The Passionate Papers of Fiona Pilgrim

Reviewer: NANCI MILAM (Indianapolis, IN)
Nanci@aireborn.com
wc - 209

"Guffman" and "Spinal Tap" for Writers

If you laughed at the "Remains of the Day" lunch boxes and "Dinner with Andre" action figures in "Waiting for Guffman", and if you fed off the original plot twists in "World According to Garp" - in short if you want a great laugh delivered via terrific writing, this is a book to add to your library.

In the beginning we meet Joe Leonard, frustrated legit writer,desperate for income, who adopts a pseudonym (Fiona Pilgrim), with the intention of hacking out romance novels. Been there (with above plot) and done that, you might think, but you haven't been where this author takes you.

After setting the premise, author Rubadeau reveals his tale through a series of letters from his protaganist, Joe to an academic mentor at Harvard, from Joe (as Fiona) to June Featherstone (Britain's top romance author), and from June to Fiona. As three romance stories develop, those real more implausible than those fictional, we learn the do's and don'ts of authoring romance (i.e., romance readers aren't generally fluent in foreign languages, but we can skip translating "cul-de-sac"), along with more details about Romania than we ever hoped (or wanted) to know.

In one sentence, I recommend "The Passionate Papers of Fiona Pilgrim" because it's wellcrafted
and fun!

-30-

Reviewer: NANCI MILAM
Book THE RULE OF FOUR
(Indianapolis, IN)
wc - 460

CONSPIRACY OF DUNCES

The novel, THE RULE OF FOUR, is a phenomenon, not because it's a terrific effort from first time authors (it isn't), but because so many readers have been led into buying it. Most professional writers, having made similar first-time mistakes as Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason, will recognize the lack of conviction by the authors as they fail to commit to any single element of their work.

While there is some character development as we go along, the principle players remain fuzzy in the mind's eye. What attempts are made to tap into the angst of the protagonist, Tom, fall short with writing that has the depth of understanding of an Ivy League silverspooner attempting to give gravitas to soul-searching while checking his Rolex. The pivotal soul search here is whether to continue on with history making research that will rock the art world (and reap a windfall of personal riches), or go to the equivalent of the Princeton Prom. Gosh, tough choice for a brilliant mind.

Our hero, Tom, is tepidly torn between love for sophomore Katie and obsession with the mystery locked within the pages of the Renaissance work, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. According to the logic of The Rule of Four, Einstein and his family would have been the better off if he hadn't been obsessed with quantum mechanics. As either hero or antihero Tom appears too weak in character to be of much interest to the reader. His true love, Katie, is superficial in the demand that Tom choose between research on the book (and best friend's life) or cozy dates with his honey. In the world of serious academics, in this case, at Princeton, it's hard to imagine students, male or female, putting much weight on a formal dance as being more than an if-time-allows
diversion from the rigors of studying.

The Frankenstein Fitzgerald character of Gil is more caricature than character; Paul, however, is
drawn with merit and one wouldn't object to meeting him in a sequel. While hoping to capture the brilliant intellect of the players in this all too familiar drama, we are left wondering why, as brainy people, four roommates fall victim to so many ill-planned courses of action. The story line of intrigue has some fine moments, but few surprises and the ending could have been scripted by a third-grader.

Surely Princeton is not filled with many vacuous students as portrayed here, but one thinks, perhaps, our authors belong to a secret society similar to Skull and Bones at Yale. That this novel is all the rage and selling like hotcakes can only be attributed to a conspiracy of rich and
powerful good ol' boys, not in politics, but in the publishing business.

-30-

Reviewer: NANCI MILAM
Nanci@aireborn.com
Book: A Painted House/Grisham
wc - 260

Hurray! "A Painted House" is a reader's book.

"A Painted House," paints, indeed, stroke by careul stroke, a living
portrait of the early fifties as seen through the eyes of a seven-year old child.
Although the story is set in rural Arkansas, it speaks wonderfully of daily family life in
1952 America. The setting is a farm, the family work is cotton, the time of year is late
summer/early autumn, baseball is on the radio, soldiers are dying in Korea and sevenyear
old Luke is learning about life the way we all learned about life back then--by active
experience.

Throughout the span of the novel, Luke's family home is painted for the first time, board
by board, as spare hours and funds allow. As the old home grows up, metaphorically, so,
in reality, does Luke who learns the lessons we all learned early on - that where there is
love, there is often hate, where there is tenderness, there is also violence, where there is
hope there is also fear, where there is wanting, there is also giving, where there is life
there is, certainly, death.

Grisham's writing is exceptional as he recalls the interior life of a seven year old. If you
remember being seven, you'll value this book and be enriched by the read.

-30-

JITTERBUG PERFUME

JITTERBUG PERFUME is a great read, a work that fell instantly into my mental category for "real literature." Robbins is a writer to take seriously and as I search further, I find out just how seriously he is taken.

A most resourceful sight for those wishing to study Robbins, or any other author, in depth is www.rain.org, a site with the heading National Public Internet. I ran off seven (7) pages of reference material - a complete bibliography to include review links to all Robbins' novels, short stories, translations, and articles as well as personal interviews, dissertations and graduate theses.

If you haven't read any work by Tom Robbins and you are a lit lover, you must read something by this author. As for JITTERBUG PERFUME, it will take you on a fantastic saga spanning 1000 years. The verbal painting is vivid and lasting and the quirky journey will remain with you forever.
Enjoy! You will have fun and stand wiser at the end. Remember to smell the jasmine along the way.