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Title: Apprentice to the Flower Poet Z. : A Novel by DEBRA WEINSTEIN ISBN: 1-4000-6155-5 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 20 January, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.35 (17 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Poets, buds, and budding poets
Comment: Who knew that poetry was such a cutthroat business? Debra Weinstein's debut novel is a brilliant, multilayered look at the world of poetry and the people who populate it. Funny and yet strangely lyrical, "Apprentice To The Flower Poet Z" is a lovely read.
Student and wannabe-poet Annabelle Goldsmith stumbles into a dream job when she becomes the "apprentice" (read: assistant with a more glamorous title) to Z., a famed poet who writes poetry about flowers. Among Annabelle's duties is buying ink, trespassing for flower desciptions, and buying a boyfriend's underwear for the charming, enigmatic Z. Vaguely she knows that all this is awful, but she submits meekly anyway.
Annnabelle also takes up with an older student, Harry, who enmeshes her in some weird erotic situations to serve as his muse. Then Annabelle meets Z's husband and sullen daughter Claire, both of whom hide more unflattering secrets about this glamorous poet. But Annabelle discovers the most shocking fact about Z yet -- and it's tied to Annabelle's own budding poetry.
"I want the world to think poetry, the way it thinks television..." So says Spence, Z's sexy boyfriend. That may be a bit much to ask, but Weinstein certainly makes the world of modern poetry -- either beautiful or ruthless -- closer to readers in this book. While there are a few subplots that seem to peter out (like the story of Harry's mentor, or Annabelle's shrink sessions), the main plot is the mesmerizing one.
Weinstein herself is a poet, and it shows. She has a sort of spare poetry to her prose writing, a bit like a prose haiku -- minimal details, but still evocative. And the poetry she sprinkles liberally through "Apprentice" is simply beautiful, always very polished and striking. She also strikes deep into the heart of an aspiring poet's world -- the workshops, the intellectual snobbery (usually revolving around Annabelle's love of Dickinson), the guidelines that others can set for poetry.
Z is the most fascinating character of the book. We can tell that below the cool, smart artist exterior that there's something a lot less pleasant, but Weinstein unwinds the "flower poet" so that we only get hints to add up. Annabelle can be a bit of a doormat, but she's a nice lead character with all the artistic idealism of a person just setting out in her wished-for job.
From Emily Dickinson to empty flower poems, "Apprentice To The Flower Poet Z" is a beautifully-written, wickedly witty debut novel. Highly recommended.
Rating: 5
Summary: Finest kind and then some, says Kat from Readerville
Comment: I read such a marvelous, amusing and brilliant novel today: Apprentice to the Flower Poet Z. by Debra Weinstein. By turns morbidly then innocently funny, high wit and low, searching and cynical, finest kind indeed. And, the writing -- dear god, it's a marvel and a gift. A young under-grad poet-in-training from Long Island lucks into a fellowship in Manhattan with a highly respected poet and, dear reader, this is their story. Wow and wow.
A must-read for anyone who has an interest in good novels, poetry, luscious language, insightful stories amusingly told, Manhattan, the academic milieu. My only regret on reading this book is having read it since it won't ever again be unknown ground to me. I fully expect to see this title on some of the award long and short lists for this year.
This is the sort of novel I stand up for ... it's that good, and how.
Rating: 4
Summary: The things we do for poetry.
Comment: In her first novel, Debra Weinstein, tells the wicked-funny story of creative writing student and aspiring poet, Annabelle Goldsmith, and her apprenticeship to the famous flower poet Z. "This is the story of how I came to momentary prominence in the world of poetry," Annabelle tells us, "and, through a series of misunderstandings, destroyed my good name and became a nobody" (p. 3). Because of her naivete, Annabelle ultimately becomes little more than a personal assistant to her self-absorbed literary mentor. When Z exploits Annabelle by sending her on personal shopping errands to buy blue, burgundy, and purple hand towels, "jet black, not midnight black, not shoeshine black" ink, and silk boxers, in addition to conducting botanical research, Annabelle's academic dream job soon deteriorates into pure hell. In an erotic subplot, Annabelle becomes immersed in an affair with an older graduate student, Harry, who expects her to play Nora (naked, except for high heels and gloves) to his James Joyce.
Z is a more fascinating and well-developed character by far than Annabelle. An interesting character study in narcissism, Z is equally charming and detestable, yet in the end, hardly "the finest poet writing in the English language" (p. 13) Annabelle believes her to be. Though plagued with a disappointing ending, which employs a novel-within-a-novel conceit, Weinstein's tale will nevertheless appeal to readers (like me) with a passion for poetry, and to readers (like me) who have experienced academic life in a college English department or creative writing program. Readers who enjoy this genre of fiction should also experience Tobias Wolff's OLD SCHOOL.
G. Merritt
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Title: Little Children by Tom Perrotta ISBN: 0312315716 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler ISBN: 0399151613 Publisher: Marian Wood Book Pub. Date: 22 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: The Amateur Marriage: A Novel by ANNE TYLER ISBN: 1400042070 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 06 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Old School by Tobias Wolff ISBN: 0375401466 Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Pub. Date: 04 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: Winner of the National Book Award: A Novel of Fame, Honor, and Really Bad Weather by Jincy Willett ISBN: 0312311818 Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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