An intriguing but uneven modernist-tinged tale about a frustrated man.
A baby boomer makes his way through life and a television career in this debut novella.
Born to a working-class Italian American family in Brooklyn on the cusp of World War II, the unnamed narrator of this story grows up in a claustrophobic world of small, crowded apartments and sprawling extended families. A multiethnic kettle of Italian, Jewish, Black, German, and Russian residents, his neighborhood is a place of discovery for the boy while the Roman Catholic Church and the girls in his class prove dual sources of mystery. Then, in the seventh grade, his family relocates to a larger home in Queens—much to his chagrin. Upset over the move, he consoles himself with trips to the local movie house and library. The bookworm does not attend college after high school but instead goes to work at a series of jobs he doesn’t like—carpenter, stock boy, bank agent. “Coming off the beat generation,” he reflects, “I was more than beat. I was confused as to which direction to best cast my lot in life. Having been given none of the enormous perplexities, I would have to face on the abstract road lying ahead.” After an unsuccessful stint in the Navy and a few rocky romantic relationships, he winds up back in New York City, enrolled in the Electronics Circuits and Systems Program at the RCA Institute. From there, he has an opportunity to work as a colorist in TV production, just as he begins to start a family of his own. Has he finally found his true calling, the thing that will silence the doubts and dissatisfaction that have categorized his life up until now? Or is he fated to remain perpetually stuck between where he’s been and where he wants to go?
Violandi’s oblique prose is reminiscent of high modernism, particularly James Joyce. Here, he describes going to confession as a boy: “Roman Catholic at this tender age. One in good standing, I entered the confessional with apprehension, chastity and Priapus in hand. Confessing touching number one. When confirmation rolled around, I’d change my tune to confessing impure thoughts. Feeling more comfortable with the latter, for its truth.” There are some fun and surprising turns of phrase as well as some other eye-catching stylistic flourishes, such as annotations explaining the childhood cartoons and pop hits he references throughout the text. The world of TV production—when it’s presented in any detail—is engagingly antiquated. Unfortunately, there is not a lot to the book apart from its slippery prose. There’s little plot and insufficient character development—even the protagonist remains hardly known to readers, hidden behind the text’s indirect narration. Though the novella is only 123 pages, its dense aimlessness makes it feel quite a bit longer. The author rarely offers scenes and instead tells the whole story as continuous, discursive exposition. Readers will be disinclined to care much about the protagonist, and Violandi gives them few reasons to change their minds.
An intriguing but uneven modernist-tinged tale about a frustrated man.Pub Date: June 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-578-29125-3
Page Count: 123
Publisher: KDP
Review Posted Online: Sept. 6, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
© 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.
