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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Is a dress the same dress if you change the buttons, make the cuffs into a collar and slash the hem from ankle to thigh? A similar question could be asked of Gordon (The Deluxe Transitive Vampire). She has taken her 1989 Intimate Apparel: A Dictionary of the Senses and refashioned it, using many of the same text selections that appeared in the previous book. This new version may do little more than move it from the reference section where, as Gordon teases in her new afterword, "no one I know ever goes looking for diversion, delight, and debauchery," to fiction. It might be better shelved with poetry, since it seethes with alliteration and interior rhyme. It also demands more attention than readers who prefer a linear narrative may be willing to give in order to reap the full power of Gordon's wordplay and layered story lines. Told in dictionary form, with alphabetical sections ranging from absinthe to zipper, the book needs to be read not just straight through, but by weaving back and forth among footnotes, references and related characters and definitions. Gordon employs a multitude of characters and fairy-tale references, but it's not really a book about Yolanta or the Little Match Girl as much as it is a book about loving language. As in her earlier books, the imagery is sensual ("She sank her slight buttocks onto the bench and wiggled into her new kid gloves"). Gordon's use of language can almost be too lush and unconventional, but that is also the charm of this unusual, fascinating and sexy literary experiment.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"From the introduction . . . to the prose-vignettes that this peculiar work of fiction is comprised of, her approach is sentimental, whimsical, and overtly clever. Gordon is the siren of the word-geeks, tossing out paragraph-long sentences with grammar tricks and nine-dollar words in attractively styled ways. . . . Her sensual approach to the science and schema of language is unique and seductive." -- CMJ 7-96
"Gordon ransacks fairy tales, movies, and popular romances to show how words' associations filter into the culture..." -- Publishers Weekly 2-5-96
"Gordon's isn't the only postmodernist pastiche parading down the pike . . . but in the company of the metafictional big boys, Gordon can hold her own." -- Columbus Dispatch 5-19-96
"One of the most innovative and enchanting books of recent time. . . . [Gordon] has constructed a novel in dictionary form in which ordinary words reveal secret worlds that cling passionately to one another in a merry, whirling, lexical dance." -- Thomas Christensen, San Francisco Chronicle
"[The Red Shoes] make[s] the mundane seem magical and transform[s] our earthbound language into a joy toy of infinite possibility. . . . The voice behind the dictionary is a wonderful creationa nut in shining amour who comes at the world with both a resolutely girlish imagination and the lusty wisdom of the Wife of Bath. The most enjoyable aspect of The Red Shoes is its all-round lively writing." -- Washington Post 6-30-96
See all Editorial Reviews
Is a dress the same dress if you change the buttons, make the cuffs into a collar and slash the hem from ankle to thigh? A similar question could be asked of Gordon (The Deluxe Transitive Vampire). She has taken her 1989 Intimate Apparel: A Dictionary of the Senses and refashioned it, using many of the same text selections that appeared in the previous book. This new version may do little more than move it from the reference section where, as Gordon teases in her new afterword, "no one I know ever goes looking for diversion, delight, and debauchery," to fiction. It might be better shelved with poetry, since it seethes with alliteration and interior rhyme. It also demands more attention than readers who prefer a linear narrative may be willing to give in order to reap the full power of Gordon's wordplay and layered story lines. Told in dictionary form, with alphabetical sections ranging from absinthe to zipper, the book needs to be read not just straight through, but by weaving back and forth among footnotes, references and related characters and definitions. Gordon employs a multitude of characters and fairy-tale references, but it's not really a book about Yolanta or the Little Match Girl as much as it is a book about loving language. As in her earlier books, the imagery is sensual ("She sank her slight buttocks onto the bench and wiggled into her new kid gloves"). Gordon's use of language can almost be too lush and unconventional, but that is also the charm of this unusual, fascinating and sexy literary experiment.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"From the introduction . . . to the prose-vignettes that this peculiar work of fiction is comprised of, her approach is sentimental, whimsical, and overtly clever. Gordon is the siren of the word-geeks, tossing out paragraph-long sentences with grammar tricks and nine-dollar words in attractively styled ways. . . . Her sensual approach to the science and schema of language is unique and seductive." -- CMJ 7-96
"Gordon ransacks fairy tales, movies, and popular romances to show how words' associations filter into the culture..." -- Publishers Weekly 2-5-96
"Gordon's isn't the only postmodernist pastiche parading down the pike . . . but in the company of the metafictional big boys, Gordon can hold her own." -- Columbus Dispatch 5-19-96
"One of the most innovative and enchanting books of recent time. . . . [Gordon] has constructed a novel in dictionary form in which ordinary words reveal secret worlds that cling passionately to one another in a merry, whirling, lexical dance." -- Thomas Christensen, San Francisco Chronicle
"[The Red Shoes] make[s] the mundane seem magical and transform[s] our earthbound language into a joy toy of infinite possibility. . . . The voice behind the dictionary is a wonderful creationa nut in shining amour who comes at the world with both a resolutely girlish imagination and the lusty wisdom of the Wife of Bath. The most enjoyable aspect of The Red Shoes is its all-round lively writing." -- Washington Post 6-30-96
See all Editorial Reviews
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Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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glass shoe, little match girl, fur hands, red shoes Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Jacob Other, The Glass Shoe, The Gingerbread Variations, Frangipani's Pajamas, The Toes of Nichevo, Carnal Knowledge, Emily Dickinson New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
glass shoe, little match girl, fur hands, red shoes Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Jacob Other, The Glass Shoe, The Gingerbread Variations, Frangipani's Pajamas, The Toes of Nichevo, Carnal Knowledge, Emily Dickinson New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
6
books
cite this book:
See all 6 books citing this book
- Gargoyle #39/40 (No.39-40) by Richard Peabody in Back Matter
- Sticks and Stones: The Troublesome Success of Children's Literature from Slovenly Peter to Harry Potter by Jack Zipes in Back Matter
- Sticks and Stones: The Troublesome Success of Children's Literature from Slovenly Peter to Harry Potter by Jack Zipes in Back Matter
- Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre by Jack Zipes in Back Matter
- The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager and the Doomed by Karen Elizabeth Gordon in Back Matter
See all 6 books citing this book
What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?
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29% buy The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager and the Doomed $16.29 |
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27% buy The Disheveled Dictionary: A Curious Caper Through Our Sumptuous Lexicon |
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21% buy The New Well-Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed $8.00 |
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12% buy Torn Wings and Faux Pas: A Flashbook of Style, a Beastly Guide Through the Writer's Labyrinth |
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