The Foreigner [Paperback]

Meg Castlado (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 22, 2001

Alex Orlando is a foreigner in New York, a California foreigner, housesitting for her Uncle Carmi while he vacations in Puerto Rico. She quickly becomes entwined with her attractive Swedish neighbour, Christian, but something isn't quite right about him. (For instance: where does he get all that cash?) Her oldest friend Kyle seems to have turned into a stalker overnight, and a much-anticipated visit from Jan, her European boyfriend, quickly turns into a nightmare. Nothing is what it seems in this tale of murder and mistaken identity. Manhattan is a foreign landscape filled with suspects, and the irresistable Alex Orlando is your suitably offbeat narrator guide to all of its oddities, in Meg Castaldo's savvy and unpredictable debut.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Castaldo's debut is full of hip young people hanging out in Manhattan bars and restaurants, caught up in all manner of intrigue like sex, drugs and murder. After a month in Europe, Alex Orlando, 28, is apartment-sitting for her uncle Carmi while he soaks up the sun in Puerto Rico. She immediately defies his instructions to avoid the perils of Manhattan, and particularly the "very forward sort of a man" who lives next door that would be Christian, a Swedish architect, who immediately sets about charming his new neighbor. Alex is not lacking for acquaintances in the city. Her oldest friend, angst-ridden drug addict Kyle, is in New York, too, and at Barney's, where Alex gets a job, she meets Malcolm, a neurotic playwright who asks her to read his masterpiece. Then Jan, her on-again/off-again Belgian boyfriend, arrives in town and Christian turns up dead shortly thereafter. Coincidences start to mount: everyone she knows seems to have had some connection to Christian. Is the villain the obnoxious Kyle? What about his prickly girlfriend, Yassi? Is it the uber-temperamental Malcolm, whose play has mysteriously disappeared while on loan to Alex? Or is it Jan, who has dealings with a mysterious businessman whom Christian also knew? And just what was Uncle Carmi's relationship with the dead Swede? Castaldo's matter-of-fact style is mercifully free of Gen-X irony unfortunately, observations like "I'd always had a thing for foreign men; they weren't from here," display a woeful lack of edge and insight. The sucker punch ending is not especially original, either, but Castaldo sustains a brisk pace along the way, and younger adult readers will be entertained. (June)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This fresh and entertaining debut novel follows the escapades of Alex Orlando, a 20-something native Californian spending a few footloose weeks house-sitting in Manhattan. Alex enthusiastically embraces her new and exciting New York life. She begins a romantic relationship with her uncle's quirky, mysterious, and attractive Swedish neighbor, Christian; takes a job at Barney's; develops new and bizarre friendships; and invites a weird boyfriend to join her in New York. When Christian, who turns out to be a frequent drunk and possible drug dealer-user, is violently murdered, Alex finds that her own life is in jeopardy, and she is thrust headlong into a dangerous mystery. The clever story twists and turns, keeping the reader's attention, and the plot thickens until nothing is as it seems and none--old friends, fatherly doormen, helpful policemen, even old lovers--are to be trusted. Frank, funny, and enjoyable, this compact novel will appeal to readers looking for an easy read. Kathleen Hughes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: MTV; First Printing edition (May 22, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743412648
• ISBN-13: 978-0743412643
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,295,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A sore disappointment, January 5, 2005

By 

Flit Asuno (Western hemisphere) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Foreigner (Paperback)

After having read three other books in the MTV series and finding them to be filled with depth, angst, and substance, I expected nothing less from this first novel by Meg Castaldo. I was to be deeply disappointed, I soon discovered after starting it.

The only redeeming quality of this novella is its length. Coming in at just over 200 pages, it seems pointless not to finish it after starting it. Despite the brevity, Castaldo breaks the work into 35 chapters (and an epilogue) spread over three parts, a technique that only increases the cheesiness and self-importance of the book. Some chapters are less than two full pages, scarcely more than a single, brief conversation.

As a general rule, works of fiction need to have either dynamic, three-dimensional characters or a very strong, action-driven plot, or both. This has neither. The entire book shows paper-thin characters that we know nothing about doing (often mundane) things for no observable reason, sometimes completely non sequitur.

Reading the book, I felt that Castaldo knew a lot more about her characters and plot than she wrote into the book, but because it wasn't there, it reads like a police report. The novella is written from the perspective of the main character, but we know so little about her (or any other character), and can empathize with her so poorly, that the entire work feels detached and superficial. While the title given by Castaldo, "The Foreigner," might be a commentary on how little we are meant to know about the characters, I don't credit the book with that much intelligence.

The whole plot comes together, more or less, with a less-than-climactic climax and non-existent denouement, thanks to a poorly contrived master scheme (again, that seems to exist only in the author's head) that pretends to be much more than it is.

The novella also suffers serious timing issues. For example, two characters enter an upscale French restaurant in Manhattan, sit down, and order. They exchange three lines of dialogue, and then their food arrives. To have such speedy service! Add in a gratuitous sex scene that fizzles as much as wet fireworks and you have the sum of the book.

I don't know how many rejection letters Castaldo received before MTV Books said yes, but it wasn't enough. This book is mediocre at its best, and the quality of a high-school freshman English composition at its worst. I generously gave it 2 stars (instead of 1) because it serves as an excellent example for teaching new writers how NOT to write.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cheap Thrills..., September 21, 2001

By 

Chris MB "CMB" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Foreigner (Paperback)

With The Foreigner, Meg Castalado has written a fast-paced, intriguing novel full of interesting characters and plot twists. The Foreigner is plainly written with little or no traces of a unique writing style on the part of Castalado. Where she shines is in the ability to construct an even, exciting page-turner. It's exciting and entertaining, plain and simple. Nothing more. But sometimes all you need is a cheap literary thrill ride like this.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best MTV Book In The Last Year, August 20, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Foreigner (Paperback)

In the largely uneven field of MTV Books (Fake Liar Cheat, Perks,F-Up: Great! Dreamworld, Brave New Girl, Pieces: Awful)The Foreigner is a return to the good. While not as funny as Fake Liar Cheat, not as moving as Perks or as f'd up as the F-Up, the Foreigner is a delicious little book about life that is missing the pseudo angst of Brave New Girl & Pieces. A quality read and a good five hours of my life.