Babe in Paradise: Fiction [Hardcover]

Marisa Silver (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2001

Set in contemporary Los Angeles, this mature debut shines an unexpected light on this most duplicitous of cities. Although all the characters in Babe in Paradise live in Los Angeles, none of them partake of the glamour and success that mark the city. Marisa Silver's characters—a community-college teacher, an equipment-rental store manager, a limousine driver, and a struggling actress among them—live on the periphery of the city's allure. Babe of the title story must confront the complete dissolution of her past when a fire threatens to engulf the hillside house she and her mother share. A car-jacking forces the young husband and wife of "What I Saw from Where I Stood" to confront the loss of a child and the way in which this loss has reshaped their marriage. The unforgettable characters in Babe in Paradise dwell in the Los Angeles of seismic geological change, of racial unease, of parched desert landscapes littered with the detritus of urban ambition. Silver has a genius for making us care deeply about her characters, their everyday desperations and hard-won hopes.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Silver sets her oblique, atmospheric tales against the backdrop of a sprawling Los Angeles in this uneven but promising first short story collection. Many of the nine stories are equipped with painfully real characters and strikingly inventive writing, but too often an exciting premise leads to a dead end, and characters metamorphose in ways that go unexplored. In "Statues," for example, a recently married couple, struggling to feel at home in L.A., winds up at the home of two adult-film impresarios, where without much preamble (or motivation) the young wife asks them to "make a movie of her." After an anticlimactic filming scene, the story ends abruptly in the middle of the couple's tense ride home. Silver may be at her best when channeling the intensely tribal world of girls: through a character named Babe, featured in three of the stories, we see the fate that awaits a young woman in L.A. who is neither beautiful, happy nor rich and more gratifyingly, we see how she manages to redeem herself. Several stories offer an alternately affectionate and frightening view of L.A.'s car culture. In "What I Saw from Where I Stood," one of the more powerful and taut entries, a carjacking spurs a tragic emotional response in a young woman who has recently miscarried a baby, while her husband looks on, helpless to save her. As a whole, the collection is a nod to the "other" great American metropolis: L.A.'s unique ability to be "everywhere and nowhere at the same time" is carefully, almost reverently documented. Sporadically illuminating if ultimately disappointing, Silver's tales aim to show how, with a little bravery, anyone can learn to love the City of Angels. 5-city author tour.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From The New Yorker

This collection of stories is set in the city of angels, but Silver's stuntmen and limo drivers, living in the shadow of Hollywood, would count themselves lucky to catch just a glimpse of paradise.
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393020037
• ISBN-13: 978-0393020038
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,748,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marisa Silver made her fiction debut in The New Yorker when she was featured in that magazine's first "Debut Fiction" issue. Her collection of short stories, Babe in Paradise was published by W.W. Norton in 2001. That collection was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year. In 2005, W.W. Norton published her novel, No Direction Home. Her latest novel, The God of War, was published in 2008 by Simon and Schuster and is a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for fiction. Winner of the O. Henry Prize, her fiction has been included in The Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Prize Stories, as well as other anthologies. Her new collection of stories, Alone With You, will be published by Simon and Schuster April, 13th, 2010.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and Fiercely Honest Writer, January 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Babe in Paradise: Fiction (Hardcover)

The joy of reading Marisa Silver's short stories comes from never knowing what the next one will bring. She reminds me of a brilliant wizard, always conjuring up little surprises and NEVER resorting to the cliche. My suggestion is to read one story a day. You will feel like you have treated yourself to a nice surprise at the end of the day - but be forewarned. When you turn the last page, you will be sad that the journey is over.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Didn't do it for me..., May 6, 2005

By 

CoffeeGurl - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Babe in Paradise: Fiction (Paperback)

I thought I was getting thought provoking, creative stories centered on Los Angeles's underbelly with this book. The stories are rather disjointed at times and appear not to have any purpose at all. The characters are well developed and they were strikingly real and compelling at times, but the uneven writing sort of made them loose their sparkle. Out of the nine stories, only "Gunsmoke" and "Two Criminals" somewhat captured me. The others didn't do it for me. If you are a lover of short stories like I am, you'd want to see whether or not this one is a hit or a miss. To me, Babe in Paradise was a miss...

5.0 out of 5 stars sheila who loves to read, November 14, 2008

By 

M. cornlelius "sheila the game player" (long island) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Babe in Paradise: Fiction (Paperback)

I absolutely loved this book and everything this bright new author has written. She is a marvelous writer with a fresh voice. I especially loved her novel, "The God of Wars". If you enjoy Richard Russo, Roxanna Robinson or Wally Lamb, this is the book and the author for you.