|
Salt
Water
by Charles Simmons
- From Publishers Weekly:
"Simmons, a former editor at the New York Times Book
Review, made his name as a writer with a series of
surreal comic novels, including 'Powdered Eggs and
'Wrinkles, but the present book, a coming-of-age
novella, is a complete change of pace. Written in a spare
masculine style, it is based loosely on Turgenev's
classic 'First Love and is narrated by Michael
Petrovich, who recalls the memorable summer of 1963 when
he was 16 and when Mrs. Mertz and her beautiful daughter,
Zina, rented a neighboring house on the East Coast
offshore island of Bone Point. Michael's father is a
handsome philanderer whose easygoing ways cause tension
with his mother; meanwhile, Michael is trying to impress
Zina while rejecting the cynical view of women offered by
a worldly young friend. Matters come to a tragic head at
the Labor Day party that ends this unsettling summer.
Simmons's calm, detached telling of the tale, and the
major role played by the strongly evoked ocean setting,
make for an experience that seems more European than
American, and it is interesting to note that this slight
but telling book was first published, to enthusiastic
reviews, in France."
-
-
-
- Save up to 40% -
Order online from Amazon.com
Amazon Search
Bookmark Now!!
Amazon.com Home
|
