The Perfect Shoe (Urban Soul) (Urban Soul Presents)

Customer Reviews:

The Perfect Shoe.......2007-08-30

This was a well written, wonderful story. I could fully relate to the main character with her love for shoes. The plot kept you interested in the book from start to finish. I finished the book in one day. I highly recommend this book.

Delightful, enjoyable read.......2007-08-20

Kim Matthews' "The Perfect Shoe" is a fun light-hearted read that will give you a hearty laugh. The story centers around December, a financially challenged, shoe crazy 20-something businesswoman who compares the men in her life to different types of shoes. Her quest to find her perfect shoe takes her on some pretty hilarious adventures. Through it all however, Decemeber remains likeable and sympathetic and is the type of girlfriend you wouldn't mind having in your clique. She's fun, generous and whimsical. Anyone that likes witty stories with a touch of tenderness will like this book.

I loved this book! .......2007-07-09

4.5 stars
I rarely read a book that I think is 5 stars, but The Perfect Shoe came closer than any that I have read lately. First the dictionary of different shoe types at the front and back of the book was fun to read (I even read some definitions to my daughters, all except the bedroom shoe of course :)

Kimberly does a great job of writing a believable story about December Elliot, a girl that is financially challenged due to her high-end spending habits. She has 300+ pairs of high-priced shoes and enough power suits to wear all year before she does dry cleaning. She also categorizes her men as types of shoes with the Stilleto man being the perfect shoe.

Janice Wheeler, December's boss, is a boss from hell, but things start looking up when Corinthian Davis, Janice's boss, shows he has a sweet tooth for December. (Oh, and by the way Corinthian a.ka. Corey is a stiletto.) Just when December is about to elevate to heights she has never seen in her career at Wright-Way Staffing, a goofy mishap causes her to find herself abruptly unemployed. In her lowest point, she finds appreciation for what she has and figures out how to work her finances, and she also gets her stilleto, thus The Perfect Shoe. This is the perfect tale for the saying, "you don't appreciate what you have until all is lost." December truly does not find herself until all is lost.

Kimberly T. Matthews does an awesome job of weaving a witty tale that is at some points comical, some points educational (finance, romance and work ethics), and at some points it threatens to tug at your heart strings. This book is a definite must read for every one trying to figure out what kind of shoe they should be wearing.

The Perfect Story to Relate to!.......2007-06-08

APOOO BookClub Rating: 4.5

The Perfect Shoe by Kimberly T. Matthews is the perfect read for laughs! December Elliot has everything going for her...well not everything. She is working at a job that she is the best at but her boss is a total, rhymes with the word witch. December, on top of having to be subjected to a witch of a boss, has some financial woes of which she needs to get out. You see, she has this urge to spend, spend, and spend whenever designer shoes, clothes, and items are around. On top of that, she is so infatuated with her shoes that she categorizes men after shoes! December has been searching for The Stiletto, which is the ultimate shoe thus the ultimate man for the longest. Will December be able to get out of financial woes and will she ever find The Stiletto that has it going in looks, intelligence, and attitude?

When I first opened this book I was pleasantly surprised to find a shoe dictionary! That dictionary definitely pulled me in to read more of the story. December reminded me of an actual real person, with her spending habits. Many readers will definitely see a kind of realness in the character; she wants to move forward but she is holding herself back by her actions. This story was such a refreshing read because it showed a character with real world problems that needed to be overcome. The Perfect Shoe will not be the last book I read by Kimberly T. Matthews! I recommend this book to readers looking to laugh and possibly relate to December and her personal struggles.

Chantay W.
APOOO BookClub

A Delightful Read!.......2007-06-02

The Perfect Show is the perfect book to read if you want to be entertained by a fast-moving totally believable story that is interwoven with a lot of humor. December Elliot becomes your best girlfriend in this story that is masterfully told by Kimberly Matthews. You feel like you are having a conversation with December from beginning to end. When I first heard of the book and read the Intro on MySpace, I initially thought the book was going to be some sort of dating "how to" or "what to avoid" manual. The whole novel aspect somehow went over my head so I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered the story behind the definitions (which are accurate on a very scary level).

