Alther, Lisa - Alther, Lisa 1944–
Alther, Lisa 1944–
Ms Alther is an American novelist.
["Kinflicks" is] an admirable if deeply flawed first novel which is really two books, quite different in style, tone, and, for me, interest. The technique is simple—alternating chapters that deal with the past and the present, the long growing-up of Ginny in the past, and the lingering death of the mother in the present.
The better book is the first of the two, the pain-of-it-all growing-up chapters that by now are familiar unto exhaustion, yet which in the hands of Lisa Alther come alive and are undeniably, sometimes hysterically, funny….
Sociological stereotypes is what we have here: characters who, in spite of the bizarre and violent events that may befall them, remain at best only half real, half compelling—and there are still more to follow in the seemingly endless parade. "Kinflicks" simply goes on, and as though she herself senses the threat of pointlessness and...
[The entire page is 3682 words long]
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