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
Results 1-3 of 57
Page 87
... woman in her sixties who looked like Vanessa Redgrave without the neck . 4. ) A young Asian woman who wrote with pencil , since by now they were all writing ; this was the miracle . They were all , without exception , writing . There ...
... woman in her sixties who looked like Vanessa Redgrave without the neck . 4. ) A young Asian woman who wrote with pencil , since by now they were all writing ; this was the miracle . They were all , without exception , writing . There ...
Page 89
... woman spoke up : " Who did you say we were supposed to read ? Somebody Bumbridge ? " Harriet wrote the name on the board with such vigor that the chalk snapped in half and bounced off Jack Frame's desk . He picked it up and handed it to ...
... woman spoke up : " Who did you say we were supposed to read ? Somebody Bumbridge ? " Harriet wrote the name on the board with such vigor that the chalk snapped in half and bounced off Jack Frame's desk . He picked it up and handed it to ...
Page 168
... woman's selfishness . It had been on her mind ever since , this case of a relatively young woman with terminal cancer who decided to get preg- nant because she wanted to experience childbirth before she died : the woman found a sperm ...
... woman's selfishness . It had been on her mind ever since , this case of a relatively young woman with terminal cancer who decided to get preg- nant because she wanted to experience childbirth before she died : the woman found a sperm ...
Other editions - View all
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