A first novel -- just as nice and notional as it is frazzled and desperate -- as told by Constance who is finishing up at...

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PAINTING THE ROSES RED

A first novel -- just as nice and notional as it is frazzled and desperate -- as told by Constance who is finishing up at Berkeley after five years and trying to wind up her indecision between Ty whom she'd loved best and Gregory whom she'd married two years earlier. That ""head/body"" split. All of this is transcribed in what Constance calls her colloquial argot -- she figures out that most sex words end in k -- you'll be aware that most of Constance's begin with z, like in zilch, zillions, zinged, zapped or zonked. The last applies best to her since she's very spacey and feeling ""old"" (""I'm getting old, I shall wear my Levis rolled"") until she gets some help from a shrink called Dr. Waddle who is much more effective than he sounds. At the end you hope she's made it -- learning to cede and compromise. . . . Right off the top of her head and her heart, this could easily sneak up on you from behind -- it's fresh and raffishly appealing.

Pub Date: April 23, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1975

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