I started reading the book and was only able to get to a few chapters in the course of two days due to a hectic schedule however when I had jury duty that same week, I took it with me. Due to a court delay, I sat there and read the entire thing cover to cover and loved every minute of it. In fact, I may have loved it a little too much. WARNING: do NOT read chapter 12 in public! I made that mistake and embarrassed myself. What started as a polite giggle, turned into snickering and then all out laughter. I couldn't stop laughing! The other jurors in the lounge could only stare at me and some started to laugh because I was laughing so hard. I won't give anything way but I will say this: you will NOT forget Rodney.

I appreciated the true to life depictions of a professional single woman as well as the dilemmas. The accurate advice woven into the storyline should be helpful to any readers suffering with some of the same issues.

I highly recommend this book and have even purchased it for others to read. No passing books around y'all. Support the authors and by a copy. (smile)

BTW: I found out my last boyfriend was a flip flop mixed with a glass slipper. You gotta read the book to understand that one!

Average customer rating:

Learning to Rejoice in 'Plan B'
Great book
more than chick lit
Great Summer Reading!
Delightful Read

Starting Out Sideways
Mary E. Mitchell
Manufacturer: Thomas Dunne Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Comic | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

United States | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Dream When You're Feeling Blue: A Novel
The Way Life Should Be
What We Keep: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
The Big Girls
Nefertiti: A Novel

ASIN: 0312368216
Release Date: 2007-05-15

Book Description

Roseanna Plow is perfectly content with her nice, simple life on Long Island, despite the fact that she’s being driven slowly insane by her meddling mother, who resembles Donna Reed on drugs. Rosie is very happy with her handsome husband and a fulfilling career as job counselor for the developmentally challenged. It might not be glamorous work, but Rosie is proud of the fact that she cares more about people than Prada. What more could a woman want in life? Except maybe being able to wear a sexy thong that doesn’t make her behind look like a rump roast in butcher string…

But when Rosie’s incredible husband turns out to be an incredible putz—sleeping with her best friend Inga—her life goes from Seventh Heaven to Jerry Springer in the blink of an eye and the tip of a wine glass. Alone and deceived, but with her sense of humor still intact, Rosie turns to her wonderfully wacky mother to help her bounce back. Of course, Ma’s recipe for mental recovery leaves much to be desired. And after Rosie discovers a painful family secret, hidden behind years of lies, she must set out to find herself and what really matters in life.

Along the way, Rosie is surprised to find help from Mickey Hamilton, a.k.a. Ham, who is kind, generous, and has a great butt to match. If only Rosie can overlook the fact that he’s nicknamed after the meat section at the local supermarket he manages. Milton, one of Rosie’s endearing mentally challenged clients--and Ham’s employee--also becomes a source of comfort along the way, always ready to defend “Miss Plow’s” honor and warm her heart, even as it’s breaking. And can a twenty-five-year-old punk office assistant with hair like candy corn really become Rosie’s new best friend? As she moves along the twisted road to self-discovery, Rosie finds happiness, acceptance, and even love – though none of it in the places she’d expected.

With laugh-out-loud scenes seamlessly interspersed among gut-wrenching moments of heartache, Starting Out Sideways is a unique and utterly delightful novel that will make you laugh, cry, and remember what’s truly important in life.

Customer Reviews:

Learning to Rejoice in 'Plan B' .......2007-07-17

What a hoot... As I read, I wished I were a character in the book and could yell "Rosie! - WAKE UP!". Like Stephanie Plum, Rosie is a lovingly flawed heroine, helping others and blundering through her personal life, struggling and juggling with the lemons life hands her.

Rosie has 'Plan B' thrust upon her - time after time; and happily discovers that 'Plan B' was where she needed to be all along.

