Lives of Girls and Women
by Alice Munro | Literature & Fiction | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0375707492 Global Overview for this book
ISBN: 0375707492 Global Overview for this book
Registered by GorgeousGlo on 7/15/2008
1 journaler for this copy...
Alice Munro is my favorite Canadian author.
This book is part of 500 Great Books by Women, by Erica Bauermeister et al. This is their review:
From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Jesse Larsen
Alice Munro's novel, "autobiographical in form but not in fact," is full of piercing and detailed observations tempered, but never dulled, by tenderness. Del Jordan romps, stumbles, and races toward womanhood in her home town of Jubilee, Ontario. She knows she will someday be a famous writer and keeps journals, memorizes poetry, and makes lists in preparation: "A list of all the stores and businesses going up and down the main street and who owned them, a list of family names, names on the tombstones in the cemetery and any inscriptions underneath. A list of the titles of movies that played at the Lyceum theater from 1938 to 1950, roughly speaking." When her mother, Ada, "goes on the road" alone to sell encyclopedias to farmers, Del is outwardly mortified and secretly proud. At first disgusted, then fascinated, and finally obsessed with sex, Del resents her growing breasts and tries to rationalize her sexual cravings; still, she can't make herself fall in love with the first boy that makes her want to wash her hair. Del Jordan is sharp, sexy, tender, and hilarious. Let the world beware: she's about to become a woman.
This book is part of 500 Great Books by Women, by Erica Bauermeister et al. This is their review:
From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Jesse Larsen
Alice Munro's novel, "autobiographical in form but not in fact," is full of piercing and detailed observations tempered, but never dulled, by tenderness. Del Jordan romps, stumbles, and races toward womanhood in her home town of Jubilee, Ontario. She knows she will someday be a famous writer and keeps journals, memorizes poetry, and makes lists in preparation: "A list of all the stores and businesses going up and down the main street and who owned them, a list of family names, names on the tombstones in the cemetery and any inscriptions underneath. A list of the titles of movies that played at the Lyceum theater from 1938 to 1950, roughly speaking." When her mother, Ada, "goes on the road" alone to sell encyclopedias to farmers, Del is outwardly mortified and secretly proud. At first disgusted, then fascinated, and finally obsessed with sex, Del resents her growing breasts and tries to rationalize her sexual cravings; still, she can't make herself fall in love with the first boy that makes her want to wash her hair. Del Jordan is sharp, sexy, tender, and hilarious. Let the world beware: she's about to become a woman.
