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    A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity: A Novel
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    Random House, Incorporated

    A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity: A Novel

    3.8
    €103,00
    €103,00
    €170,00
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    Customer Reviews

    Beauty Is In The Eyes Of The Beholder.All of her little books have Oriental book jackets, all similar, and she uses the same format of short vignettes to tell varied and many stories. A COLLECTION OF BEAUTIES, goes back in time to the late-twenties and early-thirties to the fetish of beauty and youth. No age is perfect.These characters will realize sooner or later that beauty fades as they age, and there is nothing they can do about it. These related tales are reminiscent of her earlier books, and she seems to be searching for her Japanese roots in this one in particular.Sometimes, beauty is on the inside of a person, no matter what age; some older women are still beautiful until their eyes get sunk in. The changing hair is fascinating, and who cares whethre you dye it some outrageous color or not. Natural is better but, let me tell you, there is no "aging gracefully." These women have much to learn before they can truly be beauties. 3A little jewel box of proseI found this an odd book. Not just the format- vignettes loosely bound together, styled after a Japanese courtesan s pillow book from the Edo period , each vignette featuring a different member of a group of friends. Set in 1980s San Francisco, these friends are late 20 somethings, all well educated but none working in the field that they are educated for. They float through life; drinking, smoking pot and sometimes doing coke, attending art openings and going to restaurants but mainly meeting at the Youki Singe Tea Room, a North Beach dive where pot smoking is allowed- but only in a small room.Elodie is the woman who sets the tales down. She writes only when in the Tea Room, leaving her notebooks there. The characters- the collection of beauties- seem to have no ambition, content to simply live like butterflies, pushed by the winds of life. Connections between them turn to love, break up, and realign. There is no real plot; it s just events happening in the vignettes.While reading the book, I didn t much care for most of the characters. Which makes it odd that I later found myself thinking about them, and going back and rereading sections of the book. The prose is beautiful.The vignettes are like little jewels. The book is physically beautiful, too, illustrated mostly with old Japanese woodblock prints but with a couple of 20th century works. To read this book is enjoyable, even if I didn t connect with most of the characters. 4Good intentions, bad executionWhitney Otto, one of my all-time favorite writers, has misstepped badly in "A Collection of Beauties." In trying to recreate a modern version of a Japanese pillow book, she took as her model the diaries of Dawn Powell, a rich white woman who leeched off artists without having a shred of art in her own soul. True to form, the characters in this book look and act artistic, but only one--Micha the painter--has any genuine talent. The others are basically rich, spoiled wastrels of the early '80s, lost in their world of parties, dope and ennui while they kind of flutz around the art community without ever really being part of it. Perhaps the most typical character is Micha's lover, a woman so vapid that she hasn't even bothered to unpack most of her things or buy furniture for her apartment because she is simply too lazy to do it. What a waste of talent!! Whitney, go back and re-read "The Passion Dream Book," that is your masterpiece. Give us more like that and less of a Dawn Powell-lookalike, 2Well written but didnt like the charactersThis book left me with a bad feeling. It is well written and I found myself reflecting on insights it offered about people in general. However, I didnt like the characters. San Francisco is the setting and its intertwined in the plot (not really a plot but rather a snap shot of many peoples lives). All the characters are smart, good looking and living in the moment without any regard for other people. They are happiest in each others company partying and druging. They want what they cant have and dont achieve anything. Is Otto saying this is how we all are or just this particular click of friends, I am not sure but I didnt find myself identifying or liking any of them. In spite of my lack of interest for the characters, I did finish it and I admire the author's writting style and talent. 3Unusual and Interesting!Otto's book reads as many short stories about love, finding love, or missing love that are interconnected. The characters all know each other or someone who knows that person. The people are young, living on their own or with roommates, working, and partying. However, they don't see themselves as going anywhere, career-wise, even though they are intelligent.The author includes Japanese art at the beginning of each chapter, which lead you into the story. She even includes photos of art seen by characters at a museum, which is very unusual. These really added to the story. I have never seen that before, but it was engaging. Highly recommend, if you are looking for something smart and different. 5Overwhelmingly marvelous.This is an amazing book. It is beautiful, enchanting, and a little bit cynical. The plot weaves in and out among itself: the book is composed of a series of what at first appear to be independent short stories, but soon begin to link and spread, forming a connecting and disconnecting network. The stories skip in and out of time and place, following a pattern in theme rather than in chronology; the discontinuity can be confusing if you want to remember everything, but it contributes wonderfully to the dissipative, collectivist mood of the book. Each story opens with a copy of a Japanese print and a description that is meant to parallel the events of the story, and the book as a whole is meant to reflect a famous Japanese diary. These connections are occasionally obvious and often obscure; searching for them is part of the excitement of reading such an interwoven work. The prose is always smooth and often beautiful, and the characters and plot are developed with a distinct sense of artistry. The book as a whole is amazingly balanced, readable, and occasionally stunning. It deserves to be read slowly and in a quiet room. 5Pure atmosphereDon't let the genuinely ugly cover chase you away.