Ms. Mitchell's wonderfully oddball characters all love Rosie - but on their own terms, and in ways Rosie struggles to appreciate. I can't wait to see who plays Marcie, Rosie's cute, kinky, caring, and all-seeing supervisor in the movie!

Great book.......2007-07-16

This is a wonderful book. Funny yet also insightful into the modern world of love, divorce and starting over. I just loved it.

more than chick lit.......2007-07-03

These characters are full of life, dimension, edges..they are beautifully developed and ring true. There are laugh out loud passages as well as poignant moments..highly recommended!

Great Summer Reading!.......2007-06-30

"Sideways" is a wonderful story, perfect for summer leisure reading. Roseanna Plow and the other characters are so well developed, you will think they are people in your neighborhood. The story is as captivating as the cast. Nothing goes as you might expect!

Delightful Read.......2007-06-22

What a fun book! My book group chose this novel and it led to a wonderful discussion full of laughter, but also personal sharing. It had a bit of everything - humor, sadness, conflict, loss and happiness. The characters were believable (all) and tremendously likeable (most!) We will definitely be reading Ms. Mitchell's next novel.

Average customer rating:

Dean King versus Nikolai Tolstoy--both bios unsatisfying
Dean King's books are among the classics
Brilliant biography of a very difficult subject
Only the books matter
An Intrusive Tribute

Patrick O'Brian : A Life Revealed
Dean King
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

British | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0805059768

Amazon.com

Hailed as the Irish author of "the greatest historical novels ever written"--the 20 swashbuckling Napoleonic-era adventures starring Captain Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin--Patrick O'Brian was not such a great guy. In fact, he wasn't really Patrick O'Brian: he was actually the Englishman Richard Patrick Russ, who abandoned his semiliterate Welsh wife and dying, spina bifida-plagued child in 1940 and reinvented himself as a writer and as a human being. He did well as a writer, winning kudos as a biographer (Picasso), translator (Papillon), and old literary sea lion. But he was less than humane, as Dean King's A Life Revealed reveals. The son of a rotten father, Russ/O'Brian became a rotten father himself, cutting off all contact with his son, granddaughters, and even siblings. As he chillingly wrote in his biography, "Parents are supposed to love their children, yet surely there is the implied condition that the children should be reasonably lovable?" Though he was kinder to his second wife, the Countess Mary Tolstoy, whose reckless driving injured both of them, he once wrote that Picasso was "sucked dry and rendered sterile by women, children, routine." For his part, O'Brian preferred poverty and exile in Southern France with Mary--remote from his family origins, penning masterpieces in a house with books but no electricity or running water. Only in his 70s did he become rich and famous.

You can't deny the many striking parallels between O'Brian's life and his work--even though he did. Rotten fathers permeate his fiction, as the fathomless woe must have permeated him upon his mother's death from tuberculosis in 1918, when he was 4. It's great fun to read about his mad-inventor father's machine to cure VD by electrocuting the bladder and compare it to Maturin's practice and devices--and to hear about the future author's salty Uncle Morse telling the lad about encounters with pirates. Captain Aubrey clearly derives partly from Patrick's sociable man-of-action brother Mike (who changed his surname to O'Brien, another family defector). And of course Maturin proves to be in large part a self-portrait.

Fans of Aubrey and Maturin may find King's A Sea of Words (a lexicon of arcane terms that O'Brian uses) more delightful than his exposé of O'Brian's impressive yet appalling life, but it is one thorough and convincing exposé. --Tim Appelo

Book Description

The untold life story of a novelist whose greatest fictional creation was his own identity.

In a 1998 article in New York magazine, Dean King offered readers a small sampling of the secret history of Patrick O'Brian, the creator of the bestselling series of Aubrey-Maturin novels. O'Brian has always guarded the secrets of his personal history with a zealousness that has bordered on the obsessive. And for years his fanatical readers have speculated on the true story and spun myths about his past based on the lives of his characters.

