The Whiteness of Bones [Paperback]

Susanna Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2003

In her ravishing and moving second novel, the bestselling author of In the Cut tells the story of Mamie Clarke, who sets out to lose herself in New York City.

Having only previously known the fragile, magical world of her childhood on the lush Hawaiian island of Kaua’i, Mamie leaves college to visit her sophisticated aunt in New York. With her beautiful and self-destructive younger sister Claire in tow, Mamie must learn to make her way in a world of money, power, sex, and drugs. Moore’s sharp and witty book captures an unforgettable time and place—the Manhattan of the early 80s— and the powerful feelings engendered there.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mamie Clarke grows up on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, desperate for the attention of her remote mother. Naive and inexperienced at 21, Mamie goes to live with her Aunt Alysse in the decadent milieu of the idle rich in 1980s Manhattan. "This is an engrossing novel, profoundly disturbing in its message of feminine guilt," declared PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In this coming-of-age novel by the author of My Old Sweetheart ( LJ 10/15/82), 20-year-old Mamie Clarke moves from Maui to New York, hoping to exorcize childhood ghosts that have left her emotionally numb. She achieves peace after a series of alternately amusing and sordid adventures with assorted urban cosmopolites. Unfortunately, few of the potentially interesting characters are fully realized; Moore's justly praised spare prose style here serves her ill as the dry vocalizations of an omniscient narrator. Repeatedly, the reader is told about rather than shown the characters' inner lives. When Mamie and her companions do speak for themselves, they command attention, as do vivid descriptions of Hawaii, but these moments are all too few. Not an essential purchase. Starr E. Smith, Georgetown Univ. Lib., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (September 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400075041
• ISBN-13: 978-1400075041
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,374,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Kept waiting for the good part..., February 11, 2008

By 

L. Middleton (Auburn, AL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Whiteness of Bones (Paperback)

Yeah...no. The back of the book was far more compelling than the actual novel. Some well-written scenes and occasionally a lovely sense of time and place, some well-crafted caricatures -- none of it is enough to rescue the self-concious, coming of age tone, despite the author's obvious attempt at something much more noble and searingly insightful. It's as if we get a lot more anatomically involved in "Are You There, God, It's Me Margaret" when what the author was shooting for was "The Vagina Monologues." The book is readable, but only if you've checked it out from the library.

1.0 out of 5 stars Spend your money on another book, October 26, 2007

By 

Sebastian (a lady) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Whiteness of Bones (Paperback)

I also read this book in college, more like 15 years ago for me. It was part of a Contemporary American Fiction course. Even then I found myself wondering if this was really the representative of the best than contemporary fiction could offer. If so, I was happy to stick with older works. While other reviewers remember lush scenes, I remember a sorid Hawaiian themed bar in NYC and the main character's rape with a plastic tiki. I can stomach rough scenes when they are purposeful. I found little of purpose in this story. I think there are far better uses for your book money than this book.

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lush, beautifully written, heartbreaking, February 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Whiteness of Bones (Contemporary American Fiction) (Paperback)

I read this book 7 years ago in college and still think of it frequently. Moore's lush settings and precise literary technique underscore the personal, deeply held pain of Mamie and Claire's past. I have read all of Moore's books and this one is the best.