Patricia_Linville

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.

"The seeds laid by any given karma were not entirely known, the outcomes could not be foretold with any accuracy and it was likely, in any event, that one would remain floating and turning within the circle of eternal suffering." Though this passage is found towards the end of Lawrence Osborne's "Hunters in the Dark" it captures the atmosphere of his intriguing story.
Robert, a thirty something, teacher of English literature "in a little provincial schoolroom" is spending his holiday in Cambodia. "The sweet bird of youth, in his case, had nowhere to perch and had not taken flight to begin with. His youth was a wingless dodo. One could go on and on and that bird would still not sing. You waited for life to begin and yet for some reason it did not begin. It hesitated while you wondered about the risks. You stood in the wing of your own play, afraid to walk onto the boards and begin."
Within the foggy, damp and steamy backdrop of Cambodia, author Osborne nudges Robert onto "…the boards…" and into what predictably becomes an intricate web of con, retribution and confusion. There are beautiful Khmer women, an American con man and the network of taxi drivers and hotel attendants who observe all. Osborne has written a story that is hard to put down as each obvious solution is derailed and the intrigue becomes more so. The author also expertly portrays the complicated relationship of the Anglo-Saxon and the people of Asia as not always as hospitable as may be perceived.
Likened to Graham Greene, Osborne uses excellent prose to weave an exciting story. His experience as an ex-pat in Asia gives the occasional rambles about the countryside and/or those who inhabit it an astute credibility. Recommended for all who enjoy a well written yet spellbinding tale.

Early twentieth century was not a welcome place for women on their own. Not having "a man" meant no protection from other men and the numerous dangers, either real or perceived that could be encountered. Constance and her two sisters were heading to town in their horse drawn buggy when they are unceremoniously hit by an automobile. Unfortunately the driver is a rich, unhinged ne'er do well who refuses to compensate them for the damage. And when provoked by Constance's insistence that he do so, he decides they are easy targets for he and his friends harassment. The story is based on newspaper accounts of real life happenings. Amy Stewart embellishes some but uses clippings about the actual incident and others from the time period in ingenious ways. While reading this gently paced account one has the feeling that the author is building a foundation for future adventures of Constance and her sisters. If as entertaining as Girl Waits With Gun they are sure to be a hit. Recommended for easy entertaining reading in any weather.

Everyone at some time or other has been too busy to take note of what needs immediate attention. Mind a million miles away until a tragic incident forces all focus on the present moment. A small family attempting to navigate the permanent consequences of distraction is the idea upon which James Sie's book is built. Still Life Las Vegas is about the slender thread upon which we balance ourselves and what happens when it is stretched, frayed and finally broken. Teenager Walter Stahl lives with his father, a former professor of Greek mythology, now spending his days abed in a drugged stupor. They have moved west looking for Walter's mother who ran away sometime "earlier." Against the plastic backdrop that is Las Vegas, including Liberace and the gondolas of the Venetian, Walter navigates toward adulthood searching for the Vietnamese woman that was his mother. Enroute, he learns more than he wants to know about his family's past and the world in general. Sie expertly creates believable characters in unbelievable yet plausible situations, especially considering the Las Vegas environment. The mixture of prose and graphic novel styles works mostly, especially in the beginning. Recommended for those who like their contemporary fiction thoughtful and a little bit crazy.

The Well might be a good story, if the plot was slightly more apparent. Halfway through the book there are still just a few dangling clues as to what happened in the past that has Rose locked up under house arrest while the world outside of her luscious, well watered farm is enduring a disastrous drought. Seems there was a murder, or not. Her daughter is a reformed, or not, addict now roaming around with a group of hippies. Her husband, a falsely accused pedophile, or not, seems to think the drought is someone else's problem. While some of the text reads well, too often it rambles down an alternate path. Too many story lines with not enough glue to make the book interesting enough to stay in The Well.

"Many people just assumed from listening to his confident tone that my uncle Poxl knew what he was talking about." Thus Daniel Torday begins to weave his story of an impressionable teen and the adventures of a good friend of his deceased grandfather who he calls uncle. Torday intersperses the narration of the nephew recounting his adventures with Uncle Poxl with the memoirs written by Poxl himself. While the core of the story deals with Poxl's relationships during the war, the war itself and the young nephew's perception of his uncle, the heart of the book explores the role of stories in the retelling of history, the meaning of love, and who are heroes and why. This may sound like a monumental undertaking but Torday handles it well. His prose is quick and pointed and the action moves fluidly. Yet in the midst of it all he writes a thought that requires rereading and contemplation. "…I do not know if a conversation like this is what it is to be in love—to disagree but to stay around and find out why, so it is no longer a disagreement. To do something so simple as to talk honestly, and then to listen. But I do know it's what it means to begin to know someone: confession, revelation, reconciliation." The Last Flight of Poxl West should probably be read twice, once to learn the story of a young man learning about the past while being taught life lessons and again for the truisms, fortunate and un, that are part of all of our histories. Recommended for those who understand that fiction isn't necessarily untrue.

The Same Sky is the story of two people trying to make sense of their lives in what appears to be a parallel universe. Alice and her husband are successful restaurant owners trying to reconcile their inability to have a child and the heart breaking ups and downs of failed attempts to adopt that have left them emotionally drained. Carla, a young Honduran, is longing for her mother to return from El Norte and help take care of her little brother. When it becomes too dangerous for them to stay in their home by the dump, Carla begins the journey to be reunited with her mother.
Alternating chapter by chapter Ward's depictions of both lives is captivating. Alice and her husband operate a successful BBQ restaurant in Austin yet the need to have a child is creating an emotional roller coaster for them both. Their attempts to adopt have been unsuccessful, the last one especially heart breaking. Enough so they unwittingly take on a foster child, again with fairly disastrous results. Though their relationship starts strong all the emotional upheaval around trying to become parents begins to take its toll.
In Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Carla's mother left her with her grandmother and headed north hoping to find a way to provide for the family from afar. When grandmother dies Carla is left to fend for herself and her little brother. Although she is fairly content in her home by the dump, she sees her little brother descend into another world as he sniffs glue to stave off hunger. Recognizing that no one she knows has returned from that world she decides to take him El Norte, find their mother and become a family again.
The Same Sky's plot is reminiscent of T.C. Boyle's Tortilla Curtain. I found Ward's prose succinct and easily read. The short chapters, alternating voices and stories kept the pace rapid. Ward waits until the last few pages to reveal her intent, which made reading that much more enjoyable. The Same Sky is a reminder that however we are different in circumstances and environment we are all under the "same sky". Highly recommended, especially for Book Clubs.