Garbo LaughsFrom the award-winning author of A Student of Weather, a funny, sad-eyed novel about a woman caught between real love and movie love--and real love doesn't stand a chance. This is a novel about movie love. Set in Ottawa in the 1990s, it is the quixotic tale of tall, thin Harriet Browning, inflamed by the movies she was deprived of as a child. Bent on seeing everything she has missed, she rapidly becomes so saturated with old movies, seen repeatedly and swallowed whole, that she no longer fits into this world. Equally addicted are her three companions- of-the-screen: a boy who loves Frank Sinatra, a girl with Bette Davis eyes, and an earthy sidekick named after Dinah Shore. Breaking in upon this quiet backwater, in time with the devastating ice storm of 1998, come two refugees from Hollywood, the jaded widow of a famous screenwriter and her movie-expert stepson. They are Harsh Reality. With them come blackouts, arguments, accidents, illness, and sudden death. But what chance does real life stand when we can watch movies instead? What hope does real love have when movie love, in all its brief intensity, is an easy option? In this brilliant and poignant comedy of secondhand desire, m |
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Page 102
... it's not the coffee it's the bunk . " " " What brought that to mind ? " " I don't know . It's from a movie . " " Christmas in July . Preston Sturges . " " Did you like it ? " he asked her . " I loved it . " Tall mother and tall son ...
... it's not the coffee it's the bunk . " " " What brought that to mind ? " " I don't know . It's from a movie . " " Christmas in July . Preston Sturges . " " Did you like it ? " he asked her . " I loved it . " Tall mother and tall son ...
Page 168
... it's heart - wrenching . " They love it , he said . “ Do you skip the sad parts ? " No. He shook his head . He read ... It's a bore . It's incredibly boring . And it's made for children , right ? But all children I know think it's a bore ...
... it's heart - wrenching . " They love it , he said . “ Do you skip the sad parts ? " No. He shook his head . He read ... It's a bore . It's incredibly boring . And it's made for children , right ? But all children I know think it's a bore ...
Page 254
... It's over , " he said . " I don't want to talk about it any more . " " But I need to know . I need to be able to ask ... It's sadder for us than for him , she'd said . It's not sad for the person with the talent , it's sad for the ...
... It's over , " he said . " I don't want to talk about it any more . " " But I need to know . I need to be able to ask ... It's sadder for us than for him , she'd said . It's not sad for the person with the talent , it's sad for the ...
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asked asked Harriet Audrey Hepburn aunt beautiful beside better Bill Bender Buster Keaton called Cary Grant coffee dark desk Dinah Dinah Bloom door downstairs eyes face feel felt fern Fiona Chester Frank Sinatra Fred Astaire funny Garbo Gene Kelly glass going Greta Garbo hair hand happened Harriet Browning Harriet looked hated head heard Jack Frame Jean Simmons Jim Creak Kenny and Jane Kenny's kids kitchen knew laughed Leah Leah's Lew's Lionel living room Marlon Brando mind morning mother never night Ottawa Pauline Kael Peter O'Toole rain remember Rod Steiger Sean Connery Shawl side sleep smile snow someone song detective stayed stood stopped story street talk tell There's thing thought Harriet told took tree turned upstairs voice walk watch What's window woman wonder write