To: ALL Date: 02/20
From: DNBR75A S THOMSEN Time: 10:31 PM
Hi, all. Life interrupter alert! CAUCASIA, by Danzy Senna.
I'm only on page 91 (out of 353), but so far, this is GREAT!
Here are a couple of items from the flap. First, a quote, by
Junot Diaz: "This is a gorgeous novel of black, white, and
those of us in between---bold, cunning, beautiful." Then,
from the description: "Birdie and Cole are the daughters of
a black father and a white mother, intellectuals and
activists in the civil rights movement in Boston in the
1970s. The sisters are so close that they have created a
private language, yet to the outside world they can't be
sisters: while Cole looks like her father's daughter, Birdie
appears to be white..." The parents' marriage is falling>
apart; the mother becomes more and more involved with
activist causes. Is the FBI watching the house? Color, the
"lost idealisms of the 1970s" (according to one blurb on the
back cover), "the caste and class and kinship by the secret
grammar of family"---these are a few of the book's themes.
CAUCASIA is the author's first novel. (She's 28.) The book
is super, so far.
I spotted this one in B & N in NYC, then checked it out
from the local library. Riverhead Books/Penguin Putnam,
1998.
Susan
=============== Reply 1 of Note 23 =================
Board: BOOKS & WRITING
Topic: BOOKS/FICTION
Subject: CONSTANT READER
To: DNBR75A S THOMSEN Date: 02/21
From: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Time: 1:16 AM
Hi Susan, I read of review of this somewhere recently. Let
us know if it's good to the last drop.
Ruth
=============== Reply 2 of Note 23 =================
Board: BOOKS & WRITING
Topic: BOOKS/FICTION
Subject: CONSTANT READER
To: DNBR75A S THOMSEN Date: 02/21
From: TQWX67A ANN DAVEY Time: 1:36 PM
Thanks for the tip, Susan.
Ann
=============== Reply 3 of Note 23 =================
Board: BOOKS & WRITING
Topic: BOOKS/FICTION
Subject: CONSTANT READER
To: DNBR75A S THOMSEN Date: 02/22
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 11:44 AM
greetings SUSAN..
can't wait till you are finished and can report..if the book
as sustained its momentum.. will be awaiting!!!
thanks for sharing..
gail..hp..a p r ..can't believe the sun is out!!!
=============== Reply 4 of Note 23 =================
Board: BOOKS & WRITING
Topic: BOOKS/FICTION
Subject: CONSTANT READER
To: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Date: 02/22
From: DNBR75A S THOMSEN Time: 4:43 PM
gail, Ruth, Ann, and all,
I finished CAUCASIA today and have one word for it:
FABULOUS! A real life interrupter. Yay! Strong writing, a
lot of forward momentum, and well-drawn characters. It's a
book that tells a complex story, and it's written with a lot
of love. I finished the novel on the train from NY, and
wanted to jump up and down and shout, "This is a great book,
everybody! Read this one!" Then again, I didn't want to get
kicked off the train, so this is my cyber way of jumping up
and down.
Susan
=============== Reply 5 of Note 23 =================
Board: BOOKS & WRITING
Topic: BOOKS/FICTION
Subject: CONSTANT READER
To: DNBR75A S THOMSEN Date: 02/22
From: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Time: 7:22 PM
Great, Susan. This moves to the top of my TBR list.
Ruth
=============== Reply 6 of Note 23 =================
Board: BOOKS & WRITING
Topic: BOOKS/FICTION
Subject: CONSTANT READER
To: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Date: 02/22
From: DNBR75A S THOMSEN Time: 10:53 PM
Ruth, I see on the flap of CAUCASIA that the author, Danzy
Senna, has an MFA from UC Irvine. Is that near you? She does
a marvelous job with place in her book.
Susan
=============== Reply 7 of Note 23 =================
Board: BOOKS & WRITING
Topic: BOOKS/FICTION
Subject: CONSTANT READER
To: DNBR75A S THOMSEN Date: 02/22
From: FNMN56E LYNN EVANS Time: 10:59 PM
Susan, UC Irvine has a quite well-respected writing program.
It's about halfway between L.A. and San Diego (I think!).
Lynn
=============== Reply 8 of Note 23 =================
Board: BOOKS & WRITING
Topic: BOOKS/FICTION
Subject: CONSTANT READER
To: DNBR75A S THOMSEN Date: 02/23
From: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Time: 1:05 AM
Drn, this book's only available in hardback, and my library
(of course) doesn't have a copy.
Yes, UC Irvine's just about an hour's drive away from me. I
came close to going there for graduate school. Lynn's right,
it's betweeen LA & San Diego, but I closer to LA, I'd say.
Ruth
=============== Reply 9 of Note 23 =================
Board: BOOKS & WRITING
Topic: BOOKS/FICTION
Subject: CONSTANT READER
To: DNBR75A S THOMSEN Date: 02/23
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 3:33 PM
greetings SUSAN..
bless you.. i needed to hear about a real LIFE
INTERRUPTER...i peeked at it yesterday at the bookstore and
thought of you ...anxiously awaiting your finale!!!!
keep reading and feeding us SUSAN...my time is limited.. now
up to 5 hours of addicitive bridge playing a night..
WHO
SLEEPS... gail..hp..a p r..excited about a LIFE
INTERRUPTER...!
=============== Reply 10 of Note 23 =================
Board: BOOKS & WRITING
Topic: BOOKS/FICTION
Subject: CONSTANT READER
To: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Date: 02/23
From: TQWX67A ANN DAVEY Time: 8:11 PM
Susan,
I'm adding this to my TBR list tonight. Did I read that the
author is also biracial, or am I getting her confused with
someone else?
Ann
=============== Reply 11 of Note 23 =================
Board: BOOKS & WRITING
Topic: BOOKS/FICTION
Subject: CONSTANT READER
To: DNBR75A S THOMSEN Date: 02/24
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 0:17 AM
greetings SUSAN..
just ordered it from the libray... will inform
later...love to get excited about someone else's enthusiasm
about a LIFE INTERRUPTER!
gail..hp..a p r.. in the midst of WHOREDOM IN KIMMAGE.. and
POTATOES not PROZAC...about people who are sugar sensitive!
=============== Reply 12 of Note 23 =================
Board: BOOKS & WRITING
Topic: BOOKS/FICTION
Subject: CONSTANT READER
To: TQWX67A ANN DAVEY Date: 02/24
From: DNBR75A S THOMSEN Time: 10:04 AM
Ann, yes, you're right about the author; her mother is white
and her father black. Several of the quotes on the back
cover say that in her book Senna destroys the myth of the
"tragic mulatto." I'm not familiar with the phrase "tragic
mulatto"; do you know where it comes from?
Susan
=============== Reply 13 of Note 23 =================
Board: BOOKS & WRITING
Topic: BOOKS/FICTION
Subject: CONSTANT READER
To: DNBR75A S THOMSEN Date: 02/24
From: TQWX67A ANN DAVEY Time: 6:30 PM
No, Susan, I don't have a clue where the phrase "tragic
mulatto" came from, but I remember when many felt it would
not be fair to the children if whites and blacks married
(that certainly dates me). I think that the idea was that
they wouldn't really be accepted by either race. My kids
have biracial friends and it doesn't seem to make any
difference to them. Of course, I have no idea if the kids
themselves have identity problems, but they seem very well
adjusted.
Ann
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