Conditions
An apparently unread copy in perfect condition.
Formats
Conditions
An apparently unread copy in perfect condition.
Sexy, vivacious Elisa, of the miniskirts and tiny T-shirts, still in art school and just coming off an affair with a temper-driven fellow artist, initiated things. She came on to cool, quiet Gabe who wore his hair in a graying ponytail and kept a low profile. A good bit older than Elisa-more than twenty years older, in fact-he found himself buoyed by her youth and her brashness. To her great surprise, Elisa craved Gabe's watchfulness and solicitude.
That Gabe's past included a successful drug dealing business bothered her not at all. And certainly he was unconcerned that Elisa's more current past included a lot of casual sex. Neither of them ever expected to have to answer for what had been so easy for Gabe and so enjoyable for Elisa. But truth be known, the one obvious thing they had in common was the burden their pasts suddenly put onto their future.
Joan Silber has written a love story for the turn of the twenty-first century, one that takes into rich account the styles and pressures of contemporary urban life. But more than that, she has created two characters who throb with real-life personality, passion, and courage.
""I know no one else who writes as Joan Silber does, with such an immediate contemporary voice, about our secret yearnings for a spiritual life,"" observes Margot Livesey, author of Banishing Verona .
My wife brought this book home and I happened to read the first page. Could not put this book down. Very simple story about two very mismatched people and what happens when they start to live their lives together. It is a very quirky love story and not something I'd normally even pick up , but I kept turning the pages to find out what happens next to Gabe and Eliza. At first I thought the power of the writing was because the author didn't use adjectives but she does use adjectives. She just writes in a very spare manner and nothing you could imagine her characters saying is ever said because the author knows we have already imagined the words they should say so why say them. And then the characters say and do something we never could have dreamed they would do. Loved the book.
Elisa is such a interesting character that i read this cover to cover. Gabe could have used a little excitement however, but reading his point really evolved Elisa in my mind. She handles her disease a little too lightly, maybe making it less scary that it really is. I really did enjoy this book, constantly waiting to see what Elisa would do next.
"Lucky Us" is a great contemporary love story. I randomly selected this novel from the library, and I found myself unable to put itdown. The story was intriguing and exceptionally touching. Gabe and Elisa are an incrediably mismatched couple that face the pressures and problems of modern day relationships. You'll find yourself curious to know the outcome of Elisa's attitude towards life after being infected with HIV. Along with how this issue will affect their future as a couple. Also, will their past burdens affect their personalities, decisions, and roles in life? Joan Silber's lively characters and lovely prose make every page of this book a pleasure to read.
Any book by Joan Silber is one that a reader can plunge into without the slightest hesitation, as opposed to those books a reader doesn't quite trust to be the real thing. This is a tale told with easy authority requiring nothing from the reader but attention. This is a wondrful novel, as are Ms. Silber's other books. She has her own particular voice, which is recognizable anywhere, but it is never a distraction; it's just one more element that makes her work so singular. Pay no attention to the jacket flap, which is glib and cute--the book is often funny, but it's never cute. This is a love story, I suppose, but that's too simplistic a definition. Lucky Us is a reflection of life as we live now, made utterly compelling by the depth of Ms. Silber's fully imagined characters. It is imppossible to put it down after the first sentence! Enjoy it!
