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Synopsis
1st hardcover edition 1st print, fine unread book in fine dw new condition In stock shipped from our UK warehouse
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Review
Joanna Scott, much lauded for her 1997 gothic, The Manikin, sloughs that novel's gloom for the less rarified air of familial torment and interracial romance in Make Believe. A compact jostling of flashback, shifting angles, and hallucinatory impression, her fifth novel is held together by 4-year-old Bo, the object of a contentious custody battle after his teenage mother dies in an automobile accident. Through the boy's eyes we see the disorienting kaleidoscope of adult ambition and impotence, as those vying for him try to sort out not only his life, but their own. "Weep for him," the narrator adjures, "if you're susceptible to pity. But don't let your eyes grow so foggy that you miss the subtle transformation taking place, the transformation of pity into something far more powerful than even Bo could have anticipated."
When volatile Jenny Templin falls for Kamon Gilbert, she imagines that bearing his child will win her both security and love. But Kamon--artistic, yearning, and, much to the displeasure of Jenny's mother and stepfather, black--is killed while Jenny is pregnant, leaving her and the child alone with his sheltering, if overwhelmed, parents. The Gilberts, in turn, seem the obvious choice for guardianship once Bo is orphaned. Jenny's parents, however, struggling with shame and a latent covetousness, win custody of the spirited Bo, casting both families into degrees of disarray.
Bo is the eye of the hurricane throughout. "Think of all he'd been through, all the waiting, his daddy no more than letters carved in stone, his mama gone off somewhere, his grandparents scared away by the law." Predictably, his life with Jenny's parents--who refuse, even, to call him Bo--is trying. Scott tells the story in deliberate, even tones, frequently cataloging the broad and disparate panorama of Bo's horizon. What she uncovers is a world where no one is entirely devoid of selfish motivation, where love can be equal parts affection and, sadly, make-believe. --Ben Guterson
About the Author
"Joanna Scott is the author of four novels, including 1997 Pulitzer Prize finalist The Manikin, and a short story collection, Various Antidotes, which was a finalist for the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award. She has received a MacArthur Fellowship and a Lannan Award. She lives in Rochester, New York."
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- PublisherHarvill Press
- Publication date2001
- ISBN 10 1860468853
- ISBN 13 9781860468858
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages256
- Rating
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Make Believe
Seller: Wonder Book, Frederick, MD, U.S.A.
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Condition: As New. Like New condition. Like New dust jacket. A near perfect copy that may have very minor cosmetic defects. Seller Inventory # D10M-00680
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Make Believe
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Vintage Publishing, United Kingdom, London, 2001
ISBN 10: 1860468853
ISBN 13: 9781860468858
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Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Make Believe is the story of a family devastated by tragedy. At its heart is four-year-old Bo, who has been orphaned by a car accident that killed his mother. He becomes the focus of a fierce custody struggle between two very different sets of grandparents, one black and one white. It takes Bo away from the indulgent and loving black family, the Gilberts, and into the unforgiving world of his mother s stiff-necked and religious stepfather, Eddie Gantz. As the adults play out their secret desires, hidden resentments and stubborn self-righteousness, Bo is at the mercy of their fallible adult demands and dreams. Moving effortlessly between the perspective of a child, observing and only very partially understanding what he sees, and the immediate members of his family, Joanna Scott s novel explores the vulnerability of a child s developing consciousness and the imagination with which all individuals create their own worlds. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR003672733
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Make Believe
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Make Believe
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ISBN 10: 1860468853
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MAKE BELIEVE
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Make Believe
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ISBN 10: 1860468853
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Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. First Edition. This is a true UK first edition/first printing, with all the numbers 1357918642 present on the copyright page. An absolutely perfect copy of this touching and brilliantly well-written novel about a four-year-old boy called Bo, who becomes the focus of a fierce custody battle. Not price-clipped, or ex-libris and with no inscriptions or marks of any kind. Looks as if it has never been opened. All of our books are protected by removable plastic covers, and dispatched with care. Seller Inventory # 000064
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