Dean King at last unveils the story of Richard Patrick Russ, a writer and intellectual who emerged from the Second World War as Patrick O'Brian, a persona created in his own imagination and later refined by decades of rumor and speculation. What motivated this radical change of identity? Was it connected to O'Brian's service during the war, or the messy divorce from his first wife? Or was it the inexplicable act of an eccentric genius?King has crisscrossed Europe to speak to long-lost relatives, friends, and colleagues of his famously reclusive subject and has fashioned this wealth of information into a dramatic narrative that will appeal to an audience far wider than O'Brian's already dedicated fans.

Customer Reviews:

Dean King versus Nikolai Tolstoy--both bios unsatisfying.......2006-05-29

Dean King's groundbreaking biography of Patrick O'Brian has taken a real beating of late from Nikolai Tolstoy's recent and competing treatment of his stepfather's first 35 years. Having slogged through both biographies of the gifted but humanly flawed O'Brian, I am happy to say, no one wins. In fact, a pox on both their houses; I am going to forget what I have read and will just start rereading the man's work.

King gets credit for being the first to put together O'Brian's life. Even with all the inaccuracies so helpfully pointed out by Tolstoy, King was able to anchor the main points of that life in a way that make Tolstoy's criticisms often seem petty (more on that). Above all, it must be understood, King has written a biography more of O'Brian's work--what was written when, how it was received, the struggles for recognition--than of his life with all its hidden chapters and strange motivations. Given that King is a devoted reader of O'Brian's works, he can be forgiven for his breathless treatment of how O'Brian came to be known and revered especially in America for his Aubrey-Maturin series.

Which is not to excuse King's excesses of style. His chapter-heading quotations are odd choices that smack occasionally of invincible pretension. What Thoreau and Plutarch had to do with the matter at hand eluded me. King opens the bio with the episode of the writer Richard Patrick Russ changing his name to Patrick O'Brian, and King purports to know what Russ/O'Brian was thinking. King spoke with many people who knew O'Brian, but one is never sure about sources for particular passages because footnotes are wholly absent. Finally, there is a logical inconsistency that dogs King: having established that O'Brian consistently lied about his putative Irish background, King uses O'Brian's writings about himself often uncritically. Many of O'Brian's family refused to speak with King, so perhaps King just had to work with what he had.

King's writing is entertaining, and not always in a good way; it often leaves one with the feeling of not having reached the level of ept. The reaction to an early novel "was as if Beethoven's Ninth Symphony were being performed sotto voce." The potential American market for O'Brian's books "was like a Manila galleon lying halfway around the world, strange, unfathomable, immensely rich." One "watershed review was seeping into the minds of American book readers." At one point, having exhausted his store of merely strange figures of speech, King then compares O'Brian to the Little Engine That Could. I think that's projection at work. In any case, King demonstrates that immersing oneself in good writing doesn't necessarily spill over.

Tolstoy, having read and disagreed with King's bio of his stepfather, has given us a tedious and defensive account of O'Brian's life until his move to France in 1949. In the end, quite ironically, his biography leaves one less enamored with O'Brian the man than does King's.

Tolstoy's thickest problem is that he's too close to his subject for comfort. The most transparent example of this is Tolstoy's repeated criticisms of Dean King's errors--some factual but most on the writer's motivations--that themselves originate in O'Brian's lies about himself, lies that Tolstoy dismisses as "innocuous pretense" or "romancing." Tolstoy, in essence, just doesn't see what all the fuss is about, but as one of those O'Brian family members who refused to speak with King, he really cannot have it two ways. Likewise, Tolstoy swings between saying that O'Brian knew perfectly well that he was lying about his background (and what does that matter really?), the suggestion that O'Brian believed his own lies (and therefore is not culpable), and the idea that others wanted to believe O'Brian was Irish, so he had to follow along (and therefore should be forgiven).

