A challenging, worthwhile account of the workings of the mind amid the contemplation of art and beauty.
Horrigan (Widescreen Dreams, 2001) sets his debut novel at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where the central character, Robin, slowly travels through an exhibition titled “Motions of the Mind: The Renaissance Portrait and Its Legacy.”
Robin is a troubled young man dealing with the end of a relationship, the death of a close relative, and an unfinished doctoral degree. More pointedly, he tries to process the guilt and fear he feels after many incidents of unsafe sexual practices, including one from the previous night. Horrigan provides a floor plan of the gallery as well as reproductions of the five paintings on display that most capture Robin’s interest. Along with the helpful section “Acknowledgements and Notes on Sources” at the end of the book, these inclusions allow readers to orient themselves, spatially and otherwise, and to pursue further investigation if desired. About midway through the gallery, Robin encounters Bernard, a middle-aged therapist and former monk, and each studiously measures the degree of his attraction to the other. Curiously, they come to diametrically opposed conclusions about the essential relationship among artist, subject, and viewer. One particular mental note made by Bernard lies at the heart of the novel: “The drama depicted within the paintings, the drama which inspired them and went into their making so long ago—these were all part of the drama that included everything going on here and now in front of the paintings.” The author uses different typefaces to represent each of the multiple voices and points of view: artist, subject, viewer, critic, security guard, narrator, wall text, etc. Although the technique may seem daunting at the outset of each chapter, this cacophony of sorts becomes clearer. Horrigan tackles issues often associated with the gay community, but he also addresses the broader notion of how we interpret faces, bodies, and behaviors through keen observation.
A challenging, worthwhile account of the workings of the mind amid the contemplation of art and beauty.Pub Date: May 28, 2015
ISBN: 978-1590214770
Page Count: -
Publisher: Lethe Press
Review Posted Online: April 1, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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