false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171921835m/126740.jpg 126740 9 When Lucy O'Rourke was 2 her father threw her into the New Jersey surf. She passed the flotation test then, but nature--wild and human--has been subjecting her to variations on the theme ever since. True, the thirtyish photographer-protagonist of <I>Waltzing the Cat</I> is drawn to dangerous locales, from the Ecuadorian jungle where murderous grand caymans lie at the ready to the Provincetown beaches where her latest nominee for Mr. Right seems only a hair less lethal. But as she has yet to learn, the most elemental struggles begin at home. In the heartbreaking title story, Lucy's classically disconnected WASP family channels all available affection through Suzette, their roly-poly feline (29 pounds and counting!). "The cat and I were always friends until I left home and fell in love with men who raised dogs and smelled like foreign places. Now when I come home for a visit the cat eyes me, territorial, like an only child." <p> Lucy's survival strategies also desert her when it comes to men. They're trouble when they don't want her, more so when they do. In addition, they're adept at giving the answer "no"--a trait they share with the males in Pam Houston's equally fine first book, <i>Cowboys Are My Weakness</i>. In "The Whole Weight of Me," for instance, Lucy's latest lad yet again eases himself out of things when she tells him she wants to see him soon. "'That would be great,' he said, in a voice that said clear as a bell that it wouldn't. And it was like someone had spliced together the wrong rolls of film from two different movies; it was that instantaneous how everything changed." <p> A less graceful, less wry writer would not be able to map Lucy's self-conscious journey of discovery with such ease and agility. Houston's adventurer is the sort of woman who runs into Carlos Castaneda after she's just missed a plane. <blockquote> What everybody says now is, <I>How do you know it was really him</I>, like that is the pertinent question. <I>It was him</I>, I say, like I learned in graduate school, <I>or another man by the same name</I>. I mean, is it less interesting if it was just some guy who thought he was Carlos Castenada, or more? </blockquote> On the other hand, she's also the type who gets recognized while checking out a display of animal-shaped dildos--"the kangaroo, the rabbit, the great brown bear, noses and ears turned inward, poised at the ready"--in the first sex shop she's dared to enter. Wherever Lucy is, her creator--often in the space of a single sentence--can quickly fill in the most crushing experience with a mix of longing and expertly timed comedy. <I>--Kerry Fried</I> 3110834 1998 Waltzing the Cat total:453|5:123|4:177|3:125|2:21|1:7| 453 1747 557 47 5 1 false false Sat Apr 04 06:39:47 -0700 2009 Fri May 02 07:23:09 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 04 06:39:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed May 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jan 16 02:43:21 -0800 2008 Fri Oct 10 22:49:23 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Feb 07 17:28:05 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 11 16:38:56 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu May 17 06:58:47 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 06 05:13:05 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2001 Wed Jun 06 16:41:48 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 06 16:51:55 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Jan 03 21:45:06 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 03 21:58:44 -0800 2008
She inspires lust and love in equal proportion. She is both in her skin and in her boots but she ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Dec 23 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 11 14:03:44 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 23 14:10:13 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Sep 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 08 10:06:50 -0700 2008 Mon Dec 15 15:37:48 -0800 2008 Still, like her other books, I feel like I am listening in on women to women conversations.]]> 4 0 false false Mon Mar 24 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 18 17:21:37 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 24 20:13:08 -0700 2008
It actually seemed like one long story, just because the same themes kept repeating themselves in endless cycles of hope, disappoi...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 06:29:55 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 16 14:40:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Mar 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 15:08:54 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 29 19:05:08 -0700 2009 The book is g...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Sep 16 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 26 08:00:51 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 26 08:10:14 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Apr 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 30 16:03:11 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 07 12:31:11 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Aug 04 23:27:49 -0700 2007 Sat Aug 04 23:34:04 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 08:07:04 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 09:28:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Apr 13 18:27:11 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 18:29:06 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Apr 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 16:51:05 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 17:10:14 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Wed Jul 29 12:51:10 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 29 12:52:47 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Tue Mar 24 20:38:18 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 20:38:54 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Oct 19 11:05:22 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 19 11:05:46 -0700 2009 1.5 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=126740