An eccentric first novel by poet Cooley explores the sometimes creepy, sometimes entrancing link between identical twins. Having just given birth to a stillborn daughter, Alice, a 29-year-old artist, begins reconsidering her own troubled history, urged on in this pursuit when her twin Madeline calls to implore Alice to join her in Sarasota. Alice and her husband Owen agree that a summer away from their home in Atlanta would provide a healthful respite; little do they know that it will also provide Madeline with the foothold she’s been seeking to claim Alice for herself once again. When the two are reunited, the present narrative is overtaken by memories of the past: their great-grandmother Agatha, a twin herself, raises their mother Lily after a car accident has killed her parents. Under Agatha’s tutelage, Lily, a budding ballerina with sights on the New Orleans Ballet, becomes immersed in the world of Judy Garland; Agatha and Lily share facts of the singer’s tragic life as others would a love bond. When Lily becomes pregnant, she hopes that “Agatha’s trick”—drinking vinegar and then vomiting—will leave her trim enough to keep on dancing—but her twin daughters are born despite the abuse. Moreover, Agatha abandons Lily for good. Raising Alice and Madeline in a cheap highway motel where she works as a maid, Lily slips into a deranged behavior typical of the traditions of their small family. She teaches her daughters “Agatha’s trick,” tutors them in the life of Judy Garland, takes them on midnight drives around her old haunts, then deserts them before their 18th birthday. Later, when Alice and Madeline meet in Sarasota, it’s obvious to Alice that her sister’s mental condition has deteriorated even further than their mother’s did: she dresses in costumes and wants to go play in an imaginary Emerald City. A quirky and appealing novel as Cooley builds a riveting story around the sometimes dangerous bonds of family.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-06-039251-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1998
An extremely powerful story of a young Southern Negro, from his late high school days through three years of college to his life in Harlem.
His early training prepared him for a life of humility before white men, but through injustices- large and small, he came to realize that he was an "invisible man". People saw in him only a reflection of their preconceived ideas of what he was, denied his individuality, and ultimately did not see him at all. This theme, which has implications far beyond the obvious racial parallel, is skillfully handled. The incidents of the story are wholly absorbing. The boy's dismissal from college because of an innocent mistake, his shocked reaction to the anonymity of the North and to Harlem, his nightmare experiences on a one-day job in a paint factory and in the hospital, his lightning success as the Harlem leader of a communistic organization known as the Brotherhood, his involvement in black versus white and black versus black clashes and his disillusion and understanding of his invisibility- all climax naturally in scenes of violence and riot, followed by a retreat which is both literal and figurative. Parts of this experience may have been told before, but never with such freshness, intensity and power.
This is Ellison's first novel, but he has complete control of his story and his style. Watch it.
Pub Date: April 7, 1952
ISBN: 0679732764
Page Count: 616
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 22, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1952
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
APPRECIATIONS
Fans weary of King's recent unwieldy tomes can rest easy: his newest is slim, slick, and razor-keen. His first novel without supernatural elements outside of the Richard Bachman series, this psychological terror tale laced with pitch-black humor tells the nerve-jangling story of a best-selling author kidnapped and tortured by his "number one fan." King opens on a disorienting note as writer Paul Sheldon drifts awake to find himself in bed, his legs shattered. A beefy woman, 40-ish Annie Wilkes, appears and feeds him barbiturates. During the hazy next week, Paul learns that Annie, an ex-nurse, carried him from a car wreck to her isolated house, where she plans to keep him indefinitely. She's a spiteful misanthrope subject to catatonic fits, but worships Paul because he writes her favorite books, historical novels featuring the heroine "Misery." As Annie pumps him with drugs and reads the script of his latest novel, also saved from the wreck, Paul waits with growing apprehension—he killed off Misery in this new one. tn time, Annie rushes into the room, howling: she demands that Paul write a new novel resurrecting Misery just for her. He refuses until she threatens to withhold his drugs; so he begins the book (tantalizing chunks of which King seeds throughout this novel). Days later, when Annie goes to town, Paul, who's now in a wheelchair, escapes his locked room and finds a scrapbook with clippings of Annie's hobby: she's a mass-murderer. Up to here, King has gleefully slathered on the tension: now he slams on the shocks as Annie returns swinging an axe and chops off Paul's foot. Soon after, off comes his thumb; when a cop looking for Paul shows up, Annie lawnmowers his head. Burning for revenge, Paul finishes his novel, only to use the manuscript as a weapon against his captor in the ironic, ferocious climax. Although lacking the psychological richness of his best work, this nasty shard of a novel with its weird autobiographical implications probably will thrill and chill King's legion of fans. Note: the publisher plans an unprecedented first printing of one-million copies.
Pub Date: June 8, 1987
ISBN: 0451169522
Page Count: 356
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1987
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
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.
