First Resort [Paperback]

Nanci Little (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Odd Girls Press; 1st edition (December 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887237011
• ISBN-13: 978-1887237017
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,817,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lush, wonderfully written book of exquisite tenderness, March 13, 1999

By 

Carol Mortimer ([e-mail]) (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Resort (Paperback)

I've read all three of Nanci Little's novels - THIN FIRE, A GRASS WIDOW, and now the terrific FIRST RESORT. Each time, I've been so moved by Little's writing that I've gone back to the book over and over, and read it multiple times. In fact, I loved FIRST RESORT so much that I actually read it TWICE in one week! And I'll undoubtedly revisit it again in a few months. Meanwhile, I'm buying copies for friends. Like Little's other books, FIRST RESORT is a story of great depth and complexity. It unfolds slowly and tenderly, as Little gently reveals the central characters: Jordan (the lesbian golf pro of a Maine golf resort) and a heterosexual widow & resort guest named Gillian. Each is a survivor of great personal trauma. They lovingly help each other to face their personal herstories, while developing a wonderful friendship and learning to move forward, toward their happy endings. I also enjoyed some of the supporting characters a lot - especially two lesbian friends, Gillie's daughter, and Jordan's uncle. (It's nice to see a lesbian novel with such a fully-formed, positive male character! In fact, that's one of the things I like most about Little's books - the fact that she includes fully complete and positive characters of BOTH genders.)I don't want to deprive any potential readers of coming to know the central women or the supporting cast via Little's exquisite writing, so I won't say much more about them. But they are so wonderfully drawn that I absolutely hated to see the book end, and I would welcome more stories featuring Jordan and Gillian. -- Jordan, especially, is one of the most ethical and wonderful characters I've seen in a book in the past year. I wish the world had more Jordans! I'm also impressed by the way that Ms. Little handled some very powerful and sensitive themes, such as physical abuse, sexism, homophobia, and the impact of alcohol in our community.To sum, I absolutely loved this book! At the end of this beautiful story, I felt warmed, happy, and utterly satisfied. I can't wait for another novel from this incredibly talented writer. We need more books by women of her caliber!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book to read if you prefer stories about relationships., September 25, 1999

By 

Jeanne "weezbe" (Patterson, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Resort (Paperback)

I can see why anyone who thought that "First Resort" was about golf would be bitterly disappointed. This is not a book about golf; that's merely the setting. Rather, it is a story about relationships, friendship and healing.

I would agree with some of the former reviewers that say, "God, can those people drink!" I don't believe, however, that it is inconsistent with either character's facility for denial or propensity towards escapism. I think the fact that they drink so much is the point. It allows them, temporarily, to be able to live with themselves. The fact that they can function and seem to function fairly well is all part of the myth they've constructed. I guess those readers never got the continual references to "The Great Gatsby."

As for another reviewer's criticism that Jorden seems too good to be true, what's wrong with being multitalented? We never question a variety of expertise's if the character is a man. Tom Clancy's characters are far more extraordinary in their ability to be experts in a multitude of areas. Why can't a woman?

What I found in Nanci Little's writing was a narrative style that is finely tuned, poetic without being excessive. Her characters live and breathe on the page. They are flawed, and they have courage and grace. They are not so different from many people I've known.

As I wrote earlier, this is not a book about golf; however, I learned more about the beauty of the sport than anyone has been able to convey to this non-golfer. I finally understood the allure of the greens. I've even considered taking it up.

As a book, "First Resort" is better than most. If you prefer stories about human relationships, take a chance on this one. It's a good read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For mature audiences only? I think so., March 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: First Resort (Paperback)

The posting from "a women's studies student" is disturbing, not so much because it attacks the author (a behavior that has no place in a book review), but because it attacks women. Barely more than a paean to the forced imposition of political correctitude, it denies wealthy white lesbians their right to exist, and denies the existence of places where wealthy lesbians of any color might gather. It assumes that because the author does not state the ethnicity of characters, those characters must necessarily be white; I read Park Webster's character as black, because of her dialogue (as did several of my friends), and visualized Olathe as an exotic cultural mix. And it ignores the body of the author's work: in two previous novels, people of color were prominently and fairly featured.

The so-called review is also dishonest in its assertion that in the novel "all the men, without exception, are either abusive, insensitive, or sexually predatory." The chef Gaston is not sexually predatory; it is evident that he genuinely likes and respects Jordan, and their interplay is clearly stated as a game they both enjoy. Michael Goodnow is human: he has a moment of bottom-line-induced insensitivity, realizes what that mistake nearly cost him in much more human terms, and grows from the experience. John Laing is a self-serving weasel; Stewart Stedman is an honest, hardworking man. Doc and Fred, older gentlemen who are mentors and friends of Jordan, accept her sexuality without discussion of it, as older men would tend to do. One of the golfers in the offensive foursome (in a scene I loved!) is an obnoxious jerk; one of them goes so far as to apologize for his buddy's behavior. One of the caddies is a skinhound; one is a genuinely nice guy (who, by the way, stutters; most stutterers consider that to be a disability). The men in the book balance each other out, and reflect a broad range of reality.

"Women's studies"? This book IS a study of women. Their race and social status and size or lack thereof have nothing to do with their pain or their joy. If anything, the novel shows that money is not necessarily a big green net waiting to catch a woman falling off the tightrope of her life. One of the reasons I enjoy Nanci Little's writing is that she seems to assume a certain level of intelligence of the part of her reader. Obviously, in the instance of "a women's studies student," Ms Little assumed too much.