It's in the substance of Tolstoy's defense of O'Brian--responding to what King unearthed in his research--that things get ugly, or amusing, depending on your point of view. King discovered that O'Brian had an affair shortly after marrying his first wife; Tolstoy gives O'Brian a pass on adultery because the girl was willing and the wife probably would never know! Tolstoy lets us know that "nothing can justify" O'Brian's leaving the first wife and two small children--one with a fatal disease--but he apparently thinks the situation mitigated somehow by the fact that O'Brian was "constitutionally ill equipped" for fatherhood (in fact he hated children), that his little daughter wasn't going to live long anyway, and that in any case he had met and moved in with his soul mate, the author's mother, a woman of wit and education, quite in contrast to the first wife. At one point Tolstoy cannot understand the first wife's bitterness, as O'Brian had done nothing (nothing!) to provoke it.

Tolstoy's biography is more accurate than King's (it helps to have the subject's diaries and papers), there is no doubt Tolstoy is a better writer (a family thing, perhaps), and I have to say his teasing out autobiographical elements from early short stories is very good indeed. But one must question both his judgment and his perspective. He started by wanting to defend O'Brian against what he saw as unfair treatment, but he ended up portraying a far more dysfunctional, far less appealing Patrick O'Brian than Dean King ever did or would.

Dean King's books are among the classics.......2005-05-23

Dean King's books are among the classics. Dean King was written biographies of extra-ordinary people that are well-known, yet
are not known, at all. Patrick O'Brian and Captain James Riley are two leaders in their own worlds, yet their paths never crossed.

Dean King, the extra-ordinary man that he is, had the perception and insight to recognize extra-ordinary traits in O'Brian and Riley, and write their biographies.

Once a true reader of good literature reads Dean King, he will become a reader for the long run.

Brilliant biography of a very difficult subject.......2004-09-14

Having been a rabid fan of O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels, and then joyfully discovering his two earlier sea novels, I encouraged every friends and family member I thought would be interested to read those wonderful books. Though biographies are not a favorite genre of mine, I was presented with this book as a gift because it was well-known among my loved ones that O'Brian's work had meant so much to me over the years.

I had no idea of O'Brian's persona.

Dean King is to be commended for putting together a very well constructed biography of an extremely difficult subject. O'Brian deliberately obfuscated his past, distorted facts and outright lied to even close friends throughout his entire life. His attempt to hide his own past must have been a terrible obstacle to writing this biography, but King did a wonderful job.

Ultimately, I realized that I would have keenly disliked O'Brian had I known him personally, and I'm glad that never happened. Instead, I can simply enjoy the fruits of his marvelous creativity.

Dean King is to be commended for his hard work and meticulous research; he is honest at those points when he doesn't have all the facts so presents what he feels is the "most likely" scenario. In summary, being neither iconoclastic nor apologist, King's unbiased and frank account of Patrick O'Brian's strange life and how it translated into the nuances of his novels is perceptive and engaging.

Only the books matter.......2002-11-11

Dean King has written an honest, thorough and revealing portrait of the author of the greatest extended novel series of the 20th century. King has clearly gone to considerable lengths in uncovering the unpleasant past of O'Brian, his unhappy childhood, early years as a writer, failed first marriage (which culminated in O'Brian abandoning his wife and two young children), his poverty and struggles as a writer in Wales and then in the south of France, and the unrecognized genius of the first few books in his Aubrey/Maturin series. King is nearly adulatory (and rightly so) in describing the Aubrey/Maturin books of O'Brian; but he makes no excuses for O'Brian the man. O'Brian was vindictive, mean-spirited and unforgiving. He had not the slightest compunction about irretrievably cutting off any family member or "friend" who made the slightest criticism of him or his work. He was irrationally sensitive about his past and the cricumstances in which he changed his name (and identity) after WW II, and he ruthlessly cut off all enquiries into his past. Although he vehemently denied it, O'Brian was a snob of the first water, a self-absorbed dilletante, who had patience for only those who admired his work. Yet, in the final analysis (and perhpas this is all that matters, since O'Brian died in early 2000), O'Brian was a very great writer. His Aubrey/Maturin books so far transcend the genre of historical fiction that even identifying them with such is an injustice. As a connected narrative, the twenty books which comprise the Aubrey/Maturin series have no equal -- not even close -- in the 20th century. That the stories are set in the past, in the late years of Napoleonic Europe, is incidental. King recognizes this fact in describing O'Brian the novelist and provides much new information about how O'Brian began and developed this wonderful series of stories. Perhaps King realizes, as we all should, that, at the end of the day, only the books matter.

