The bittersweet tale of an ambitious husband and wife who struggle to escape their blue-colar backgrounds and build successful careers in the film and theatrical worlds. It is a story, told in freestanding chapters, of the conflicting challenges of love and ambition within a marriage.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Lou, a playwright, and Renata, an actress, meet and fall almost immediately in love at summer stock in Vermont. Against the cynical wagers of friends and family, but in a dream of love and matching ambitions, they marry. Nine years later, they are still working hard in New York at their crafts (and trying to escape their crushingly blue-collar backgrounds). Each chapter of Bauer's affecting second novel (after Boondocking and her well-reviewed short-story collection, Working Women and Other Stories) chronologically advances their story, some events related from Lou's point of view, some from Ren's, yet each chapter stands alone like a finely etched short story, economically recounting the episodes that shape them. Bauer skillfully observes Lou's first successful off-Broadway play and the breathlessly rave reviews; a visit from Ren's coarse parents and her more appealing brother; an anticipated dinner party with the couple's oldest friends, clogged with envy after Lou's stage success has earned him a screenplay contract; a Hollywood fete for Lou; and, later, a portrait of Hollywood screenwriters on the downslope. Bauer's prose flexes with the narrative muscle of a veteran author. During Lou and Ren's idealistic early years, she adopts a yearning, poetic tone, and when the couple find themselves scrambling for odd jobs at midlife, Bauer smoothly and affectionately comes down to earth. Bauer sustains the reader's uncertainty as to whether the sharp twists in their precarious careers will sink Ren and Lou's tenacious passions or whether they will salvage hope and stay together. The real delight here, however, is Bauer's graceful and tender exploration of two people with extraordinary dreams finding happiness in plain, ordinary ways. (Apr.) FYI: Boondocking will be issued in paperback by St. Martin's in April.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
In her second novel, Bauer (Boondocking, LJ 8/97) repeats the feat of revealing surprising depths in the human psyche. As Lou and Renata struggle with family, friends, fellow actors and playwrights, stardom, and, finally, their own relationship, Bauer is able to invest their lives with humor and warmth. Though the reader may not be a an aspiring actress like Renata or, like Lou, a promising playwright who may have missed his chance, the situations depicted here are familiar. When the couple moves to Connecticut and visits Renata's parents, she tries to explain what they do: "She and Lou didn't work in a hospital or a restaurant where they could pick up and put down just anywhere...but even as she spoke, she knew it was impossible to act professional for long." Bauer is strong on the true nature of characters within families. The result is an insightful novel that looks at a choice that really matters: either success or honesty and compassion. Highly recommended.AVicki J. Cecil, Hartford City P.L., IN
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Tricia Bauer was born and grew up in Baltimore. She began writing as a young girl and later studied poetry before turning to fiction writing. Tricia has written for newspapers and magazines, and held editorial and marketing jobs with different children's book publishers. Her stories have appeared in literary journals and anthologies throughout the U.S., and her travel features have been published in The New York Times and International Herald Tribune.
Her first book, Working Women and Other Stories, was published in 1995 to critical acclaim. Boondocking was first published in hardcover in 1997, and was selected for the Discover Great New Writers program and named one of Library Journal's Best First Novels. Hollywood & Hardwood, her second novel, was published in the spring of 1999, and Shelterbelt followed in the fall of 2000.
Tricia was awarded the first annual FC2 Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize for her novel Father Flashes, which will be published in March 2011 by Fiction Collective Two, an imprint of University of Alabama Press.
She lives in Connecticut with her husband, playwright Bill Bozzone, and their daughter Lia.
www.triciabauer.com
Her first book, Working Women and Other Stories, was published in 1995 to critical acclaim. Boondocking was first published in hardcover in 1997, and was selected for the Discover Great New Writers program and named one of Library Journal's Best First Novels. Hollywood & Hardwood, her second novel, was published in the spring of 1999, and Shelterbelt followed in the fall of 2000.
Tricia was awarded the first annual FC2 Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize for her novel Father Flashes, which will be published in March 2011 by Fiction Collective Two, an imprint of University of Alabama Press.
She lives in Connecticut with her husband, playwright Bill Bozzone, and their daughter Lia.
www.triciabauer.com
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
An insightful look into human relationships,
By A Customer
This review is from: Hollywood & Hardwood: A Novel (Hardcover)
Ms. Bauer's latest work is an enormously gratifying examination of human behavior and relationship. She is able to breathe an unmistakable honesty into her characters, giving them life which not only seems real but also feels real. Ren and Lou become intimate friends who enable the reader closely to examine her or his own relationships, especially relationships under the stress of everyday life. Kudos to Ms. Bauer for this funny yet highly intimate novel.
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent,
By A Customer
This review is from: Hollywood & Hardwood: A Novel (Hardcover)
Ms. Bauer has written a wonderful book of real people that love each other during the highs and lows of a fascinating life. The book is hard to put down. I am afraid I will be forced to buy another copy since my book has been borrowed by my daughter and her friends.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heart song on ambition,
By A Customer
This review is from: Hollywood & Hardwood: A Novel (Hardcover)
A thoughtful, provocative meditation on ambition, fame and would-be fame, as well as what's left when the spotlight goes away. It's an inside look at a relationship between an actress and a screenwriter, and manages to celebrate their relationship and romance without trivializing it. At points it's wickedly funny, insightful, sad and inspiring. Ought to be required reading for anyone who wants to go into movies. Bauer is one of the best writers of the human heart around.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
