The Full Cleveland: A Novel - Hardcover

Reed, Terry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743262735 ISBN 13: 9780743262736

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2005

Synopsis

The growing daughter of a father who is unable to ignore nagging doubts about their seemingly idyllic world accompanies him into inner-city Cleveland, compares her perceptions of success with the harsh realities of the everyday working poor, and considers the moral dichotomy of having material comforts in an unbalanced world. A first novel. 35,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

Terry Reed wrote the original screenplay for the independent film Cherry, released in 2000. A graduate of the Columbia University MFA Writing Program, she lives in New York City.

Reviews

In Reed's debut, narrator Boyce Parkman comforts herself with Einstein's famous adage: "Pure logical thinking cannot yield us any knowledge of the empirical world." This statement could well apply to this whole wry, good-natured but somewhat episodic and inscrutable 1970s coming-of-age tale. The first line sets the family scene and foretells its coming changes: "When we were rich, we had no real use for the Easter Bunny." Boyce and her family live in a very fine Shaker Heights house, purchased for a dollar from their grandfather, and hold weekly Catholic prayer meetings after their father, the lone Protestant, has left for work. Though the Parkmans have their typical dysfunctions (a frustrated, alcoholic father; a dogmatic, social-climbing mother), they also suffer from an undue share of deep thoughts and philosophical tics. Boyce spends much of the novel ruminating, reflecting, philosophizing and attempting to crack life's hard questions, like how to end world hunger. When, as a teenager, Boyce befriends Mary Parker, a "genius" and lowly bus driver's daughter, Mary subjects her to strange ideas, such as the notion that starvation, pipe tobacco and large doses of Nietzsche and Kant can lead to transformational beauty. Much of the novel is whimsically focused on the inexplicable and the obscure, making this a fanciful but scattered portrait of a family and its fading fortunes as seen through the eyes of its youthful daughter and critic.
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This delightfully zany coming-of-age novel charts the fortunes and misfortunes of the initially well-heeled Parkman family. Strung together by the wry observations of Boyce Parkman between the ages of 10 and 17, the plot itself resembles the often-scattered, seat-of-the-pants tone and tenor of family life. Residents of haughty Shaker Heights, Ohio, the five Parkman children look forward to an annual pilgrimage conducted by their stubbornly Protestant father into the heart of the city to learn firsthand how the less fortunate live. Meanwhile, back at home, Mom is busy inculcating the kids with both Catholic prayers and materialistic aspirations. Caught up in intellectual and philosophical passions, Boyce initially fails to grasp the fact that her own family's future security is far from certain. Hilarious and poignant by turns, this novel resonates with warmth, charm, and honesty. Margaret Flanagan
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Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0743262735
• ISBN 13: 9780743262736
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256