saw a full page advertisement from a group seeking to limit immigration into the United States, and there is a critique of the new Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry that does question the inclusion of several poets who write about nothing except identity themes, so there does seem to be an attempt at balance. Overall, Harper's Magazine is definitely a left oriented publication. I think I can live with it now that I know what to look for in future issues, but for some people this might present a significant problem. One good aspect: while there may be a mess of leftists at the helm of this magazine, at least they still know how to have a laugh. Included in this issue is a description of an Italian board game about women of the night. Based on Monopoly, the Italians call this game "Puttanopoly," and the excerpts taken from the cards in the game are as hilarious as they are inappropriate for this review.

After finishing this issue of the magazine, I realized that even though I disagree with its politics, I am still looking forward to receiving my next issue. I read this magazine cover to cover in just a couple of days, and for the most part I felt I learned a lot about various topics in the process. You simply cannot resist the price offered here for a year's subscription, so give Harper's Magazine a chance. No matter what your outlook on life, I guarantee you will find something here to tickle your fancy.

Variable
During the 1980s and 90s Harpers decayed badly from a journal of literature and opinion into a collection of short pieces and meaningless charts- sort of a journal for the literary pretentious with a short attention span. During the late 90s and the early part of this century, an effort was made to recreate the old Harpers.

Gone now are the annoying fragments and pointless tables, but the quality of the writing is still variable. At its best, Harpers still trails far behind The Atlantic, and at its worst it's pitifully sophmoric. I'll try it again in a few more years. ... Read more

Asin: B00005N7QO
Subjects:  1. Literature    2. General    3. Periodicals    4. Literary    5. News & Politics   

Cinescape
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Unreliable
I've been a subscriber of Cinescape off and on since it was first released sometime in the mid 1990's. It was a good magazine, never great, but good. I renewed the subscription back in March of 2003 when they overhauled the format of the magazine. I'm also under the impression that a new publisher owns it. At first I thought the new format was nice, but after a few issues I took notice how shallow the magazine is. To make matters worse, the magazine never shows up on time. They don't seem to have any sort of set publication schedule either. One issue will be printed as bi-monthly, and another will show it to be monthly. Customer service is abysmal as well. The website quality is also down. I will not resubscibe, and I do not recomend this magazine.

THEY HAVE CHANGED
Magazine delivery is unreliable as stated. They have no set publication time frame, it's on a "when we feel like it" basis. I have a long time subscription and when calling to do an address change, the rep. couldn't even give me a date for the release and delivery of the next magazine. The new "owners" of this magazine have lowered the quality and customer service. Another wonderful side effect of the "when we feel like it" approach, is most of the articles that are listed as sneak previews are on movies that have been in the theatre for 3-4 weeks. Beware, you might be better off with SciFi, CFQ, Premiere, or Widescreen Review.

They've changed
About a year ago they changed publishers or something like that, at least according to thier customer sevice. Since then, they do not have reliable service. I renewed my subscription in February 2003, and since I rarely ever get an issue, I still have 8 issues left on my current subscription!

Not only has the reliablility of getting an issue on time changed, so did their format. I find the new format to be boring and unoriginal.

I long for the dyas of the 'old' Cinescape. ... Read more

Asin: B00005U5E9
Sales Rank: 1914
Subjects:  1. Entertainment    2. Movies (Movie, Films, Film, Cinema)   

The Optimist's Daughter
by EUDORA WELTY
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Paperback (11 August, 1990)
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The Optimist's Daughter is a compact and inward-lookinglittle novel, a Pulitzer Prize winner that's slight of page yet big of heart.The optimist in question is 71-year-old Judge McKelva, who has come to aNew Orleans hospital from Mount Salus, Mississippi, complaining of a "disturbance" in his vision. To his daughter, Laurel, it's as rare forhim to admit "self-concern" as it is for him to be sick, and sheimmediately flies down from Chicago to be by his side. The subsequent operation onthe judge's eye goes well, but the recovery does not. He lies still with both eyesheavily bandaged, growing ever more passive until finally--with some help from the shockingly vulgar Fay, his wife of two years--he simply dies. Together Fay and Laurel travel to Mount Salus to bury him, and the novel begins the inward spiral that leads Laurel tothe moment when "all she had found had found her," when the "deepest springin her heart had uncovered itself" and begins to flow again.

Not much actually happens in the rest of the book--Fay'slow-rent relatives arrive for the funeral, a bird flies down the chimney and is trapped in the hall--and yet Welty manages to compress the richness ofan entire life within its pages. This is a world, after all, in which aset of complex relationships can be conveyed by the phrase "I know his whole family" or by the criticism "When he brought her here to your house,she had very little idea of how to separate an egg."Does such a placeexist anymore? It is vanishing even from this novel, and the personification of its vanishing is none other than Fay--petulant, graceless, childish, with neither the passion nor the imagination to love. Welty expends alot of vindictive energy on Fay and her kin, who must be the mostsmall-minded, mean-mouthed clan since the Snopeses hit Frenchman's Bend. There's more than just class snobbery at work here (though that surely comes into it too). As Welty sees it, they are a special historical tribe who exultin grieving because they have come to be good at it, and who seethe with resentment from the day they are born. They have come "out of all timesof trouble, past or future--the great, interrelated family of those whonever know the meaning of what has happened to them."

