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Sto caricando le informazioni... The Wonder Spot (originale 2005; edizione 2006)di Melissa Bank
Informazioni sull'operaL'amore per caso di Melissa Bank (2005)
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Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. i don't know what curtis sittenfeld is going on about. wonder spot made me like my life a bit more. to her credit, sittenfeld writes a better plot. but sometimes you don't always need a story. sometimes you just need good company. ( ) Melissa Bank’s always witty, occasionally hilarious follow-up to her best-selling novel The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing finds Sophie Applebaum coming to maturity in east-coast urban America of the 1970s and 1980s. Sophie is the middle child of a well-to-do Jewish family from suburban Surrey, Pennsylvania: her even-keeled father a judge, her anxious mother a housewife. Older brother Jack is ambitious, full of ideas, but unreliable; younger brother Robert is ultra-smart and the family’s rule-follower. The eight stories in The Wonder Spot follow wise-cracking, insecure Sophie from childhood to her late thirties and chronicle her efforts to a) find a satisfying job, and b) find a satisfying man (not necessarily in that order). From the outset, we realize that Sophie is the kind of person who mostly does what she’s told, who second-guesses her clothes/makeup/behaviour, who often masks an almost debilitating lack of confidence with self-deprecating humour, who can’t help but envy (and feel inferior to) those around her who seem to know their place in the world and aren’t afraid to speak their mind. Her search for love dominates much of the action as she develops into a young woman who, if a desirable man makes eye contact, her imagination goes to work and in seconds has conjured a life together: children, grandchildren, companionable old age. A hopeless romantic, frequent disappointment leaves her cautious, but just short of overtly cynical. Sophie’s search for a fulfilling career follows a similar pattern (one many will recognize): falling into a position because it’s available, boss from hell, survival mode. Later, as she leaves her twenties behind, family returns to the spotlight. She remains close to her brothers and after her father’s death her relationship with her mother deepens, becoming mutually supportive and almost compassionate. The Wonder Spot was initially criticized for straddling the fence: reviewers couldn’t decide if it was serious literature or chick lit. Readers are advised to dismiss categories and simply read the book. Fiction this entertaining doesn’t come along very often. At first I didn’t think I was going to like The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank, because I didn’t like its protagonist, Sophie. Sandwiched between a cute and popular older brother, and a hardworking genius younger brother, Sophie is the middling middle child. The book begins with Sophie at about age twelve and follows her into adulthood. Each chapter could stand alone as a short story, which is in fact how I first encountered the title story, in the collection Speaking with the Angel, edited by Nick Hornby. Sophie is not particularly good at anything, and doesn’t particularly want to be. She fails at school, at work, at friendships, at relationships. At times you want to shake her and say, “Just do something! Anything!” But what’s appealing about Sophie is her utter honesty. Not with others, but with herself. As she describes every pose she assumes, she shares her inner motivations, and we recognize ourselves. It’s a well written collection, funny and moving.
In many ways, Bank is as much of a stylist as St Aubyn, who also always chooses the perfect word. But whereas he is celebrated, she tends to be dismissed, because he is a serious male writer who writes about child abuse and addiction, and she is a funny female writer who writes about being single in New York.
"This book is perfect." --Hadley Freeman, The Guardian A funny, tender, and wickedly insightful look at a young woman's forays into love, work, and friendship over the course of 25 years Nothing comes easily to Sophie Applebaum, the black sheep of her family trying to blend in with the herd. Uneasily situated between two brothers, Sophie first appears as the fulcrum and observer of her clan in "Boss of the World." Then, at college, in "The Toy Bar," she faces a gauntlet of challenges as Best Friend to the dramatic and beautiful Venice Lambourne, curator of "perfect things." In her early twenties, Sophie is dazzled by the possibilities of New York City during the Selectric typewriter era--only to land solidly back in Surrey, PA after her father's death. The Wonder Spot follows Sophie's quest for her own identity--who she is, what she loves, whom she loves, and occasionally whom she feels others should love--over the course of 25 years. In an often-disappointing world, Sophie listens closely to her own heart. And when she experiences her 'Aha!' moments--her own personal wonder spots--it's the real thing. In this tremendous follow-up to her runaway bestseller, The Girls' Guide To Hunting And Fishing, Bank returns with her signature combination of devilishly self-deprecating humor, and again shares her vast talent for capturing a moment, taking it to heart, and giving it back to her readers. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Classificazione LCVotoMedia:
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