Eddie and Bella [Hardcover]

Wayne Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2001

Where have all the flower children gone? Wilson's second novel answers this question with the story of Eddie, a handsome, sensitive poet whose "spiritual" name is Raphael, and Bella, a head-turning beauty with glorious curly hair and a sharp wit. Ah, but time passes, and the myth fades fast. Eddie comes to realize that life with Bella is a little too real for his poetic self: dog hair in the drains, coke up her nose, flat tires, and unpaid bills. Bella is arrested for drunk driving. Eddie whips his outrageous poetry on another woman--and another and another. He leaves Bella, pretends she died, wears her I Ching coin around his neck, and proceeds to a life of disappointment and bad luck. Bella and her wise-mouthed daughters also live on the edge of despair as they trek from a kibbutz in Israel to Boston to New Orleans, never quite making it. We know it's inevitable that Eddie and Bella will meet again, but what happens on the way to that encounter makes great reading. Wilson's writing is soaked with patchouli oil; his characters are quirky, pitiful, funny, gorgeous, sad, and so human. In the end, the flower children may wither a bit, but they don't wilt.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Where have all the flower children gone? Wilson's second novel answers this question with the story of Eddie, a handsome, sensitive poet whose "spiritual" name is Raphael, and Bella, a head-turning beauty with glorious curly hair and a sharp wit. Ah, but time passes, and the myth fades fast. Eddie comes to realize that life with Bella is a little too real for his poetic self: dog hair in the drains, coke up her nose, flat tires, and unpaid bills. Bella is arrested for drunk driving. Eddie whips his outrageous poetry on another woman--and another and another. He leaves Bella, pretends she died, wears her I Ching coin around his neck, and proceeds to a life of disappointment and bad luck. Bella and her wise-mouthed daughters also live on the edge of despair as they trek from a kibbutz in Israel to Boston to New Orleans, never quite making it. We know it's inevitable that Eddie and Bella will meet again, but what happens on the way to that encounter makes great reading. Wilson's writing is soaked with patchouli oil; his characters are quirky, pitiful, funny, gorgeous, sad, and so human. In the end, the flower children may wither a bit, but they don't wilt. Peggy Barber
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Readers who still savor the earthy head-shop memory-musk of patchouli will delight in this picaresque love story...." -- Foreword Magazine

"a delightfully quirky love story . . . a book that is by turns a hoot and a heartacher." -- Boston Herald

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books; 1st edition (January 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565122976
• ISBN-13: 978-1565122970
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,043,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars On the Road with Bella & Eddie, August 15, 2001

By 

Lee Armstrong (Winterville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Eddie and Bella (Hardcover)

This book is alternatingly heart-warming and frustrating, but isn't that life? Bella is a beautiful earth mother to whom Eddie is attracted like no other. Her drug-induced behaviors lead them to split, but he carries a torch for her. The book has some interesting levels to it. Eddie is raised with an insensitive father who refers to him a "numb nuts," gets spirituality from a New Age conquest, and then rejects God altogether. Bella goes through a series of relationships, and eventually pulls her life together. This is a wonderful episodic adventure. The book gives you the feeling that we are on a life path whether or not we are aware of it. It is a great tale recognizing that sometimes it takes time to pull your life together. Enjoy this one. It's a fast fun read!

5.0 out of 5 stars Eddie & Bella & Me, January 28, 2003

By 

Nevada McPherson (New Orleans, LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eddie and Bella (Hardcover)

Eddie & Bella is a remarkable book featuring two extraordinary characters whose lives are inextricably linked, whether they like it or not. Eddie is a guy to whom things came easy at first, but inconveniently, as he grows older, the life he thought he was heading toward shows up further and further away in his rearview mirror. Things never came so easy to Eddie's former girlfriend Bella, which is maybe why she's not as astonished by life's peaks and valleys. Bella could be the perfect example of a "cool mom," and if you asked her daughters Darshon and Sage, they might agree, but only if Bella could manage to tie the flailing ends of her life into a loose knot, ie. stable home, steady boyfriend, and/or a reasonably steady job. In Bella's case, two out of three ain't bad, and the missing component is never as far away as she might think.
This story is well-plotted, fast-paced and filled with terrific details and diamond sharp insights into character. Wayne Wilson's ability to transform the achy and awkward moments of life into moments of epiphany makes Eddie & Bella a soul-shaking read.