by Chris Dyer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2003
Breezy-romp-like first novel.
A madcap farce starring a globetrotting travel writer.
Kate Bogart is making halfhearted attempts to disentangle herself from the amorous clutches of a Portuguese bullfighter, according to her first e-mail to sympathetic chum Violet Morgan, who’s subletting Kate’s New York apartment and babysitting her overfed misanthropic cat, Truman Capote. Kate’s having a great time gathering material for her Wish You Were Here column—staying in five-star hotels at her employer’s expense is an ideal way to assuage the pain of her divorce from Jack MacTavish, a New Age type with a penchant for silly women and sillier adventures that involve getting in touch with his spiritual side. Jack gets invited to join a ménage à trois with his new girlfriend and her girlfriend, but can’t get it up for one or both of them, or so he confides to Kate. Will he ever leave her alone? Then there’s her mother, a regular attendee at the Holy Sisters of Perpetual Bingo, who’s definitely someone Kate would like to keep on the other side of the Atlantic. So many people to avoid—though not Miles Maxwell, sexy on-the-go war reporter. He’s going to write Kate’s column for a while—and he’s hellishly attractive in an unavailable sort of way (he’s trying to make one last go of it with his longtime love Odette). Well, Kate is willing to wait and she’s off to California anyway, since her boss Ted Concannon just got ousted by his wife’s lesbian lover. Is there anything Kate can do? Sure. Let 60ish Ted move into her New York apartment—he can even date her mother. Things heat up with Miles Maxwell in his loft on the Thames, where a standoff with the evil Odette also ensues. No harm done, as Odette eventually winds up with silly Jack. Even the heretofore worthless Truman Capote sires a litter with the sweet kitty down the hall.
Breezy-romp-like first novel.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-452-28379-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Plume
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2002
Share your opinion of this book
by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
Share your opinion of this book
More by J.D. Salinger
BOOK REVIEW
More About This Book
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
Share your opinion of this book
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.