Items related to Why Did I Ever: A Novel
Synopsis
Money Breton, a Hollywood script doctor, finds the stresses and challenges of modern life beginning to wreak havoc as she struggles to cope with three ex-husbands, the I.R.S., the problems of her grown children, and the bizarre world of Hollywood filmdom.
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About the Author
Mary Robison is the author of three story collections and two novels. She has written for Hollywood and been a contributor to The New Yorker since 1977. She has taught with many writing programs and is now a professor at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Reviews
Robison has constructed her third novel, the first in a decade, as a series of brief segments (527 in all), reflecting narrator Money Breton's ADD syndrome. Because she is undermedicated, Breton must struggle to maintain her concentration long enough to keep her Hollywood script-writing position and her sense of humor. By night, Breton is hammering nails or painting every object in her house; by day, she seeks to provide the right bits of advice and the right amount of motherly support to her methadone-addicted daughter and to her son, the victim of an unspeakable crime. With questionable assistance from several well-meaning friends, including a filthy-rich boyfriend with a limited vocabulary, Breton balances her difficulties long enough to see the proverbial thin ray of light at the end of the tunnel. Robison's characters are vivid, colorful, and likable, and their story is absorbing. Her humorous presentation does not cheapen the tragic content of her novel but realistically portrays one method of survival. Highly recommended for all public and academic fiction collections. Rebecca A. Stuhr, Grinnell Coll. Libs., IA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
In her first novel in a decade, Robison, a writer with switchblade wit, unveils the helter-skelter consciousness of Money Breton. The cynical veteran of three marriages and the mother of two screwed-up adult children, Money, still a man-magnet, is a Hollywood script doctor who commutes from a small town somewhere outside New Orleans. When she isn't pretending to work, she holds surreal conversations with the Deaf Lady, trades insults with two persistent suitors, frets over her missing cat, and takes out her fear and anger on household objects. Money's gay son, Paulie, has been tortured and raped and is currently in police custody. Mev, Money's lawyer daughter, is struggling with a methadone habit. Crazy with worry and embroiled in the maddening revision of an idiotic script about Bigfoot, Money riffs with a caustic yet deadpan humor not unlike that of Lynda Barry on men, movies, traffic, airlines, and life in general in 572 terse, numbered, and jabbing paragraphs. Robison's incandescent soliloquy on the absurdity of existence hones fiction to a new and exhilarating measure of sharpness. Donna Seaman
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Why Did I Ever?
Seller: World of Books (was SecondSale), Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardback. Condition: Good. Tense, moving, and hilarious . . . A] dark jewel of a novel. --Francine Prose, O, The Oprah Magazine Three husbands have left her. I.R.S. agents are whamming on her door. And her beloved cat has gone missing. She's back and forth between Melanie, her secluded Southern town, and L.A., where she has a weakening grasp on her job as a script doctor. Having been sacked by most of the studios and convinced that her dealings with Hollywood have fractured her personality, Money Breton talks to herself nonstop. She glues and hammers and paints every item in her place. She forges loving inscriptions in all her books. Through it all, there is her darling puzzling daughter who lives close by but seems ever beyond reach, and her son, the damaged victim of a violent crime under police protection in New York. While both her children seem to be losing all their battles, Money tries for ways and reasons to keep battling. Why Did I Ever is a book of piercing intellect and belligerent humor. Since its first publication in 2002 it has had a profound impact, not only on Robison's devoted following, but on the shape of the contemporary novel itself. Seller Inventory # CIN1582430608G
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Why Did I Ever?
Seller: World of Books Inc, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Hardback. Condition: Good. Tense, moving, and hilarious . . . A] dark jewel of a novel. --Francine Prose, O, The Oprah Magazine Three husbands have left her. I.R.S. agents are whamming on her door. And her beloved cat has gone missing. She's back and forth between Melanie, her secluded Southern town, and L.A., where she has a weakening grasp on her job as a script doctor. Having been sacked by most of the studios and convinced that her dealings with Hollywood have fractured her personality, Money Breton talks to herself nonstop. She glues and hammers and paints every item in her place. She forges loving inscriptions in all her books. Through it all, there is her darling puzzling daughter who lives close by but seems ever beyond reach, and her son, the damaged victim of a violent crime under police protection in New York. While both her children seem to be losing all their battles, Money tries for ways and reasons to keep battling. Why Did I Ever is a book of piercing intellect and belligerent humor. Since its first publication in 2002 it has had a profound impact, not only on Robison's devoted following, but on the shape of the contemporary novel itself. Seller Inventory # CIN1582430608G
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Why Did I Ever: A Novel
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Why Did I Ever: A Novel
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Why Did I Ever: A Novel
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Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G1582430608I3N00
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Why Did I Ever: A Novel
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Why Did I Ever: A Novel
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Why Did I Ever
Published by
Perseus Books Group November 2001, 2001
ISBN 10: 1582430608
ISBN 13: 9781582430607
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Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Robison,Mary Why Did I Ever Other than missing jacket, book is like new. All Orders Shipped With Tracking And Delivery Confirmation Numbers. Seller Inventory # 444088
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Why Did I Ever
Published by
Counterpoint, Washington DC, 2001
ISBN 10: 1582430608
ISBN 13: 9781582430607
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Why Did I Ever: A Novel
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