The Gold Tip Pfitzer: A novel - Hardcover

Handl, Irene

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0713904720 ISBN 13: 9780713904727

Publisher: Allen Lane, 1973

Synopsis

Continues the story of a wealthy and eccentric French family, the Benoirs, including Mim, who, at twenty-seven, is in search of a fourth husband, George, her charming ten-year-old son, and Armand, her unusual brother

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

This brief postscript to Handl's first novel, The Sioux, shares the elegance and ferocity of its predecessor but leaves a much nastier aftertaste. The self-indulgent, self-absorbed antics of the Benoir familythe Sioux, as they like to call themselvesare less amusing and more horrifying than they were before, mostly because they take place around the deathbed of Marguerite Benoir's nine-year-old son. The boy's death also signals the end of Marguerite's marriage to Englishman Vincent Castleton; by the end of the book, we fully share his disgust and rage at the Sioux lifestyle. One admires the author's courage in making her characters so utterly true to their despicable code of behavior, and they certainly have a distinctive vitality and insouciance, yet after a few chapters their glamorous decadence palls. Handl is an excellent stylist, and The Gold Tip Pfitzer is compulsively readable, but it's too unpleasant to be much fun.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

These rich are very different from you and me. Handl's original story of a fabulously rich French family, The Sioux , first appeared in 1965 and was reprinted in 1984 to lavish praise. So called for their clannishness and emotional savagery, the Sioux lead lives of unimaginable wealth and decadence. The latest tale, set a few weeks later than the first novel, shows the Sioux facing tragedy as 10-year-old George struggles with leukemia. Facing a reality that cannot be bought off does not bring out the best in the Sioux, whose emotions are expressed in very strange ways. Admirers of Handl's verbal pyrotechnics will not be disappointed in her second novel, though newcomers may find the brittle brilliance of the Sioux and their lifestyle a bit off-putting. Recommended for sophisticated readers. Shelley Cox, Special Collections, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Allen Lane
• Publication date: 1973
• ISBN 10: 0713904720
• ISBN 13: 9780713904727
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 191