The Virgin of Flames

by Chris Abani
The Virgin of Flames
book data
103 ratings, 3.79 average rating, 17 reviews (more data...)
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published
January 30th 2007 by Penguin (Non-Classics)

binding
Paperback, 304 pages

isbn
014303877X    (isbn13: 9780143038771)

description
From the author of the award-winning GraceLand comes a searing, dazzlingly written novel of a tarnished City of Angels

Praised as “singular” (The Phi

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 181)

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Megan
04/11/07
Megan rated it: 1 of 5 stars

bookshelves: haveread
recommends it for: imbeciles
You should read this book if you enjoy hearing other people bitch and moan about how hard their lives are in a painful fashion that lacks wit and clever design.
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Jose
07/13/08
Jose rated it: 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Wyatt
06/24/08
Wyatt rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in June, 2008
Fans of Middlesex will surely like The Virgin of Flames. The synopsis (a street artist who's obsessed with a transexual) had me unsure that it would be my kind of book, despite having loved Abani's last book, Graceland. Abani picks up where he left off with the strange eroticism that his last character got out of putting on makeup as an Elvis impersonator, and takes it to the next level...hell, he takes it ten levels beyond that, into a gritty, beautiful, story of a muralist in L.A. which is a...more
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Dusty
04/19/08
Dusty rated it: 2 of 5 stars

Read in May, 2008
screw this book, if i read one more story about a "tragic" person with "abuse, race and gender issues" i am going to start ripping out pages.
why do authors insist on burning up the best parts of us multigendered into their wierd ass fantasies and dramas.
i am no longer a fan of this abani person. i appreciated his other book graceland. but i would like to ask him a question "mister abani why do you feature sex workers who are turned on by violence? it is no...more
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Chad
01/22/09
Chad rated it: 5 of 5 stars

Read in December, 2007
chilling, hilarious and tragic. all the more incredible after seeing C.Abani read last Friday night in the District of Columbia. weaves together gender, race, catholicism, child abuse, black outs, and the Blackmobile (a yellow VW bus) into some stellar depictions of Los Angeles.
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David
05/15/08
David rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in May, 2008
There are two ways for me to think about The Virgin of Flames. A.) it is a typical (and overdone) coming of age novel from a liberal UC professor focused on gender, sexuality and ethnicity. Or, B.) it's a probing study of East and Downtown LA from a global citizen who is at once native and guest of Lagos, London, and Los Angeles. Obviously, I prefer sticking with B. For anyone who has waited hours in LA's Union Station or who has bought a piñata on Olympic, Abani's descriptions ring truer and c...more
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Jamila
02/10/09
Jamila rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in February, 2009
This book surprised me. It was heartbreaking and sad; yet, there were spots of humor and joy. Abani wrote with amazing poetry. His descriptions of Los Angeles were specific and colorful. His characters were honest and triumphant, even as they were shameful and violent.
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Kathryn
04/08/08
Kathryn rated it: 3 of 5 stars

bookshelves: fiction
Read in June, 2008
Well, I've renewed it twice and I'm starting to owe money on it, so for now this will be one of those books that I hope to finish someday. Interesting and edgy concepts yet the language didn't grab me. The content ranges from sensual to horrible but the prose is a bit lackluster.
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Richard
12/01/07
Richard rated it: 3 of 5 stars

A good book with an intriguing character. However, being from Los Angeles, there were some details that made the story suspect for me (fireflies in LA? brushfires and rain occuring at the same time?). Maybe it was over my head and I was not invested enough in the fantastic imagery.
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Mariana
09/09/08
Mariana rated it: 4 of 5 stars

bookshelves: currently-reading
This book is astoundingly beautiful and devastating. It is dark and funny and really gets at the confusion of cities, gender, masculinity, and child hood. It is also irreverent and experimental.
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Addie Rolnick
08/21/07
Addie Rolnick rated it: 5 of 5 stars

Read in May, 2007
why don't other people like this book as much as i did? it made me want to read again. if nothing else, it's a beautiful story about downtown LA, the LA river, and the ashes in the air fromt the fires.
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Olivia
08/30/07
Olivia is currently reading it

bookshelves: currently-reading
Read in July, 2007
still reading....enjoying Chris Abani....I loved Graceland and decided to read this one.....different yet still that same approachable style....
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Elissa
05/28/08
Elissa rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in May, 2008
great story about a man coming to terms with his sexuality with the wonderful, scary and amazing city of Los Angeles as the background.
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Charles
09/24/08
Charles rated it: 3 of 5 stars

I so wanted to love this, but it doesn't hold up or sustain interest...
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Rita
06/23/08
Rita rated it: 3 of 5 stars

Interesting book, but predictable.
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Seven
01/23/08
Seven marked it as to-read

bookshelves: to-read
looking forward to this read!
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Christopher
06/26/09
fbuser1372411361 rated it: 3 of 5 stars

I read this after Bolano's 2666. So I think I was kind of in withdrawl and didn't really get excited about the writing or story until about half way through. I liked the book. I wonder how much is autobiographical or otherwise true. I will probably be going to the Ugly Store next time I'm in LA at least to get a cup of coffee. LA is really the main charecter. I want to Read Becoming Abigail to compare his treatment of London.
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ShinyCuba
07/04/09
ShinyCuba marked it as to-read

bookshelves: to-read

Stephanie
06/25/09
Stephanie marked it as to-read

bookshelves: to-read

Caroline
06/09/09
Caroline rated it: 3 of 5 stars

Read in June, 2009


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The Virgin of Flames (Paperback)
The Virgin of Flames (Paperback)







groups with this book

Literary Fiction by People of Color
Young Literati






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