The Women: A Novel |
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by: T.C. Boyle List Price: $16.00 Amazon.com's Price: $10.88 You Save: $5.12 (32%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 813.54 EAN: 9780143116479 Edition: Reprint ISBN: 0143116479 Item Dimensions: Label: Penguin (Non-Classics) Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics) Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 464 Publication Date: December 29, 2009 Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) Studio: Penguin (Non-Classics) Features:
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Editorial Review: Product Description: From "America's most imaginative contemporary novelist" (Newsweek), a novel of Frank Lloyd Wright and the women in his life. Having brought to life eccentric cereal king John Harvey Kellogg in The Road to Wellville and sex researcher Alfred Kinsey in The Inner Circle, T.C. Boyle now turns his fictional sights on an even more colorful and outlandish character: Frank Lloyd Wright. Boyle's incomparable account of Wright's life is told through the experiences of the four women who loved him. There's the Montenegrin beauty Olgivanna Milanoff, the passionate Southern belle Maude Miriam Noel, the tragic Mamah Cheney, and his young first wife, Kitty Tobin. Blazing with his trademark wit and inventiveness, Boyle deftly captures these very different women and the creative life in all its complexity. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - a disappointmentI had previously read, "Loving Frank" which gave a wonderful portrayal of Frank Lloyd Wright. "Loving Frank" was interesting and well written and very readable. Frank Lloyd Wright was an amazingly gifted man professionally, a prolific lover of women, and not a man I would have wanted to had in my life. When I read "The "Women", I had the same disdain for the man, but I found the novel to be very disjointed to read. My prime objection to the writing of this novel was the footnotes. It seemed as if every other page had lengthy footnotes, and I began to yell at the author that if that many footnotes were important, he should include the information in the story. The Footnotes became a huge distraction to me. I would not recommend this book. The Women: A Novel Rating:  - Easy-to-read, interesting and accurate historical fiction.T. C. Boyle is an easy-to-read, interesting author who writes accurate historical fiction. This story about the women in the life of Frank Lloyd Wright is a realistic read. Anyone who knows Wright's architectural background will truly enjoy this book of his personal life. If you don't know or care about Wright's life, this book is still a very interesting read about a man's life in the years 1880s to 1950s. Rating:  - Entertaining, but is it historically accurate?I'm a huge fan of Frank Lloyd Wright's work, and was at least somewhat familiar with his personal life. I've read a few other books about his life, so bought this to see if it shed any new light on this complex genius of architecture. It's an interesting book, and easy to read, although the sequencing of various sections dealing with his relationships confused me. They didn't appear to be in chronological order, as I would expect for a biography. I enjoyed the book, and it will join my permanent FLLW library (although not in a prominent location), but I can not say it's a "must read" for Wright fans. Rating: - The WomenOur book group read both "The Women" and "Loving Frank" this month and were surprised to learn of Frank Lloyd Wright's super-egotistical personna. Although both books were fictional as to events and conversations, we felt it was helpful to read both stories from authors who apparently agreed with other historians about the personal and moral issues that Wright seemed to flaunt, as well as his artistic genius. Great books for discussion. Rating: - Outstanding Masterpiece of Literary GeniusAmazingly, this is the first work by T.C. Boyle that I've read! Pure genious. A story within a story (as relayed by the apprentice narrator) within multiple stories executed in counter sequential order. Never read anything quite as creative before. As for Frank, his female counterparts, his design work and the whole scope of his complex life and relationships -- I felt were all magically woven together with intracacy, compassion and thought-provoking dialogue and narratives. Unlike others, I think Wright's character was depicted as extremely well-rounded, and portrayed to be more than a one dimensional, self-serving egotist. Many of his personal virtues, including his sensitivity, wit, humor, courage, charm, talent, enthusiasm, work ethic, intelligence, and reflective nature were explored. Don't kid yourself ... this is not just a clever and romantic biographical novel. What it is, is simply brilliant. I think many professional reviewers missed the point. It was unwarranted and did it no justice to compare it to the fiction of (yes, best-selling) authors known for their mass market appeal, and lurid and steamy novels. Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display |
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