An Intrusive Tribute.......2002-01-11

Dean King has published two companions to O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series (Harbours and High Seas, and A Sea of Words) and this is his companion to the life of the author. He has uncovered many of the secrets that O'Brian would have preferred to remain hidden, and he has given an insight into the literary background and writing style of O'Brian that will delight anybody interested in his works, especially the twenty volume epic canon of Captain Jack Aubrey RN and Surgeon Stephen Maturin FRS.

King has dug deep into O'Brian's family, discovering spies, crank doctors, salty seadogs, bad fathers and errant husbands enough for a whole shelf full of fiction. He has chronicled O'Brian's life through its several changes, especially the golden afternoon of his writing career, when he was discovered by the world's readers and became a heroic figure, writing best-seller after best-seller from his vineyard home in the South of France.

Customer Reviews:

What a pleasure to read such an artistic and creative book!.......1999-09-23

All I need to know in Life I learned from Romance Novels by Victoria Johnson was a pleasure and a thought provoking experience. The things that the author talks about are the things that interest me. I can not wait for her next Book!

I enjoyed the book tremendously........1999-08-18

I loved every word printed in the book. I am a big fan of Victoria Johnson's and I can not wait for her next book, I will buy that based on her love and appreciation of the romance field.

I loved every word of this book........1999-07-16

The author put her love of writing in this book It is obvious to me that Author Victoria Johnson did tremendous amounts of research and cares deeply about the romance genre and about human beings.

This book is a must read for all romance lovers........1999-06-14

I was amazed with all the positive comments from other readers regarding this book. I want to join in praise for Victoria Johnson's book All I learned in life I learned from Romance Novels.I loved the how to book on successful relationships.I loved the quotes from the famous Romance authors. Her advice is genuine and you can tell that the author knows her subject matter.Her book is positive and uplifting.

I rate the book a "ten", two thumbs up!.......1999-05-26

I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed this book. The research and the information that I recieved from this book was awesome.I am recommending the book to all of my friends. All I need to Know in Life I Learned from Romance Novels is a must read for Romance Lovers all over the World!

Humor in Borges (Humor in Life and Letters)

Average customer rating:

The Secret Jokester

Humor in Borges (Humor in Life and Letters)
Rene De Costa
Manufacturer: Wayne State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Spanish | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Caribbean & Latin American | History & Criticism | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Spanish | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Latin American | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0814328881

Customer Reviews:

The Secret Jokester.......2000-09-19

Finally, FINALLY, a critical work on what is by far the least appreciated aspect of Borges's art, his humor. When Borges describes, in one of his most famous stories, "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius," the intellectuals of Tlon as considering philosophy and theology to be sub-species of fantastic literature, he's not so subtly offering a key to understanding his own fiction, which is, among other things, a very funny, very irreverant send-up of humankind's quest for meaning. Is there a more sublimely ridiculous exercise than to prove, by internal Scriptural evidence, as Borges does in "Three Versions of Judas," that it was Judas, not Jesus, who was the Messiah? (Admittedly, not everyone will find said operation funny, but that's hardly Borges's fault.) These metaphysical jokes are fairly obvious, even if (inexplicably) overlooked by the vast majority of critics. Prof. De Costa, however, goes a step further in his inquiry by, paradoxically, staying on the surface. He pays close attention to the descriptions of spaces Borges creates, such as the bathrooms in "The Library of Babel," which require the user to do everything (EVERYTHING) standing up, or the railings around the bottomless air shafts in the same Library, which are too low to prevent very many fatal accidents. Such an absurd environment, seemingly designed by a fool (or perhaps a Marx brother), allows for plenty of potential slapstick, even if that slapstick's never realized. Borges's worlds are simultaneously zany and dangerous, or, to use De Costa's terms, funny and serious. Additionally, De Costa provides an excellent, exhaustive overview of Borges's scatological humor. (The gentlemanly Borges did, indeed, enjoy a good poop joke.) As an incidental bonus, "Humor in Borges" happens to provide an insightful study of Borges's affinities with Kafka. If you can't laugh at Borges, you can't understand Borges. This slim book is a major contribution to our appreciation of a major writer.

