THE DYING ART

by Lee Langley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1983

Middle-aged Rosemary Nightingale is in the dumps. Her TV-celebrity husband left her and expired in Patagonia; her eleven-year-old son Daniel, anxiety-ridden and just too scholarly, is known to his classmates as a ""creepy little wanker""; her job at a London library is merely enervating; and it looks as if her life is now simply measured in things like the amount of bread and butter consumed year by year. (""She pictured her own personal butter mountain and the sight was not encouraging."") But then Rosemary halfheartedly puts an ad in a house-exchange magazine, offering her ""ratty little house. . . in exchange for California with pool,"" and she gets a reply from one Virgil Sidewinder--who offers just that and more. (Plus a population ""you will find laid back or lobotomized."") So Rosemary and Daniel arrive in the Golden State, soon finding stereotypically laid-back neighbors: boring Avery, the one with a ""destructive divorce experience""; two barefoot, T-shirted houseworkers named Moose and Goldie; a surly pool man; and two dear golden-haired little girls who enact a recent axe murder with their puppet theater for proud parents. But then things get really sinister for Rosemary--with a cat corpse speared on her fence, rumors of bubonic plague (thanks to Avery), and strange visitations from Maurice, the eerie bottled-water boy. Meanwhile, Daniel is turning American, sitting at the TV while eating ice cream in a baseball outfit. (He has even painted on freckles,) There are dreadful adventures, a clumsy rape attempt, and cheery cassette messages from Virgil in London. And finally, back home, after disappointments galore, Rosemary will begin to realize that ""Life was rather like her teeth. . . . Something to be grateful for, however shaky."" Langley's US-satire premises and free-floating situations are shaky too--but indulgent readers will enjoy much of the cheerful gab and most of the gormless people in this busy frolic.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: William Heinemann--dist. by David & Charles

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1983

Categories: FICTION