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This title in other formats:Desolationby Yasmina Reza
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:From the internationally acclaimed playwright and author of Art comes a first novel of extraordinary brilliance: the outpourings—at once eccentric, dark, and exceedingly funny—of an old man reflecting upon his life, marriages, friendships, love affairs, and the enragingly separate existence of his spoiled, and lost, only son. He has had a full life, and now, in his later years, retired, his second wife getting on his nerves, love affairs a distant memory, he has a few things that he’d like to get off his chest. As he talks—half to himself, half to the son he can’t understand—we’re introduced to Nancy, his too-happy wife; to their housekeeper, Mrs. Dacimiento, who still can’t put the bag properly over the rim of the garbage can; to his chum Lionel; to his daughter and her wannabe-truly-Jewish husband; and to the heartbreaking Marisa Botton, his idiotic, irresistible mistress. Finally, we witness his chance re-encounter with the charming Genevieve Abramowitz, who in telling him a story of her own leads him to his final overtures. Yasmina Reza has written a symphonic monologue—a passionate kvetch, a truly original work. Review:"While reading someone's unfettered complaining might sound like about as much fun as sticking needles in your eye, Reza's narrator is someone you want to listen to, and not only because he's often deliciously wicked. What's exhilarating is that he speaks — sometimes to himself and sometimes to his son — with the unbridled and sometimes desperate bravado of a man who knows he's about to die and therefore says whatever he pleases....In the last days of his life, Samuel is very alive. When Reza builds a particular passage into a rising crescendo of life, pain, anger and love, it's a hypnotic adrenaline rush, something almost like joy." Suzy Hansen, Salon.com Review:“Cantankerous, funny and fierce . . . . a stark yet bleakly comic look at the limitations and solitude inherent in the human condition.” –Los Angeles Times Review:“Darkly comic. . . . . Reza . . . has conjured a character who, seen through the keen lens of her gimlet eye, is equal parts monster and mensch.” – Elle Review:“[Reza] has an easy understanding of just how amusing men can be when free-floating anxiety and frustration overwhelm them.”The New York Times Review:“Devilishly well-composed, hilarious, yet venomous….Smart and delectable…covers a gratifying range of emotions and provocative moral, spiritual and cultural terrain with sensitivity and virtuosity.” – Booklist What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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