The cutting edge of the post-punk Los Angeles scene is captured in a collection of sixteen stories and a novella that chronicle the interconnected, alienated lives of a dozen young members of that scene.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
From her background in the Los Angeles punk scene as publisher of her own fanzine, Compo creates a weird and wonderful trip into the post-punk subculture, written in precise, witty, unflinching prose. Each of the book's three sections presents a variation on the young characters' search for meaning in music, relationships, religion and ritual. Concern with image prevails in the novella "Life After Death" in which Zelda Zonk, a Marilyn Monroe-lookalike, gets her boyfriend Vex, a David Bowie idolizer, to join her quest to retrieve Marilyn's diary. Sudden, amusing plot twists and coincidental meetings are used again in "Wallpaper," a series of 11 vignettes about characters with intertwining relationships, including monologues from Alma, a writer, that frame her "romance stories about people who can't love." The stories deal with the importance of image and its conflict with reality; the attraction of religion, especially Catholicism, to the often-superstitious punkers; and the giving and taking involved in love. The final section, "Never an Autumn but Always a Fall,' highlights the problems of love--love passed by, and love as obsession; love ending theatrically and love ending sordidly. Compo's sympathetic, often tongue-in-cheek insights make an exciting collage.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Compo peoples her stories with interconnected, insecure, punk-rock characters who affect unreal names and bizarre clothes. Seeking love and friendship, they lead a vacuous existence taking drugs, listening to reggae music, and idolizing real-life stars of stage and screen who occupied the limelight, however briefly. Their relationships are transitory, their feelings are superficial. They pursue undirected, self-destructive activities that one character, Nicole, believes demonstrate control. Compo's unappealing people lead empty lives that she describes capably in a chatty, colloquial style. For the most part, however, Cruella and her husband, Orange; the Boy no Wonder; the True Money Girls; Vex; and Zelda Zonk should stay in L.A. where they'll find others of their kind.
-Ellen R. Cohen, Rockville, Md.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
-Ellen R. Cohen, Rockville, Md.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Personas Like Fashions,
By Neon Wilder (MI, USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Life After Death and Other Stories (Hardcover)
This was a fun and touching book to read. The characters in Susan Compo's "Life After Death" are sharply drawn with sympathy no matter how quirky or self-destrutively impulsive they might be. Many of the people don't want to be who they are and they try on new personas as they would try on new fashions until one works for them. They are then liberated and confined by their new persona, these romantics who can't seem to love wholly. But Compo always gives her characters their due, letting the reader judge for themselves.
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of My Favorite Works of Fiction!,
By JT4 "JDT" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Life After Death: And Other Stories (New American Fiction Series) (Paperback)
I first read this fine work of fiction by Susan Compo as a teen, and recently returned and re-read twice! Totally captivating and completely captures an era. Susan is totally right on in her cultural references and creates a dazzling set of characters you will never forget. A must!
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
