- Hardcover: 240 pages
- Publisher: Firebrand Books (October 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1563411075
- ISBN-13: 978-1563411076
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 14.6 x 1.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 431 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Among the several narrative strands in Anna Livia's complex and rewarding new novel, it is hard to say which story is more engrossing. A sexually abused girl named Patti becomes a man-killing dyke. Despite her promiscuity, no one sparks her romantic interest until she meets Caroline. Caroline has flown to San Francisco to escape her abusive English lover and finds, at last, a place of calm and order in which to work. Her friend and employer, Sydney, a hermaphrodite, falls in love with Caroline but ends up in a far more interesting relationship with a straight and formerly conventional Englishman named Harold. It may be the character of Harold, an ordinary bloke, that lifts this book above the rank and file of lesbian novels. Puzzled but determinedly in love, Harold is the unexotic Everyman that grounds these eccentric characters who might otherwise seem standard issue for gay and lesbian fiction. Well-written, fully realized, and occasionally surprising, this is Livia's best novel yet. --Regina Marler
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Livia's fifth novel (after Relatively Norma) offers a spectrum of piquant and, at times, overly tart characters espousing a range of sexual identities and political agendas. Uneven dialogue and surprising twists give the novel a double-edged tone: romance is gendered and political, often exhaustingly debated, and yet some scenes are genuinely lively with pansexual flair. Naive Caroline finds herself in San Francisco, escaping an abusive lover in London. She boards at the house of Ella Weissman, a rude therapist who yearns for connection but is a cutthroat businesswoman when it comes to her bustling, lucrative domicile. Along the way, Caroline attracts Patti, "the bisexual trust fund babe," who is beautiful beyond belief and who pierces her body like notches in a gun when she kills her male amours. Caroline also meets Sydney, a hermaphrodite who wrongly believes he/she will never find love, and the two friends, among others, share Ella's wacky homestead. With these characters, love is lost and found, and lost again, quickly, crazily and sometimes murderously. Caroline is mostly disgusted with her lovers until she engages in a predictable session with zucchini, and when her abusive ex starts stalking her, she wishes she'd offed the violent woman when she'd had the chance. Readers may sense that Livia's attempts at a libidinous skewering of sexual mores is really a collection of unorganized fragments: the writing is often choppy and ungainly, and political thrusts (lesbian domestic violence, incest, a hermaphrodite's ostracism) are threaded unconvincingly throughout. But Livia's treatment of Sydney can be sensitive and even enlightening; her rambling account of renegade Patti may also strike the reader as a unique travelogue for a rough and awkward erotic journey. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Delicious Bite!,
By Julie L. Shaffer (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Bruised Fruit: A Novel (Hardcover)
"Anna Livia's astringently humorous, no-holds-barred novel, 'Bruised Fruit,' is the story of British Caroline, lesbian escapee from an abusive relationship; Sydney, dainty hermaphrodite with a Southern drawl; and Patti, bisexual with a trust fund who inexorably, it seems, kills every man she sleeps with.""These three, along with a tantalizing array of minor characters, are thrown together in San Francisco, each in search of someone to tell his or her--or in the case of Sydney, his and her--secrets to. When fate gathers them at the home of Ella Weissman, a feminist therapist whose house is her significant other, the intertwined tale of their loves, fears, and confusions sinuously unfolds." After I read the first few chapters of "Bruised Fruit," I was confused. Who is this story about Patti, Caroline or Sydney? A light bulb lit up inside of my head. This book was about all three characters. The author intricately wove a web that brought these characters together as bruised fruit later in the chapters. "Bruised Fruit" may have confused me at first. Then I found myself entangled in the storyline. I didn't want to sit the book down. Caroline is continually shocked by exposure to her own "tales of the city." Sydney feels compelled, once and for all, to pick a gender. Patti wants to be sexually attractive without giving in to everyone else's desire and its negative effects, where she kills every man she sleeps with. (Patti does not kill them through the act of sex. She cannot be that talented. Or may be she is.) Then Patti finds herself attracted to Caroline. Could this be the death of Caroline? Does Sydney find love and chose a gender? Livia wrote "Bruised Fruit" as a mixture of chilling comedy and neogothic. One thing I was taught by reading "Bruised Fruit" was that I would check the fruit carefully in my cart before taking it home. It is better to squeeze it first and get to know your fruit. This way you will have no unwanted surprises. Place a copy of "Bruised Fruit" in your cart. It is better than most characters you have taken home or fruit you have purchased!
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a wonderful book!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Bruised Fruit: A Novel (Paperback)
This is a funny, touching, well-written book. While not my favorite of Livia's books (I like her earlier, more explicitly feminist books) it is very readable. I thought the child abuse content was handled very well.
5.0 out of 5 stars
frothy fun with a serious side,
By A Customer
This review is from: Bruised Fruit: A Novel (Paperback)
Bruised Fruit is a witty, pithy glimpse of several very memorable characters. I've heard it compared to Tales of The City, but, although it does have a Maupinish flair, it would be an injustice to insinuate that Bruised Fruit is not utterly original. Although the complex plot does not allow Livia to develope her characters as fully as one might wish, they are well-sketched and very real.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > Erotica
- Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > Lesbian
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Gay & Lesbian > Erotica
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Gay & Lesbian > Lesbian
- Books > Romance > Erotica > Gay & Lesbian
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
