Flame - Hardcover

Feiffer, Judy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 038529459X ISBN 13: 9780385294591

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 1986

Synopsis

This novel of sexual obsession moves from the enclaves of the East Coast rich, through Beverly Hills mansions and Hollywood studios to Acapulco nightclubs as it tells the story of three fascinating women in thrall to the same enigmatic man

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

In this novel by the author of Love Crazy, characters are obsessed with sex and power. Action takes place from the 1930s to the present, and not a minute is wasted. By the third page, Buck Herman, fledgling songwriter and self-described Romeo, has seduced a successful older woman, and the doors to Hollywood have opened to him. There, he makes life miserable for an orchestra of studio musicians and their families, including the sensitive violinist Mischa Kahn, Kahn's grasping wife Wanda and their son Nick. Buck seduces Wanda, then casts aside both husband and wife. The story's focus shifts to Nick. Filing Herman away as unfinished business, Nick attends Harvard, then returns to Hollywood a psychiatrist. His life intertwines with a host of characters, each more rapacious and promiscuous than the last (including, of course, Buck Herman). While the pace is fast, Feiffer's writing is careless, full of uneven characterizations, confusing leaps in time and place, and syntactic howlers. Even readers who ignore these distractions for the sake of frequent, athletic sex will probably be dumbfounded by a conclusion so improbable that it borders on farce. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Flame reads more like a B-movie screenplay than a novel. What little story there is follows the obsessed lives of an assortment of Hollywood characters, chiefly Nick Kahn, a guru-like but vulnerable psychiatrist; his sensual daughter Flame; and his soulless "creation," movie star George Warren. It is hard to feel any involvement with these characters when their dialogue echoes romance comic books, their actions are summarized rather than dramatized, and their stories consist of one crude sex scene after another. Titillating readers with sex and glamour is no crime, but asking them to read poorly written novels like this should be. Not recommended. Donna L. Nerboso, N.Y.U. Lib.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 038529459X
• ISBN 13: 9780385294591
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 302