Fay belongs to the future, as she makes clear; it's Laurel who belongsto the past--Welty's own chosen territory. In her fine memoir, One Writer's Beginnings, Welty described the way art could shine a light back "as when your train makes a curve, showing that there hasbeen a mountain of meaning rising behind you on the way you've come." Here, in one of her most autobiographical works, the past joins seamlessly withthe present in a masterful evocation of grief, memory, loss, and love.Beautifully written, moving but never mawkish, The Optimist's Daughter is Eudora Welty's greatest achievement--which is highpraise indeed. --Mary Park ... Read more

Reviews (28)

Trapped by Memories of the Past
Welty's Pulitzer winning novel, set in the South of 30 years ago, examines the physical mechanics of the funeral process, while placing the human heart under the microscope of social and filial stress. Laurel--a war widow deprived of the experiences and joys of normal married life, rushes back to Missisippi from her Chicago job and lifestyle. This devoted only child insists on her place at her father's bedside, as he undergoes eye surgery--a convenient medical smokescreen for the unmentionable killer: Cancer. How can a confirmed Optimist handle this grim reality?

The storyline develops in the aftermath of his inevitable death, but the battle lines are drawn even before he quietly expires: between Laurel--the daughter of beloved Judge Clint McKelva and his adored wife, Becky--and Fay, the utterly selfish and emotionally crude second wife/young step-mother. Is it seemly to be disputing arrangements before the man is even enterred?

What had the judge been thinking--to desecrate his wife's memory by bringing that crass Texas woman into the big house where Miss Becky was enshrined in neighborhood memory? Laurel suffers deep emotional trials as she tries to maintain her dignity at the Viewing--held in the Judge's study--then during funeral and graveside solemnities. But conditions deteriorate, as bruised egos and grieving hearts are bared in a shocking public display. The interlopers have no sense of decency or compassion for the sincere mourners who rally around their native daughter.

There is brief respite for Laurel when Fay suddenly departs with her hick kin; yet being alone with kind neighbors and loving bridesmaids does not really help her penetrate the veneer of faith in her childhood memories. How can Laurel rewrite the Past so as to validate her own bleak future? Like the bird trapped inside the house, will she be able to break out on her own, to accept her parent's foibles along with their love, while honoring their role in her life? This is more of a psychological piece, with admittedly little plot, but quiet insight into the tapestry of myths and lies which we accept as our heritage.

Quietly Epiphanic
If you have long wondered what the fuss about Eudora Welty is all about, read THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER, the 1973 Pulitzer Prize-winner for fiction. This is no peripheral achievement but the heart of the Welty experience. As you begin reading it, you would describe it as a spare, quiet character study. By the time you finish it--the prose is sleek and straightforward, you glide through it--you are flipping back, realizing the profundities it has kicked up all the way through, hoping you did not miss anything. It is the story of Laurel McKelva Hand, fortysomething widow, who has flown back to the south from her career life in Chicago to be at her father's side as he copes with a medical emergency. It is obvious that she has come because the trophy wife/stepmother, Fay, is not considered up to the task by anyone else's standards. The first part of the novel ends with the judge's death; the second part moves back into the Mississippi house where Laurel grew up for her father's funeral. Here Welty introduces the town folk who hold her father and late mother in high esteem, who regard Fay as a white trash outsider nuisance. Fay reminds everyone that she gets all the property, everything they all view as belonging to the deceased parents and the grown daughter. The first two parts could easily translate to the screen or stage; the last two would be more difficult because Welty turns inward, helping Laurel sort out memory, loss, and what it spells for her future. The power of the book lies in how it twists and turns through the four characters--Laurel, her parents, and Fay--moving around the tensions between them until a full sense of the truth is located. What you first know about Laurel and Fay will be challenged. Neither is simple, nor is the story.

Stacks its deck too unfairly
Welty's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is largely told in the third person through the observations of its heroine, Laurel McKelva Hand, the daughter of a prominent and wealthy smalltown Mississippi judge who comes to New Orleans to help her father who must see a doctor for an eye affliction. On hand is the judge's second wife, the silly and vulgar Fay, whom Laurel and the doctor basically ignore. When the father unexpectedly dies, Laurel (who is older than Fay) must return to the smalltown with her stepmother for his funeral.

The reasons for Welty's popularity with THE NEW YORKER editorial board are much in evidence: the story is told subtly and in small pieces, and accrues a remarkable level of hospital and genteel smalltown detail as it proceeds. Its measured rhythms are the best thing this novel has going for it. Unfortunately, it seems to proceed too much along the lines of a contest between discreet Southern gentility and refinement (embodied in the quiet and grieiving Laurel) and no-'count Southern lower-class vulgarity (championed by Fay and her obnoxious Texas relatives). Although Laurel comes to realize why her father's late-life optimism explains why he married Fay, Welty doesn't really allow Fay any sort of appeal to the reader at all, and so you finish the novel thinking how much *nicer* everything would have been had the judge never married her. (At least Tennessee Williams allowed Stanley Kowalski animal magnetism.) The novel seems too much on the side of delicacy , especially given that Welty's own fine feelings are so manifest in her method of telling of the story--though paradoxically some overobvious symbols (a carved boat, a breadboard, the judge's degenerating eye) weigh things down a bit much. The work is most interesting at the end, when Laurel must confront some truths about her real mother's final illness which complicate the overly schematic family alignments in some welcome ways. ... Read more

Isbn: 067972883X
Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Death    3. Fathers    4. Fiction    5. Funeral rites and ceremonies    6. Literary    7. Literature - Classics / Criticism    8. Mississippi    9. Welty, Eudora - Prose & Criticism    10. Women    11. Fiction / Literary