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Swenson, her writing-teacher protagonist, once published a well-received novel but is now consumed by neuroses and repressed lust, and instead of writing tends to get drunk or morose, or both. But when a gifted student named Angela Argo enters his class, he feels like he is coming back to life. His resurrection into "believing" in writing again, and his eventual disappointment, form the core of the novel.
Prose's gift for satire is stunning as she directs her caustic wit at all the current academic debates: sexual-harassment policies warning against all manner of "touching"; deconstructionists versus Old School fuddy-duddies; women's studies teachers who bring everything back to the phallocentric Man killing us all. But Blue Angel's best passages come when the author is describing truly rotten writers. Here's a Connecticut rich girl, a member of Swenson's workshop, who likes to write about all those poor unfortunate nonwhite people. Her story is called "First Kiss--Inner City Blues" and is written from the point of view of a Latino woman who lives in a trash-strewn neighborhood full of gunfire and bad people. Here's the opening line: "The summer heat sat on the hot city street, making it hard for it to breathe, especially for Lydia Sanchez." It's a sentence so bad, it's almost a revelation. --Emily White --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Swenson waits for his students to complete their private rituals, adjusting zippers and caps, arranging the pens and notebooks so painstakingly chosen to express their tender young selves, the fidgety ballets that signal their weekly submission and reaffir Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
absolutelty captivating,
By
This review is from: Blue Angel (Paperback)
Swenson (he is addressed by his last name throughout the book, only occasionally called Ted) is a married wiritng professor at Euston College in rural Maine. He has writer's block -- he cannot bring himself to write his second novel, although he has mid-level fame for his first, which echoes his father's real-life self-immolation protesting the Vietnam War. His writing class is a mix of bright and silly students, then one day he notices punky pierced Angela Argo who almost never speaks. Her intelligence and writing sample convinces Swenson he has met a kindred spirit, albeit one the same age as his daughter Ruby, who will not speak to him even though she attends college only 40 minutes away. The movie tracks Swenson critiquing Angela's novel-in-progress, and he starts to reflect the themes therin till he has spiraled into depair. Was it all his own doing? Was he really in control? Will it ever get better? Written by a woman using the voice of a man, this is pure genius. I look forward to more of Prose's work.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting look inside a writer's mind,
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This review is from: Blue Angel (Paperback)
This book is good for one main reason: I felt a strong connection with the main character, Swenson, a writer who is facing a lack of progress in his latest book and teaching at a small liberal arts school in Vermont. I was most impressed by the way that Prose emphasizes the doubt Swenson possesses when interacting with others--he's constantly asking himself if someone noticed something he did, or interpreted something he said in a certain way. This works extremely well with the conclusion, which, although not particularly satisfying in a plot or storyline sense, is satisfying because of the sense of completion that you share with the main character. The primary negative aspect of the novel for me was the cynical approach that Prose took with the other characters. While perhaps valuable in helping us understand Swenson's perspective, it left little room for the reader to form any bond with them besides maybe agreeing with the way they acted at any given point. This does not take away too much because the novel is primarily an exploration of Swenson, and the novel is excellent over all.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Profoundly funny and sad.,
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This review is from: Blue Angel (Paperback)
I don't remember ever feeling so much pity for a fictional character as I did for Ted Swenson, a professor at a rural Vermont college whose obsession with his prized creative writing student Angela Argo leads to his eventual ruin. The reality is Angela is no prize, but for Swenson, a frustrated writer and uninspired teacher, the gifted Angela provides an opportunity for redemption and a renewed faith in his craft.Prose does a wonderful job of drawing us into the desperate mind of Professor Swenson as he attempts to justify every irrational stop along his reckless path to self-destruction. Sometimes I laughed at his struggles of conscience, sometimes I pitied him, but in the end I could not judge him, for his frailty seemed all too human.
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