Average customer rating:

Depressing, predictable, and boring
Engrossing Page Turning Dramady
Funny, sad first novel on lives of New York writers
Diving in the Shallow End
Spend a Summer with Writers in NY for $12

Lit Life: A Novel
Kurt Wenzel
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Gotham Tragic: A Novel
The Losers Club: Complete Restored Edition!

ASIN: 0375760318
Release Date: 2002-07-09

Book Description

Which is worth more—celebrity or credibility? Set in Manhattan and the Hamptons, Lit Life identifies and deconstructs this dilemma as it takes the reader on a hilarious tour through the world of two eccentric writers. Kyle Clayton, a “once hot, now not” young author and provocateur with a serious case of writer’s block, navigates New York nightlife in an inebriated haze until he meets his literary hero, the dyspeptic and obscure novelist Richard Whitehurst, who is smitten with the notion of Kyle’s former fame. Richard is suffering his own form of breakdown because of the looming collapse of his marriage, not to mention years of public ambivalence toward his work. As the two writers’ lives collide, they find in each other the crutch they’ve each been seeking—and, perhaps, the salvation that has eluded them both.

Kurt Wenzel’s taut, coruscating prose and intimate, precisely rendered take on the literary scene make this the most brilliantly realized novel about the publishing world since Martin Amis’s The Information.

Download Description

Set in Manhattan and the Hamptons, Lit Life is a romp through the world of two writers: Kyle Clayton, a "once hot" young author, and Richard Whitehurst, his literary hero. As these two collide, each finds in the other the crutch he has been seeking.

Customer Reviews:

Depressing, predictable, and boring.......2006-05-13

I picked this up because I love to write. It started strong but went downhill from there. The only parts I enjoyed were the trials and travails of writers, which seemed accurate enough, but what do I know? The plot was too predictable at times. I didn't feel any compassion for any of the characters, mostly because I didn't feel like I knew them well enough.

Engrossing Page Turning Dramady.......2004-07-26

From the introduction on through this book keeps your attention. A great story of comedy with heartfelt drama and sadness. A mix of a little of everyhing. Great potential for a movie.

Funny, sad first novel on lives of New York writers.......2004-02-18

Lit Life is Kurt Wenzel first novel, and is centered on three characters: Kyle Clayton, whose first novel was a huge success, but has written nothing else for years; Richard Whitehurst, who is called America's most underrated writer, having failed to achieve success despite a lifetime of hard work and respectable reviews; and Whitehurst's wife Meryl, who after decades of marriage to Whitehurst sees their relationship dying as a result of the writer's failure to achieve the success he has dreamed of. Clayton and Whitehurst could not seem more different -- Clayton has spent the years since his first novel getting drunk and chasing women, while Whitehurst has shown an almost monkish dedication to his work, to the point that he is alienated from his wife and daughter. However, the differences between the two result in a relationship. Clayton has long admired Whitehurst's work, and Whitehurst admires Clayton's work and envies his fame. By the time the two meet, that fame has gone sour -- Clayton finds himself listed in an article in New York magazine as one of the 100 most obnoxious New Yorkers. Whitehurst persuades Clayton to spend the summer with him in the Hamptons, and this intrusion into Whitehurst's settled life has consequences that no one could have expected.

