Alice Fantastic [Paperback]

I was asked to read this in a creative writing class and I am really glad my instructor assigned it. I thought it was a ton of fun. I disagree with a previous reviewer that it is a "chick" book. Yes it is a bit dramatic but I found it very funny and mainly just enjoyable. (I am male by the way.) I strongly recommend this novel. In fact, I'm only leaving this review because I wanted to find a good book to read and I figured I would see if this novel lead me to something else just like it.

I've been a fan of Maggie Estep for a number of years...started with her spoken word CDs and her first book "Diary of an Emotional Idiot".

Her latest book "Alice Fantastic" is another entertaining read. Like her prior books, you get a great sense of the characters...looks, background, feelings, temperment. The narrator changes each chapter, between the three main characters. She's used this before, and while initially they seem like seperate stories, as you get into the book, you see how they interlace and fill in as an a whole story.

Besides the main characters and their growth, the secondary theme is finding homes for rescue dog, to save them from being euthenized.

I mostly enjoyed this book, but I have to say I felt a little misled based on the book's description and cover, reviews on the back of the book and even the way it started out, all of which seemed to promise an edgy, somewhat darkly humorous book. As it went on, however, it turned into a rather sentimental, chick-littish novel. Still good reading, but not quite what I expected.

The title character, Alice, makes her living betting on horses. Her quasi-boyfriend, who she not-so-affectionately calls "The Big Oaf," is Clayton, who lives in his van when not staying with Alice. They live in Long Island City, the part of Queens that is closest to Manhattan, an area that was until recently gritty and industrial but has become gentrified. After Clayton is arrested after a mishap that Alice is partly responsible for, she decides that she has feelings for him after all.

Alice, however, is only one of three women that the novel focuses on. The story is also told from the points of view of Alice's sister Eloise, and their youngish, unconventional mother, Kimberly, who lives upstate with a large collection of dogs in Woodstock, NY. Dogs, in fact, play a major role in this novel, almost to the point of distraction. Kimberly rescues dogs, some of whom are hoisted upon Alice and Eloise, and there are detailed descriptions of each one, along with facts about their breed (such as how misunderstood pit bulls are) and many anecdotes illustrating their adorability.

I don't want to go into all of the plot developments, for that would amount to spoilers, but the general direction the novel takes is to bring these three women, who have been somewhat estranged over the years, back together. The setting shifts mainly to upstate NY, as the three all face important crossroads in their lives. They become involved in various types of relationships (two of the three women turn out to be bisexual) and work out their feelings for each other.

I don't like to categorize books (or movies) this way, but Alice Fantastic will probably appeal more to women, especially the second half --and definitely to dog lovers. I have not read any of Maggie Estep's other novels, but based on this I'd say she is a good writer with an original voice. Having either lived or spent time in just about all of the novel's settings, I can say that Estep does a good job at capturing the ambiance of place. All in all, if you are looking for a good novel about families and relationships, you won't be disappointed. If, on the other hand, you are expecting something more noirish, full of gamblers, crime and life on the streets, you'll feel a bit disoriented after the first couple of chapters.

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