To her latest novel, Beattie brings the same documentary accuracy and Chekhovian wit and tenderness that have made her one of the most acclaimed portraitists of contemporary American life. Marshall Lockard, a professor at the local college, is contemplating adultery, unaware that his wife is already committing it.From the Trade Paperback edition.From Publishers WeeklySuccessfully avoiding the one-note, affectless deadpan to which her work was in danger of succumbing, Beattie provides plenty of dramatic tension in this absorbing narrative of a man emotionally distanced from his life. Marshall Lockard, youngish professor at a small New England college, is a peevish, condescending loner; his career is at a dead end and his marriage to Sonja is passionless. When he impulsively stops his car to pick up an attractive student, he has a vague idea of starting an affair with her. But the story Cheryl tells him?that her roommate says she's been abused and raped by Jack McCallum, a colleague of Marshall's in the English department?gradually enmeshes Marshall in McCallum's very messy life. Seeing echoes of his own personality in McCallum's passive sadness, Marshall begins slowly to acknowledge the complexities of his life, including the harmful effects of his father's bullying and his mother's early death. Meanwhile, the reader has been puzzling over a series of undated letters interspersed throughout the narrative; written to a woman called Martine (whose identity, when it is finally revealed on a tombstone, brings past and present together), they are penned by an obviously cold, arrogant, manipulative man who signs only his initial. Eventually, the letters hold a clue to Marshall's emotionally crippled personality. Though this novel has a few maladroit episodes (e.g., the true identity of Cheryl's roommate is gratuitously melodramatic), Beattie's writing has a new immediacy and intensity. The enduring effects of childhood trauma, which she explored in her previous novel, Picturing Will, are here conveyed with wit, irony and compassion. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalIn her latest novel since Picturing Will (LJ 1/90), Beattie again explores the anxieties of the American middle class. Using a deliberately understated narrative voice, she presents the confused world of college professor Marshall Lockheed and his wife, Sonja. As Marshall ponders whether to tell Sonja about his complicated infatuation with a student, Sonja ponders the pros and cons of revealing her brief affair with her boss. Meanwhile, repercussions from their rather unexceptional indiscretions are about to plunge both Lockheeds into some very unusual territory. In the background are Marshall's dying stepmother, a woman with secrets of her own, and a collection of mysterious letters from the past with significant links to the present. Beattie's detached prose captures characters and events photographically: precise images are put forth for the reader to ponder without authorial analysis or elaboration. At its best, this technique stimulates thought and imagination, but it will not appeal to all readers. Nevertheless, this is essential where Beattie's work is admired.-?Starr E. Smith, Marymount Univ., Arlington, Va.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 9
Jonas is already raising eyebrows at his new school and Cathy's day isn’t going much better. Everyone is acting as if she isn’t there, her twin is usurping her friends and her occasional boyfriend is moving on. Can she convince Jonas to help her before it’s too late? Views: 8
Review"The masterpiece among Bioy Casares' short, intense novels is The Invention of Morel, a book that won raves from Borges (who placed it alongside Franz Kafka's The Trial), was called "perfect" by Octavio Paz, and inspired one of French cinema's most infamous moviesf, Last Year at Marienbad (1961). Though it was published in 1940, the book's continuing relevance was recently proven when it was featured on Lost — a cameo many viewers perceive as a key to that TV show's plot. But that doesn't mean this is a tough tract unfit for quality beach time... Just know that Morel is a poetic evocation of the experience of love, an inquiry into how we know one another, and a still-relevant examination of how technology has changed our relationship with reality. It's also a great read — one you'll be pressing into the hands of your fellow beach-goers." --Boldtype Product DescriptionThe Island of Doctor Moreau inspired this 1940 novella. Set on a mysterious island, The Invention of Morel is a story of suspense and exploration as well as an unlikely romance, where every detail is both crystal clear and deeply mysterious. Susan Jill Levine's revision of Ruth Simm's translation offers a new experience of an uncanny work of genius.
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A powerfully evocative portrait of an alternative community in the early 1970s, told with a child's-eye simplicity by a young resident. Short fiction from an author whose work has been described by World Fantasy Award-winner Jeff VanderMeer as Rapacious, intelligent and witty. Views: 8
Moll, a young nun, lies in the infirmary of St Mary’s Priory, Belstone, having been bled to cure a migraine. Left to rest, she is just falling into a doze, smiling as she dreams of her beloved Virgin Mary, when she suddenly awakes, realising in terror that she can’t breathe. But she is too weak to fight for her life… It’s 1321 and Lady Elizabeth of Topsham, prioress of St Mary’s, is struggling to retain her position in the face of devastating opposition. Not only is St Mary’s in the worst possible state of disrepair due to lack of funds, but Sister Margherita, her treasurer, has accused her of lascivious disregard, claiming that, instead of paying for a new roof, Elizabeth has given money to the new vicar, a man she often sees alone – at night. Many of the nuns are convinced that Margherita would make a better prioress – especially now it has been confirmed that Moll was murdered on her sickbed. Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King’s Peace, together with his old friend Bailiff Simon Puttock, are summoned immediately by the Bishop of Exeter’s representative to investigate. There is no doubt that the threefold vows of obedience, chastity and poverty are being broken with alarming frequency. When a second nun is murdered, they face their most difficult case yet. The path to the truth twists and turns with the sinister forces of primitive passions and secret ambitions, finally leading them to a dangerous wolf in sheep’s clothing. Views: 8
Other Stories of the Four Million: A Madison Square Arabian Night; The Rubaiyat of a Scotch Highball; The Pendulum; Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen; The Assessor of Success; The Buyer from Cactus City; The Badge of Policeman O'Roon; Brickdust Row; The Making of a New Yorker; Vanity and Some Sables; The Social Triangle; The Purple Dress; The Foreign Policy of Company 99; The Lost Blend; A Harlem Tragedy; The Guilty Party — an East Side Tragedy; According to their Lights; A Midsummer Knight's Dream; The Last Leaf; The Count and the Wedding Guest; The Country of Elusion; The Ferry of Unfulfilment; The Tale of a Tainted Tenner; Elsie in New York; and the title story. Views: 8
The year is 1319 and Tavistock's fair has drawn merchants to Devon from all over England and beyond. Keeping the streets clean and the locals in order is no easy task, for the influx of visitors and their money puts temptation in the way of cut-purses and other villains. But no one expects a murder, and butcher Will Ruby is stunned to discover a corpse – a headless corpse at that. Former Knight Templar Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, and Simon Puttock, bailiff of Lydford, have just arrived in Tavistock as guests of Abbot Robert Champeaux when the body is found. The crime falls within the Abbot's jurisdiction, and when he asks Simon and Baldwin to investigate, they can hardly refuse. But with an unidentifiable victim, they're badly hampered in their inquiries. Nonetheless there's no shortage of suspicious behaviour to spur them on. Elias, the cook near whose shop the gruesome remains were found, clearly has something to hide. A surprisingly aggressive young monk has been behaving in an ungodly fashion. And the town is awash with strangers, any one of whom could be concealing a sinister past. Can Simon and Baldwin unravel the complex web of intrigue that has brought death to Tavistock, as the undercurrents of anger and violence that lie beneath the bustling activity of the fair grow ever fiercer? Views: 8
A daringly ironic attack on racism American-style. Views: 8
Science Fiction. 3035 words long. Views: 8
