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There are currently 21 member reviews
for Tuesday Nights in 1980
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Patricia L. (Seward, AK)
Why Art?
Art. What is it? Why do it? Who cares? Using fiction in an attempt to answer these questions is commendable and daunting. Prentiss does a respectable job. At times her prose rambles but her believable characters carry themselves and the reader through some most unbelievable situations mostly unscathed.
James Bennett, an art critic of some repute, is hopelessly addicted to the sensual nature of his passion. His wife, Marge, loves James so much she gives up her passion to enable his eccentricities. Raul Engales, Argentinian/American, new to the 80's New York art culture striving the find his way while running from past demons. Lucy, naive 20 something, escaped Ketchum, Idaho "…pulled the trigger on the move…to what people called…The Big Apple—because of a book and a postcard, which she believed to be signs." Set in New York City among artists of all stripes. Mix in a horrific accident or two, love, jealousy, fame won and lost and a story vaguely reminiscent of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch emerges.
Prentiss peppers her writing with sentences that require a second look making the plot almost secondary. Describing Raul as "… he had perhaps become old, in spirit at least, much earlier; when your parents die, so does the idea of infinite time on the planet. Instead, you are forced into becoming weirdly wise, gaining too soon the knowledge that life is both precious and perfectly meaningless, neither philosophy leaving much room for boredom." Lucy, months into her adventure muses: "…the men adored her and then disposed of her. With each of them she felt briefly and tightly tethered, hopeful that they would deliver her to that place that she craved: the deep dark cavern of love and lust, the place where longing stopped. But none of them did and in between her encounters with them, and usually even during, she felt deeply alone." And in a lighter vein, the description of a gallery owner working an opening. "Winona was like a sponge, wringing herself out onto someone and then moving on to soak in someone else."
Underneath it all is the question of why—why pursue a passion? For whom? Walter Pater has written that "…art comes to you proposing frankly to give nothing but the highest quality to your moments as they pass." Tuesday Nights in 1980 merely attempts to chronicle the depth of energy and passion that enables art to grace our moments, successfully.
Highly recommended for lovers of art and contemporary literature and/or enjoy a story that demands an engaged reader.
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Kate Q. (Minneapolis, MN)
Tuesday Nights in 1980
Absolutely loved Molly Prentiss' debut novel, Tuesday Nights in 1980! Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. She did an excellent job of weaving interesting characters with the seamy, sordid and often splendid backdrop of the New York art scene in the 1980's. I am an art teacher and I thoroughly enjoyed the mix of real artists life's with the fictional protagonists. I look forward to reading more from Prentiss. Great recommendation for a book club.
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Barbara H. (Richmond, IN)
Spellbinding
Tuesday Nights in New York City in 1980 vividly delves into a lifestyle in a time and a place that most can only experience from reading. It is an exciting time in the lives of three main characters who have all come to New York to be a part of the art world.
Raul is the artist seeking fame and escaping Argentina; James is the critic advantageously suffering from synesthesia; and Lucy is seeking an artist and escaping Idaho. They manage to become embroiled in each others' lives.
Tuesdays are life-changing days throughout the book. The story begins at a New Year's Eve party on a Monday night, but the events of Tuesday, January 1, become pivotal in the novel. The life of an artist involves awaiting a chance for success; however, this is no formulaic plot; the events are surprising. The characters are changed and conflicted.
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Vanessa S. (Rancho Santa Fe, CA)
Art and the 80's!
This book definitely had a very different feel and context about it. I loved the idea that James "felt or saw" colors, etc. based on the paintings and people in his life and how this changed according to some of the major events in his life.
I wish that the the author would have made more of a connection or explained more about Raul's accident and what may have happened to his sister at that same moment. I felt a little lost in that part of the book. I probably would have rated it a 5 had this been a little clearer.
1980 was certainly an interesting time and it brought back memories for me. I really enjoyed the time frame and the backdrop of NYC and the art world.
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Louise E. (Rockville, MD)
Enjoyable Story
A book set in the world of art is not a story I would typically read. So I decided to try this one and glad I did. The author pulls you right in. Having the 3 main characters - Raul, James, and Lucy - not only came from different backgrounds but also different sides of the New York City art world made for a richer story. A few of the twists had me asking myself if that really happened because I wasn't expecting them. Also it was very interesting how significant Tuesday was to the story. Once I got into the story I didn't want to put it down. And not everything was resolved at the end but that's fine with me. Enjoy!
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Tired Bookreader
Very slow plot
The book has an interesting story if you are willing to wade through the plots, subplots, and constantly changing venues. I have to say, I was moseying thru the pages when the event happened out of nowhere. I still can't stop thinking about it. Kudos to Molly Prentiss.
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Ariel F. (Madison, WI)
A blast from the past!
Tuesday Nights in 1980, deals with art scene in New York and the lives of various people in the scene. The book takes a lot of different twists and turns.
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