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 |
From inside the book
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Page 12
... heart of his identity as Lew Gold the loving father , and to the heart of their shared geogra- phy , this cold country it had been such a shock to re - enter . He would rather be in Cuba . Come with me , he had said . " So did you go ...
... heart of his identity as Lew Gold the loving father , and to the heart of their shared geogra- phy , this cold country it had been such a shock to re - enter . He would rather be in Cuba . Come with me , he had said . " So did you go ...
Page 99
... heart ? " " Watching him go mad . Watching him pursue a love that was com- pletely unattainable - that broke my heart . " She was struck by the sad force of his answer , the grave sentimental- ity , and suddenly she felt grateful to him ...
... heart ? " " Watching him go mad . Watching him pursue a love that was com- pletely unattainable - that broke my heart . " She was struck by the sad force of his answer , the grave sentimental- ity , and suddenly she felt grateful to him ...
Page 173
... heart ? Have a heart ? I'm all heart . " Upstairs , in the light of the bedside lamp , Harriet lay on her back , hands folded across her chest , ankles touching , soul aghast . To fall out with Dinah , not over Lew but over a movie . To ...
... heart ? Have a heart ? I'm all heart . " Upstairs , in the light of the bedside lamp , Harriet lay on her back , hands folded across her chest , ankles touching , soul aghast . To fall out with Dinah , not over Lew but over a movie . To ...
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Common terms and phrases
answer asked aunt beautiful began beside better Bill called Cary coffee coming couldn't dark didn't Dinah don't door everything eyes face fall feel felt fern Fiona Frame front Garbo gave give glass going gone hair hand happened hard Harriet head hear heard heart interest It's Italy Jack Jane Kenny kids kitchen knew later laughed Leah leave light living looked mean mind morning mother moved movie never night once Pauline picture play reached remember side sitting sleep smile snow someone sound standing stayed steps stood stopped story street talk tell thing thought told took tree turned voice waiting walk watch week window woman women wonder write wrote