This description of the plot makes the book sound like grim reading. It is not. Clayton's escapades at throughout the book, as he gets drunk, behaves (at times) badly, and ponders the possibility of agreeing to product placement in his next book are all very funny. The last idea is not as fanciful as it sounds; a noted British novelist agreed to such a deal (I don't know if Wenzel anticipated it or not). While Wenzel has some interesting things to say about the life of a writer, he does so in a way that has broad appeal -- this is not a navel-gazing book. And Wenzel is quick to see the humor in his other charactes as well. The book is best described as a satire.

Wenzel is a highly skilled writer. He moves the vantage point of the novel from Clayton, to Whitehurst, and to Meryl to show how the characters view themselves and each other. This is an effective way to flesh a character out. And Wenzel handles his three main characters well -- none of them are stereotypes.

The book moves smoothly from comedy to tragedy, with an very effective ending. I look forward to Wenzel's next book.

Diving in the Shallow End.......2003-11-12

I'll be up front: this book was not what I was hoping for. I'd read in the descriptions that it was about two writers at different points in their lives spending together. I naively thought that meant they would form some sort of bond and learn about WRITING and life from each other. That never really materialized. Instead, "Lit Life" is a "satire" that demonstrates all that is wrong with the publishing industry; it is a book more concerned with dishing dirt than building an effective, meaningful story. In a world where sleaze sells, "Lit Life" is there with all the sleaze a modern reader could ask for. Drugs, drinking, sex, affairs, and ultimately a suicide; this book is like a literary soap opera.

"Lit Life"'s main conundrum is that either you can be a great artist with no recognition like Richard Whitehurst or popular, rich, and not talented like Richard's nemesis Arthur. These two spend a summer trying to bend young, troubled author Kyle Clayton to their point of view. There is no real middle ground if you believe "Lit Life"; you're either one or the other. You can't be a wealthy and talented writer, can you? Unfortunately I don't know enough famous writers to answer that question, but I don't believe that for a moment. As a writer hoping to get published someday, I CAN'T believe that.

Overall, my problem with "Lit Life" is that Wenzel glosses over important moments of the story. For example, readers never even see Richard invite Kyle to stay with him. Nor do readers see much of Richard and Kyle together during the summer; everything that Kyle learns from Richard is told second-hand instead of actually witnessed by the reader. Take Wenzel's word for it, Kyle was really influenced by Richard. Wait, wasn't that the whole crux of the story? Wasn't that THE story? So maybe it's just me, but I think we might want to flesh that out a little more than a couple paragraphs here and there. No, instead let's talk about another party, that's really what this story is about--parties.

Enough of my ranting. If you're in the publishing industry then I suggest you read this book; this "satire" will probably be right up your alley. Or if you want some light airplane reading and want to believe that all writers are either toiling futilely or selling their souls to Hollywood, then "Lit Life" has you covered. For those few who want a book more interested in developing a story than dishing gossip, move on to something else.

Was this review helpful to you? Nope. Was it helpful to me? You betcha.

Spend a Summer with Writers in NY for $12.......2002-07-17

I'm no literary guru or genius, but I know what I like when I see it, and I like this book -- a lot.

Without sounding as if I'm saying that the story is plain, this book is proof that sometimes the way a story is told is more important than the story itself. Sure, the tale of the two major writer-characters is interesting, but without Wenzel's extraordinary character development, it might not be satisfying enough; Wenzel's efforts in this regard left me feeling not only that I knew the characters very well, but also that I had summered with them in the Hamptons. And what colorful characters they are! You may not uncover the meaning of life, but you will have a good time -- and isn't that what it's all about?

If you've ever even contemplated writing a novel, or if you have a love affair as many of us do with all things New York (City and Hamptons, that is), then this book will give you pleasure.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Academic Exchange Quarterly, published by Rapid Intellect Group, Inc. on March 22, 2005. The length of the article is 3093 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Thinking outside the book: comparing life and lit.
Author: Colin Irvine
Publication: Academic Exchange Quarterly (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2005
Publisher: Rapid Intellect Group, Inc.
Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Page: 115(5)

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