A Cure for Dreams
by Gibbons, Kaye
- Used
- as new
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- As New/very good +
- ISBN 10
- 0945575335
- ISBN 13
- 9780945575337
- Seller
-
Olive Hill, Kentucky, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Further enchancing her reputation as a chronicler of small-town life in the South, Gibbons ( Ellen Foster ) limns an engaging portrait of a possessive mother and her obedient daughter as the foreground of a larger canvas depicting women's roles in a society bound by tradition, convention and poverty. Deliberately old-fashioned in prose style, down to the chapter headings reminiscent of 19th-century novels, this slim volume is narrated by Betty Randolph, who tells of her domineering mother's life: how she rejected her husband after Betty was born and was relieved to be left a young widow and the ``queen bee'' of the community; how mother and daughter became inseparable, until Betty was in her 20s and suddenly realized she was on her way to spinsterhood. The plot is a series of loosely connected vignettes, enlivened by Betty's tart comments and the pithy aphorisms of plain country folk (of an officious woman, Betty says, ``I`m sure when she died and entered heaven she asked to see the upstairs''). Gibbons conveys the atmosphere of the Depression and World War II with frequent comments about Presidents Hoover and FDR, and such period detail as the birth of the Dionne quintuplets. Though entertaining, the novel is short on suspense, however; one of the few instances of narrative tension turns on the question of why Betty's suitor has blue lips. (Mar.)
Synopsis
Kaye Gibbons was born in Nash County, North Carolina, and attended North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel HIll. Her first novel, Ellen Foster , was awarded the Sue Kaufman Prize of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and a special citation from the Ernest Hemingway Foundation. Gibbons was awarded the PEN/Revson fellowship for A Cure for Dreams , and has been the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. She is also the author of the novel A Virtuous Woman . A writer-in-residence at the LIbrary of North Carolina State University, she lives with her three daughters in Raleigh.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Melissa E Anderson (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 03146
- Title
- A Cure for Dreams
- Author
- Gibbons, Kaye
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- New As New
- Jacket Condition
- very good +
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- ISBN 10
- 0945575335
- ISBN 13
- 9780945575337
- Publisher
- Algonquin Books
- Place of Publication
- Chapel Hills, North Carolina
- Date Published
- 1991
- Size
- 5.4 x 0.8 x 7.2
- Keywords
- Gibbons, Southern Living, Novels
- Bookseller catalogs
- Religion; RELIGION / Christianity / Literature;
Terms of Sale
Melissa E Anderson
All sales are final. returns are accepted if returned in original condition and within 10 days of the sale. WE DO NOT SUPPLY RETURN SHIPPING. All cost of returns are bore by the customer.
About the Seller
Melissa E Anderson
About Melissa E Anderson
Glossary
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- New
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