The Fiddle Case [Paperback]

Christine Palamidessi Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 2008

"Music is spiritual The music business is not." Van Morrison If you didn't live through the 70s , open the window and feel the breeze. Read this one of a kind book. You'll witness the end of the peace and love era as big business, branding and surveillance pounce on the ideals of the youth generation. The Fiddle Case is set in the summer of 1972, the summer when everything changed. Anna and Cindy, the main characters, are both nineteen and beginning to form identities. Anna is tomboyish; Cindy, a seductress who has viewpoints on everything. While on a road trip to return a stolen fiddle to a famous musician, they deal with men, their sexuality, jealousy, innocence and money. Their car breaks down. They hitchhike, take risks and make difficult decisions. The Group, a counterculture cult as interested in finding the fiddle's owner as they are, watches their every move. On the journey, not only is Anna and Cindy's friendship threatened, but also their lives. The Fiddle Case breathes life into the sights, smells, and sounds of America culture during the early 70s. The hippie era dies, folk music goes corporate, airlines initiate security checks, and the 80s with its money markets and three-piece suits loom near on the horizon.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christine Palamidessi Moore is author of the novels THE VIRGIN KNOWS and THE FIDDLE CASE; co-editor of the collection AMERICAN WOMAN, ITALIAN STYLE. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: IAP; 1st edition (September 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439202990
• ISBN-13: 978-1439202999
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,800,712 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

WATCH A BOOK BUILDING BLOG AHOSTMOM.WORDPRESS.COM chronicles the experience of being a host mother. For the past 16 years I have hosted international students in my house, young adults from Korea, Japan, India, Italy, Turkey, Colombia, Indonesia, Taiwan and more. They have taught me so much. I hope to have passed on some of my strengths to them and to the world.
MY BLOG AHOSTMOM.WORDPRESS.COM chronicles the experience of being a host mother

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story of friendship and a captivating read, November 23, 2008

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Fiddle Case (Paperback)

I'm a young adult and what really made me feel connected tothis book was the relationship between the two main characters, Cindy and Anna. The story captures the nitty gritty of friendship, with all its ups and downs . I also really enjoyed relating to a different era...to a time during which I wasn't even born. It made me feel like i wished I was one of the characters in the book.

I think girls my age (late teens-early twenties) would really like this book both becasue it get so into issues of friendship but also it lets you know what it might have been like for our mothers back in the 70s.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A coming of age adventure, December 9, 2008

By 

Lee Lukaszewicz (New England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fiddle Case (Paperback)

Anna and Cindy have a mission to fulfill: find Anna's sister Daria, who was lost long ago to The Group, a mysterious cult that has community houses across the country, each with its own purpose. This sets in motion an adventurous summer full of mystery, intrigue, and just a little bit of magic that brings the girls from the east coast to the west, from Boston to Kentucky, Boulder to Santa Cruz. The search intensifies as the girls then strive to return a stolen fiddle to its rightful owner, Daria's new husband. No one can be trusted. There seem to be eyes everywhere. The Group shadows their every move. Even people who seem to be the most unexpected and trustworthy have a hidden agenda.

Ms. Moore's expressive prose brings these locations and this journey to life. I could feel the girls' excitement about the journey as the open road and expansive skies beckon, and their bewilderment as Daria's trail again slips through their fingers. I could smell the clean air and see the clouds of the Rocky Mountain National Park, feel the rock face under Anna's fingers as she struggled to reach the top of the climb outside Boulder. It becomes apparent that the point of the trek turns out to be the journey itself, not the goal.

However, although there are some unexpected twists and turns, the plot was just not that complex, even a little predictable at times. Yet, I really liked Ms. Moore's descriptive prose, and overall, she has succeeded in creating memorable characters that I was disappointed to leave behind at the end of the book. This book features an era where the folk music scene was at its peak and a pair of girls could stick out their thumb on a highway and find adventure. Join them and enjoy the ride.

Rated: 3.5 Stars

(Lee was kindly provided with a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.)

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stick Out Your Thumb and Take the Trip, November 26, 2008

By 

wolf man - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fiddle Case (Paperback)

The Fidldle Case brought me back to the days in the late 60's and early 70's when you could stick out your thumb and cast yourself into any adventure. Anna and Cindy travel through a landscape filled with Appalachian scoundrels, down to earth saviors, false prophets, brainwashed devotees and just plain good friends and lovers.

The music scene in the book is true to form and shows us a time when pure motives began to turn to dark.. At any point in their trip, Anna and Cindy could have turned around and gone home but the music and its spell keeps them going. Like all great traveling stories, the trip and not the goal becomes the reason to go.

Anna and Cindy show us of the foundation of our present world and its music. There are no illusions. The times were both simple and complex. Coming of age is never easy. Anna and Cindy do it with love and grace and some hair raising adventures. If I were you, I would stick out my thumb and join them.