Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Oct 2006
368 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
The Uses of Enchantment weaves a spell in which the reader sees how the extraordinary power of a young woman’s sexuality, and the desire to wield it, have a devastating effect on all involved. The riveting cat-and-mouse power games between doctor and patient, and between abductor and abductee, are gradually, dreamily revealed, along with the truth about what actually happened in 1985.
"This structure delicately balances between gothic and comic, allowing Julavits to play variations on Mary's life and on the '80s moral panic of repressed memory syndromes and wild fears of child abuse." - PW, starred review.
"In her third novel, Julavits proves to be something of a sorceress herself, weaving a commanding, sophisticated narrative that is both vivid and dreamlike." - Library Journal.
"Potent and intoxicating: a dangerously seductive book." - Kirkus.
This information about The Uses of Enchantment was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Heidi Julavits is the author of four critically acclaimed novels (The Vanishers, The Uses of Enchantment, The Effect of Living Backwards, and The Mineral Palace) and co-editor, with Sheila Heti and Leanne Shapton, of the New York Times bestseller Women in Clothes. Her fiction has appeared in Harper's Magazine, McSweeney's, and The Best American Short Stories, among other places. She's a founding editor of The Believer magazine and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. She lives in Manhattan, where she teaches at Columbia University. She was born and raised in Portland, Maine.
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