Abandon political correctness, all ye who enter here, and rejoice.
Fourteen satirical stories plumb the absurdities of modern life.
Spyra, formerly a staff writer for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and The Onion, gets most of her comic mileage from anachronism. She finds "influencers" among cavemen, explores dating apps with Holmes and Watson, imagines the battlefield letters of a polyamorous dopehead Civil War soldier. In her hilarious retelling of One Thousand and One Nights, she imagines the perspective of the vizier in the court of a cuckolded sultan in a murderous rage. After failing to soothe his boss with suggestions of "couples’ counseling and a seaside getaway" or to convince him that "sex with virgins was usually below average and more than you bargained for emotionally," the vizier ends up managing a growing cache of rotting virgin heads on spikes. "He couldn't help but sigh and think, 'I majored in comparative literature at the University of Damascus.' " If a few of her high-concept premises are too over-the-top or puerile for some readers ("Birthday Girl," "Monster Goo," meh), the title story is the hit that redeems the misses. In "Big Time," a tough-talking 1940s starlet named Ruby is rocketed into the present, where she learns about sex positivity, co-working collectives, edibles, and The Real Housewives of Orange County. Only on Bravo does she find the kind of entertainment she is used to: "rich women screaming at each other in evening clothes, conniving, sexy waitresses, million-dollar homes, and plenty of well-dressed gays to make snide remarks and keep it interesting." When a video of her misadventures with a malfunctioning port-a-potty goes viral, Ruby signs with ICM and becomes a contestant on the 89th season of The Bachelor, vying against Kayleigh B., Kaylee C., K-Li W., Kaelie T., etc., “most of the Kayleighs…dental hygienists from Tampa.” When her plan to game the system backfires, Ruby finally learns some important lessons about friendship. And it's actually kind of sweet.
Abandon political correctness, all ye who enter here, and rejoice.Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-984855-26-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK TO SCREEN
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.
A French art historian’s English-language fiction debut combines the story of a loving relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter with an enlightening discussion of art.
One day, when 10-year-old Mona removes the necklace given to her by her now-dead grandmother, she experiences a frightening, hour-long bout of blindness. Her parents take her to the doctor, who gives her a variety of tests and also advises that she see a psychiatrist. Her grandfather Henry tells her parents that he will take care of that assignment, but instead, he takes Mona on weekly visits to either the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, or the Centre Pompidou, where each week they study a single work of art, gazing at it deeply and then discussing its impact and history and the biography of its maker. For the reader’s benefit, Schlesser also describes each of the works in scrupulous detail. As the year goes on, Mona faces the usual challenges of elementary school life and the experiences of being an only child, and slowly begins to understand the causes of her temporary blindness. Primarily an amble through a few dozen of Schlesser’s favorite works of art—some well known and others less so, from Botticelli and da Vinci through Basquiat and Bourgeois—the novel would probably benefit from being read at a leisurely pace. While the dialogue between Henry and the preternaturally patient and precocious Mona sometimes strains credulity, readers who don’t have easy access to the museums of Paris may enjoy this vicarious trip in the company of a guide who focuses equally on that which can be seen and the context that can’t be. Come for the novel, stay for the introductory art history course.
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798889661115
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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