(Though I see Otto's intention in the woodblock art of the Japanese "floating world," a sample of which appears before every chapter, it didn't quite do it for me. Maybe it's because every woodblocked woman features squinty eyes which look like gnats, squinty mouths, inexpressive eyebrows, prominent noses, and huge, lethargic, drooping hair. It seems a bit of a stretch to connect a pillow book in long-ago Japan with one in 1980s San Francisco, and quite frankly the character in Otto's novel who writes her own pillow book is, no offense, a fairly pure oddball. Good idea, just weighted down with undesirable visuals.)I picked up this book largely because I read a negative review about it in Book Magazine. The reviewer charged that the book was insubstantial, built entirely on atmosphere, relying "heavily on characterization rather than on dramatic development of plot."Hooray! I said. Here was a book based on character, my favorite trait in a story. Though I do not like short stories, I went out and snatched up the book, and I was not sorry.Yes, the book has the tone of the author's own summary of the second chapter, or story: "They spend a Saturday visiting a number of parties, skimming the social surface like skates on water." It IS largely atmosphere, my second favorite characteristic in a book. The "skating on the surface" aspect of the book is one of its more charming aspects.This book is no catalog of 80s brands or merchandise; any mention of brands or paraphenalia makes the book more authentic, not less.In contrast with Book Magazine, I fail to see where there is no plot. People coming together for love affairs, being driven out of the house by an off-tilt roommate... this is not plot? Non-plot is two divorced women sitting silently at a kitchen table while water drips forlornly through coffee grounds and the coffee machines makes feeble perculating sounds, something I saw far too much of while earning my English degree.Rather, this novel is an enjoyable read with characters whose stories are strung together through the odd scene which may appear (from two different points of view) in two stories, through the connection of one character to another, and more.Despite the large cast, each character is completely his or her own. Favorites: Theo, Jelly, Sal, Lenny, Ginny, Selena. Unfavorites: Elodie, Roy, Nash...Micha's lover Suzanne IS a bit vapid. She reminds me somewhat of the corpse-like, truly odd (not in a good way) Hana in The English Patient (the book, not the movie, which I haven't seen).I looked forward to reading this book each night, which, since I am a picky reader, I can say for few books. 4Not great.I had some hopes for Whitney Otto's "A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity". I found it less charming than "How To Make an American Quilt," and I found "Quilt" to be faintly charming, at best.Set in the 1980s, in San Francisco, Otto could have made some real statements about chosen families. She does not.Her characters are all educated, struggling to affluent, and many of them are pretentious as anything. Casual references to architects, designer clothing and furniture- it is as much a catalogue as a novel. Most of the chracters are in their late 20s, early 30s, making them my contemporaries. Instead of doing something, many of them are merely content to see and be seen, on the fringes of San Francisco's art scene.Otto does not mention AIDS.A better take on similar material is the New York centered "Story of My Life," by Jay McInerny... 2Truly a collection of beautiesI've read two other Whitney Otto books, both insightful and rich in their story and content. THIS treasure, however, moves to the top of my list. She has woven a delightful novel full of promise, texture, and curiousities. As I read it, I could see where she was taking me, how the tale would unwind, and I went willingly. When I finished the book, I felt a sense of loss. I've been enjoying the book for several nights now as it was my short read before sleep. Now that it is finished, I am mesmerized and want it to continue.Otto is a very creative writer. She draws you in with the whimsical lightness and before you realize it, you are sitting in the tea house watching each story unfold.I'm going to find and read, "The Passion Dream Book," as it is the only one of her books I've not read. Good writing survives. This one did and will. 5To Be Young Was Very HeavenI bought this right after reading The Passion Dream Book by her - which I loved. I liked this one a lot too. This one is a little less coherently linear and a bit harder to fit together but still it's wonderful! The writing is exceptional, the images evoked are ethereal and realistic, the characters are people you come to care about (and get disappointed when they don't return!) Quote from page 172 - "As her mind wanders she censors none of the random thoughts that blend, melt, give way, and transform into other random thoughts. This inconsequential circling around a central pressing thought. It is pleasant to sit this way, allowing her mind to clip along, relaxed, feeling its muscle as it sorts through the ridiculous and the profound." Otto is an excellent writer and I look forward to reading more by her - she's fast becoming a favorite author. 5
    A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity: A Novel

    A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity: A Novel

    3.8
    You can't add more than 500 quantity.
    €103,00
    €103,00
    €170,00
    Sold out
    Save 39% (€67,00)