Two New Must-Read Novels

Two new novels arrived in the store this week -- actually, many more than two, but I'll only talk about these two for the moment. The first -- Fool, by Christopher Moore -- I already blogged about so I won't say anything more except buy it and read it! This book will make you laugh your you-know-what off, a perfect antidote to these cold winter days. If you like a good parody (Shakespeare's King Lear, in this case), this is the book for you.

One of the most popular books at Broadway Books in the past year has been Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan, a fictionalized telling of Frank Lloyd Wright's relationship with Mamah Cheney. Now we have The Women, by T.C. Boyle, a fictionalized biography of Frank Lloyd Wright told from the point of view of the four women in his life, including Mamah. Wright has been described as visionary, reckless, passionate, manipulative, and impetuous. These descriptions apply both to his professional life and to his personal life: in both he was known to be contemptuous of society's rules of behavior. This dazzling novel by Boyle is a masterful ode to the creative life in all its creativity and grandeur. One reviewer described it as "lush, dense, and hyperliterate -- in other words, vintage Boyle."

If these walls could talk.... As it turns out, Boyle lives in the George C. Stewart house, near Santa Barbara, one of Wright's early California designs. He and his family are only the fourth owners of the house (built in 1909). Along with his other work, Boyle is known for his fictionalized biographies of great narcissistic egomaniacs of the 20th century: John Harvey Kellog, Alfred Kinsey, and now Frank Lloyd Wright. We sold out all of our copies on the day they arrived, but lucky for all of us we've since received more. Come and get 'em!