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Title: Morningside Heights : A Novel by Cheryl Mendelson ISBN: 0-375-50836-8 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 10 June, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.12 (17 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A novel to cherish, yet not at all syrupy!
Comment: I'm almost afraid to say that this novel reminds me of the works of Jane Austen, because usually when people say that they are attempting to praise cerebral, static prose of the kind Anita Brookner bores us silly with. This is much, much more -- a novel by someone with a clear mind and a good heart, who knows about being a wife, living in New York, raising children, and failing to keep a budget. There is a clear moral vision in this novel that I found refreshing to the point of thrilling; it's so nice to read about people trying to make ethical and moral choices without apologizing for even considering such arcane things.
Now, let me tell you right away that this isn't a perfect book. The ending is too neat, and (more seriously) the villains are too villainous. Never mind that that's exactly how we've perceived them to be in real life; you can't get away with stuff like that in fiction, and Cheryl Mendelson will mature out of such black-and-white characterizations, I hope. Luckily there are very few villains, and she never lets the plot get in the way of the story, which is superb. I finished the novel this morning and I already miss these people; thank goodness, as one other reviewer commented, it's the first of a trilogy!
I suspect that men will like this book as much as women if they give it a try; despite a female author and female protagonist, it's very much an everyman tale. I don't know anything about the neighborhood that is its heart, but I felt I'd lived there by the time I finished the book. Treat yourself to this pure and guiltless pleasure!
Rating: 5
Summary: The Spirit of Laurie Colwin
Comment: Cheryl Mendelson, best known for her book on housekeeping, Home Comforts, has written a book to gladen the hearts of fans of the late Laurie Colwin. Set in and around the Columbia University area of NYC, the book accurately captures the changing texture of life in that neigborhood in the late 90's. The characters are generally endearing, and the endings generally happy, with just enough bittersweet in the mix to keep the story from becomng too cloying. The story includes topics dear to New Yorker's heart--real estate, legal manuvers, psychiatrists and the performing arts. This is the first volume of a proposed trilogy; I can't wait for the next installment!
Rating: 5
Summary: More, please!
Comment: Thank goodness this is just the first book of a planned trilogy. Once you meet the Braithwaites in this, Mendelson's first detour into fiction, you will want more and more of them, their family, and their extended circle of friends. Delightful Manhattan neighborhood ambiance, urban optimism, marital stress...what's not to love?
Less than great literature, but way more than a good beach read.
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Title: The Pursuit of Alice Thrift by Elinor Lipman ISBN: 0679463135 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 17 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Trading Up by Candace Bushnell ISBN: 078686818X Publisher: Hyperion Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Dogs of Babel (Today Show Book Club #12) by Carolyn Parkhurst ISBN: 0316168688 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 13 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty ISBN: 1401300316 Publisher: Hyperion Press Pub. Date: 02 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Liars and Saints by Maile Meloy ISBN: 0743244354 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: June, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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