Synopsis
"Some forms of literary expression resemble a controlled mimicry of demonic possession. Mary Woronov’s writing spits it out like burning embers crackling off a bonfire."—Gary Indiana in Bookforum
From the euphoric moments of first love to the always desperate, often comic acts of terminal desire, the stories in Blind Love capture the essence of love in the twenty-first century. The insane, the callous predator, the overcautious, the egotistical, and the very brave, all meet their match in Blind Love. Some fight, some surrender, and others try to hide, but no one escapes. In each story, a life is changed forever by the uncontrollable force of love.
The success of her novels, Snake and Niagara—a Village Voice Top 25 Book of 2002—has established Mary Woronov as the surreal chronicler of Los Angeles life. The literary counterpart of David Lynch, she is a unique voice in American fiction.
Mary Woronov is a writer, film actor, and artist. She starred in the Andy Warhol films, Chelsea Girls, Screen Tests, Shower, Milk and Superboy; Oliver Stone’s Seizure and Paul Bartel’s Death Race 2000 and Eating Raoul. Previous books include the novels, Snake and Niagara and the memoir, Swimming Underground. She lives in Los Angeles.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Reviews
Woronov, an actress (Eating Raoul), director (Women) and author (Snake; Niagara), casts a jaded eye on love in this sharp, spare collection. Most of the 22 stories take place in the dark, slightly desolate landscape of the lonely female mind (though outside it's often sunny L.A.). In "Jack, Part One" and "Jack, Part Two," a woman's enduring love for a legendary skirt-chaser is finally—but perhaps only momentarily—requited. In "Martha," a wife who thinks she's been chosen because "she had the perfect look for the furniture in [her husband's] new home," tries to forget her sorrows with gallons of booze and a doomed affair. Tales sometimes end mid-scene, or start and end on a single topic; metaphors dazzle but sometimes fail ("the hammock next to me split open like a cell dividing and multiplying. Out tumbled an Indian girl"). The more engaging stories are set outside L.A.—in an unglamorous, small Florida town ("The Alligator Man") or the steamy jungle ("The Amazon"). The narrator of the former, who takes up with the titular carnival worker, becomes known as the Electric Girl and savors her audience's "little gasp of fear, how precious and to what lengths one would have to go to catch one of these rare sounds." In "The Amazon," a woman and her mysteriously ill husband take a long-awaited vacation that ends ambiguously for both. Though there are scintillating moments in here, readers may feel that by packing 22 stories into 160 pages, Woronov has chosen speed and flash over depth and resonance.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Formerly a cult film star and member of Andy Warhol's Factory, as well as author of the memoir Swimming Underground (1995) and the novels Snake (2000) and Niagara (2002), Woronov now telescopes her edgy, noirish, slightly surreal fiction into readily consumed short stories. L.A. is her turf, and lives trashed by sexual obsession, ruthless pragmatism, and touches of insanity are her subject. One gal's entire life is warped by her attraction to an infamous Lothario, while another agrees to go to Vegas with a drug dealer, willing to trade her virginity for a chance to see something beyond their gang-dominated streets. In the paired stories "The Amazon" and "The Alligator Man," a woman accompanies her husband, whose work as a genetic engineer seems to have caused a "weird illness," on a trip down the Amazon and becomes irrevocably unmoored from her life, ultimately calling herself Destiny and working in a carnival as the Electric Girl. Funny and painful, explicit and jaded, these are searing tales of the dark side. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Search results for Blind Love
Stock Image
Blind Love
Seller: Wonder Book, Frederick, MD, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Good. Good condition. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains. Seller Inventory # V05A-05365