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Bette Pesetsky Cast a Spell
Harcourt 0151160724 / 9780151160723 Hardcover Good
0151160724 From Publishers Weekly nRaemunde Miz Magic Howard has passed beyond fortune-telling gigs and birthday party performances to become a highly successful children's TV magician. Perhaps she possesses occult powers? Neither she nor her cousin Carrie really thinks so, but Carrie wants to break through in journalism and is prepared to serve Rae up to the tabloids (I believe in the existence of secrets, Mr. Rosencantz) as her own passport to notoriety. Mr. Rosencantz, of the Sunshine Publishing Co., is willing to go along, but Carrie's inept efforts are less titillating than required. Pesetsky ( Midnight Sweets ; The Late Night Muse ) steers this droll comedy of Carrie, Rae and Carrie's sister Lila through a medley of narrative shifts--Carrie's letters, Carrie's narration and what may be Carrie's yellow journalistic prose, along with passages from Rae and transcriptions of taped interviews--but eventually seeks to straighten out the comic twists to yield a more standard account of marriage, divorce and child neglect. In the final paragraph comes her formulation, expressed in Rae's voice: I learned that behind every trick, every illusion was the explanation. And knowing that made me a realist at an early age. This conclusion seems too simple a payoff for the narrative's many voices and strategies. nCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. n nFrom Library Journal nThe eccentric Miz Magic, Raemunde Howard, is the beguiling character at the heart of Pesetsky's ( Confessions of a Bad Girl , LJ 4/1/89) latest novel. Obsessed with magic since early childhood, Raemunde becomes a famous children's magician who enhances her act with Yiddish words. A jealous cousin, Carrie, is determined to unearth any scandal in Rae's background and finally succeeds, exposing Rae's three marriages and her forlorn childhood. The reader will sympathize with Rae, the little girl who is deserted and sent to live with her grandmother and two cousins. But though the book is amusing, its story is slight, and the search for scandal in Rae's life becomes tiresome. Recommended only for larger fiction collections. n- Stephanie Furtsch, New Rochelle P.L., nCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Price:
9.69 EUR
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