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 144
Stop it , ” Harriet said softly , but Leah wasn ' t deaf . “ Stop what ? ” Harriet didn ' t
answer . “ Stop what ? " She sighed . “ Stop putting Lew down . ” “ Don ' t be
ridiculous , darling . I like Lew more than you do . ” Harriet glanced at the clock on
...
Stop it , ” Harriet said softly , but Leah wasn ' t deaf . “ Stop what ? ” Harriet didn ' t
answer . “ Stop what ? " She sighed . “ Stop putting Lew down . ” “ Don ' t be
ridiculous , darling . I like Lew more than you do . ” Harriet glanced at the clock on
...
Page 158
Stopped , because I knew that it was only going to get worse , and because I
thought the whole thing too predictably sad . It was predictably sad , but the
events were far from predictable . And now this real - life story about Garbo ,
which was ...
Stopped , because I knew that it was only going to get worse , and because I
thought the whole thing too predictably sad . It was predictably sad , but the
events were far from predictable . And now this real - life story about Garbo ,
which was ...
Page 282
Jane stopped picking on him . Lew stopped playing piano . He himself used the
soft pedal whenever he practiced . His mom nursed her sore belly . She couldn ' t
even read , she said ; she had time on her hands , but no brain power .
Jane stopped picking on him . Lew stopped playing piano . He himself used the
soft pedal whenever he practiced . His mom nursed her sore belly . She couldn ' t
even read , she said ; she had time on her hands , but no brain power .
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - RandyMetcalfe - LibraryThingElizabeth Hay introduces her novel with an epigraph from legendary film critic, Pauline Kael: “We will never know the extent of the damage that movies are doing to us.” That brilliantly sets the ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - ParadisePorch - LibraryThingNot about Garbo, but vintage b&w films play a part. Hay always delivers a good story filled with human insights and poignancy Read full review
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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 give glass going gone hair hand happened hard Harriet head hear heard heart inside 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
Bibliographic information
| Title | Garbo Laughs |
| Author | Elizabeth Hay |
| Publisher | Counterpoint, 2003 |
| Original from | the University of Michigan |
| Digitized | 8 Mar 2008 |
| ISBN | 1582432910, 9781582432915 |
| Length | 294 pages |
| Subjects | › Fiction / General Fiction / Psychological |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |