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The Magician's Assistant (Paperback)

by Ann Patchett (Author) "PARSIFAL IS DEAD..." (more)
Key Phrases: Los Angeles, Howard Plate, Dot Fetters (more...)

3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (101 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The Magician's Assistant sustains author Ann Patchett's proven penchant for crafting colorful characters and marrying the ordinary with the fantastic. When Parsifal, Sabine's husband of more than 20 years and the magician of the title, suddenly dies, she begins to discover how she's glimpsed him only through smoke and mirrors. He has managed to keep hidden the existence of a family in Nebraska--his mother, two sisters, and two nephews. Sabine approaches them hungrily, as if they are a bridge to her beloved husband and a key to the mysteries he left behind. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly
After working as his assistant for more than 20 years, Sabine marries her beloved boss, Parcifal, knowing that he's gay and has just lost his lover. What she doesn't find out until after his death from AIDS is that Parcifal was actually Guy Fettera from Alliance, Neb., and had a family he never spoke about. Karen Ziemba creates an appropriately light tone for the narrator, despite some dark events that Sabine discovers when she visits Parcifal's sweet, dysfunctional family. She crafts clear, flat Midwest accents for the magician's mother and sisters and her pace and annunciation are excellent. Ziemba's men all sound alike, but they play minimal roles. She is an experienced and professional reader with just the right stuff for Patchett's 1997 novel, which probes the complex motives of Parcifal and his assistant. A Harcourt paperback (Reviews, July 14, 1997)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Harvest Books; First Edition, Spine Lean edition (September 17, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0156006219
ISBN-13: 978-0156006217
Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (101 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #24,424 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
PARSIFAL IS DEAD. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Los Angeles, Howard Plate, Dot Fetters, Johnny Carson, Guy Fetters, Sam Spender, Forest Lawn, Southern California, Cedars Sinai, New York, Aunt Sabine, Magic Castle, Magic Hat, Joan Rivers, Laney Cole, Nebraska Boys Reformatory Facility, Parsifal the Magician, Gracie Allen, Hardy Boys, Las Vegas, Sabine Parsifal, Death Valley, Harry Blackstone, Jack Daniel

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Citations (learn more)

This book cites 1 book:

The Patron Saint of Liars: A Novel by Ann Patchett in Back Cover

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	79% buy the item featured on this page: The Magician's Assistant 3.8 out of 5 stars (101) $10.98
	7% buy Bel Canto 3.7 out of 5 stars (599) $10.94
	6% buy Run: A Novel 3.6 out of 5 stars (220) $10.17
	5% buy The Patron Saint of Liars: A Novel (P.S.) 3.6 out of 5 stars (61) $10.94

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Customer Reviews

101 Reviews

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(7)

Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (101 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Parsifal is dead. That's the beginning of the story., January 16, 2000

By	David Benioff (Otisville, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Magician's Assistant (Hardcover)

Ann Patchett, who lives in rural seclusion with her pet raccoons (at least according to the profile in Modern Tennessean), is so good I wish she wrote the morning paper. That way I could wake up and read her sentences all day long.

If you've glanced at the editorials above, you know the novel's plot. Two of the most fascinating characters are already dead when we begin reading; they occupy the heroine's dreams, refusing to rest like peaceful corpses should. Among her other talents, Patchett is masterful with adolescents-- a notoriously tough breed to write about. And she's excellent with violence, too. Not the habitual, ritual violence of genre fiction, but the quick, mean violence of unhappy men.

I don't want to tell you too much. Read the book. If you don't like it, e-mail me and complain about what an idiot I am.

I don't think I'll be hearing from you.

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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Magic is sometimes like love.", July 21, 1998

By	Dick Oliver (New Hampshire, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Magician's Assistant (Hardcover)

Subtle, beautiful, poignant prose--if you're like me, you were starting to wonder if it could still be found in a book written in the 90s. Here it is. Never mind the plot, which has none of the knife-blade intensity we're so used to these days. And never mind the characters, which are unique and real, though not particularly complex or surprising. Read this book for the sentences, the paragraphs, the feelings and descriptions and quiet inner musings of the Magician's Assistant herself, the ultimate almost-X-gen expert in not-quite-tragic infatuation, Sabine Parsifal. This book is as much poem as novel. The voices echo eerily, as if you'd heard every line in the "real" world but you can't remember where. On the other hand, if subtlety and unending depression bore you, or positive portrayals of homosexual relationships freak you out, better skip this title and head for the bestseller list instead.

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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best novel of loss ever....., May 29, 2004

By	Michael H. Jones (Carmel Valley, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am amazed at the 'average 4-star rating' listed for this book. It is flat out the best book of loss ever. I send this book to anyone who has lost a loved one. It is on my Desert Island book list, for sure; and I am a two-book-a-week fiction junkie. Bittersweet, haunting, hopeful, uplifting, funny.....the full package.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars !st Patchett book
The Magician's Assistant
This was my first read of a Patchett book and I enjoyed it. The characters were interesting and the story was intriguing.

Published 2 months ago by J. Ellis

5.0 out of 5 stars Magician's Assistant
I loved the book. It was in good condition for the price and it came timely.

Published 3 months ago by Sally S.

4.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant story!
I really enjoyed this book. It was a very sweet story. Although the end was left a bit up in the air... though it was pretty obvious where it was going to end. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Yolanda S. Bean

5.0 out of 5 stars Patchett's finest
Ann Patchett skillfully crafts a novel that evokes deep compassion for all characters, despite their flaws. I have read all of her works, and this is my favorite. Read more

Published 7 months ago by J. Meryl

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book to read/listen to this winter
If you are looking for a book to read during the long nights this winter, try this one! It really is a wonderful novel about love, loss and the power of possibilities... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Mom of three

2.0 out of 5 stars I Kept Hoping It Would Get Good
Alas, it did not. I really wanted to like this book. I like Bel Canto with exception for the absurd (in my opinion) ending. Read more

Published 8 months ago by M. Morales

4.0 out of 5 stars Just Another Normal Life
There are many brilliantly realized scenes in "The Magician's Assistant" and readers who enjoy strong writing will enjoy the whole book. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Mark Stevens

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly wonderful book
I loved everything about this book. The story is compelling, the characters are well developed (if only I could meet them), and the writing is sublime. Read more

Published 9 months ago by N. Beha

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story From Unlikely Scenerio
I absolutely devoured this book and already have plans to pick it up again. This is not a book for people that need a lot of action to keep their attention; most of the action in... Read more

Published 10 months ago by Lindsay Johnson

4.0 out of 5 stars Storyteller
Anne Patchett has a way with words. It's not so much that she's a wordsmith, but rather just a gifted storyteller. This was such an amazing book. Read more

Published 11 months ago by J. Aragon

› See all 101 customer reviews...

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