A hopelessly self-effacing Russian Jew writes glorious poems under the Khrushchev regime but imprudently neglects the official steps to make a name for himself as a poet—an obvious parable for the career of its prolific author, who wrote this novel in Moscow during the early 70's and is finally about to see it published there. Aaron-Chaim Mendelevich Finkelmeyer is a truly exasperating man to his new friend Leonid Nikolsky. He's an unambitious wage-slave, an indifferent husband to his long-suffering wife Frida, and a friend whose other associates—his old buddy Leopold Mikhailovich, his lovers Emma the bureaucrat's wife and Olga the librarian, and a poetic patron identified only as the Master—are likely to act just as unpredictably as he does. He's also perhaps the worst soldier in all Russia. Ironically, Finkelmeyer's halfhearted attempt to get out of a military jam by spouting some chauvinistic doggerel that an oafish officer has praised to the skies, and his subsequent attempt to protect his poetic reputation by publishing his ``genuine'' poems under a pseudonym that's appropriated by stolid hack Manakin, eventually entangle him— via his raffish cohorts' wild attempt to keep a hidden cache of paintings out of reach of the authorities—in a silly, dangerous game of Who's the Real Poet?—with the prize sure to go to Writer's Union candidate Manakin as the novel heads into a neatly judged climactic trial and a downbeat epilogue. Roziner's soft-edged satire is filled with a genial, melancholy gaiety that will remind American readers of Josef Skvorecky—but without the Czech novelist's range or tightly controlled plotting.
Pub Date: May 13, 1991
ISBN: 0-393-02962-X
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1991
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
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
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