- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Picador (Oct 16 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0312420161
- ISBN-13: 978-0312420161
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 14.5 x 2.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 222 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
In a grim attempt to escape the "Soul Snatcher," Tony Pellar has traded a comfortable apartment with his lover, Marcus, for a life underground in the New York City subway tunnels. In her first novel published in the U.S., Londoner Ross (All the Blood Is Red) combines a postmodern stream-of-consciousness narrative of madness with a devastating tale of real-life racial evil. Tony believes his only salvation lies in recovering his sublimated memories. He writes to his childhood friend Mikey, now Michael Abraham Tennyson, Ph.D., begging for help. The resulting third-person narrative gradually reveals the dark secrets of the past. Tying in Tony's troubled present-day ramblings, the plot pieces together the events that led to Tony's descent into darkness, both physical and mental. During the 1960s, when the civil rights movement is just gathering momentum in Edene, N.C., Tony's surrogate mother, Agatha, serves as an underground railroad conductor for those in serious trouble. Her day job is working for Mikey's grandmother, Miss Ezekiel. Although Tony and Mikey are bonded by their status as orphans and outcasts, their friendship is circumscribed by skin color: Tony is black and Mikey is white. Expertly sharpening tension, Ross saves the most devastating revelations about Tony, Agatha and Mikey's heartrending experiences for the end, gradually shading in the answers to questions about Tony's desperate struggle for sanity. Although the collision of cheerless personal histories with chaotic times leans to melodrama, the finely controlled pacing yields an emotional clout as chilling as the times it evokes. Literate and accomplished, this book seems destined for a small but devoted cadre of lovers of serious contemporary fiction.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
In the subway below the streets of New York, Tony is fighting for his life and his sanity, trying to outrun or outwit the haunting presence he calls the "soul snatcher." Convinced that the key to his survival lies in forgotten events of his past, he writes to his childhood friend Mikey, now a university professor. The two grew up together in the South during the turbulent civil rights era, an uncommon friendship of black and white, each boy with a troubled early history. As Tony struggles to piece together the past, the story unfolds to encompass the life of the woman who haunts him, a young, educated black woman named Agatha, her impact on both of the boys, and the inescapable racial violence in the South during the early '60s. Tony is unstable and homeless, but he is smart and was once irresistibly charming to both women and men. His voice is chillingly real--raw, naked in its desperation, darting to the edge of sanity and back. Ross has created a powerful story and unforgettable characters. This is her first novel published in the U.S. Ross lives in London. Grace Fill
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Orange Laughter - A literary marvel,
By
This review is from: Orange Laughter (Hardcover)
Orange laughter will stay with you long after you've read the last page. Ms. Ross's journey into the main character's deranged mind is riveting. The journey down the tragic road of the segregated south turns out to be a surprising love story that I simply could not get out of my head for days...
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent,
By "bubbles25" (North London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Orange Laughter (Hardcover)
This is a wonderful and moving book. I read an extract from it once, and made a point of getting it...and I'm glad I did! The characters are all so unique and intruiging and the writer brings you right into their world. My favourite character would probably be Mikey, the young, overweight friend to the main character Tony, due minly to his innocence and kindly ways.The story takes you round many different corners and back again without leaving anyone behind. And as with many great books, the secrets unravelled throughout will no doubt bring a smile to your face or tears to your eyes.Thank you Leone Ross for this chapter in my life of books...
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thank You,
By Sasha (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Orange Laughter: A Novel (Paperback)
I just finished Orange Laughter. I can't explain why, but something abut the book edified my soul, haunted me, made me want to write, made what I know seem real ... If that makes sense...
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