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Apr 04, 2011

Dawn rated it:

Is this really Ann Patchett? While the story was mildly intriguing, I couldn't really like the main character. Sabine seemed too satisfied with living a half-life (in love with a gay man, an assistant instead of a magician, a maker of architectural models rather than an architect, etc.). The literary symbolism also seemed clumsy and obvious (last name Fetters, for example). Finally, and most annoying to me as I live here, the ridiculous caricature of Midwesterners made me want to scream. CO More...

5 comments like (12 people liked it)

Apr 16, 2011

Kara rated it:

This book surprised me. Throughout the whole thing, I was never exactly sure how much I was enjoying it, and yet I couldn't wait to pick the book back up and continue reading. By time the book was done, I wanted to read more, and wanted the story to continue.

The story itself is strange, very strange, but it draws you in immediately. It's the story of a woman named Sabine who is coming to terms with exploring the hidden past of her husband, a famous gay magician after his death. You w More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jun 02, 2008

Lisa rated it:

I enjoyed reading the book, but after reading it I couldn't say that I loved it (hence, three stars).

Sabine, the main character, spends time with her dead husband's family, none of whom she knew existed. The reader is supposed to come along on the journey with her to discover the missing parts of her longtime friend/spouse, but I didn't gain any new insights to him from her visit back to his roots. The West Coast magician reinvented himself too well to have any connection to the M More...

2 comments like (10 people liked it)

Aug 05, 2008

Laura rated it:

I know you are thinking, is there a book you don't like, Laura? Here's the deal. If I don't like a book I can barely read it, much less finish it. So if I do read it-I like it, in varying degrees, but I like it. So tonight I read the Magician's Assistant, by Ann Patchett. If you have read Bel Canto, (and you should have, though I'm not sure I'm spelling it right at the moment.)then you know her style. You get hypnotised by the story, by the language, you get into this rhythm that you can't More...

0 comments like (9 people liked it)

Nov 17, 2010

Julie rated it:

I have really become an admirer of Patchett’s writing, and this book was a close second to Bel Canto, which I adored. The Magician’s Assistant is Sabine, and she is mourning the sudden loss of her husband, Parsifal. But the story goes deeper than that. Parsifal is gay, and shortly after the death of his lover, Phan, he marries Sabine to ensure her security in the event of his death. Sabine had been Parsifal’s long-time assistant in his magic act, but more importantly, they shared a bond of f More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 23, 2011

Barbara rated it:

In my analysis of this book, I have to remind myself that Patchett had written it prior to her amazing, "Bel Canto" and her most recent, "Run". The latter included flat characterizations,and was filled with implausible coincidences and did not meet my expectations for "suspense", as was publicized. In this novel, Patchett had already demonstrated her talent for fashioning her language to convey the complexities of her characters' emotions and actions. She was so ade More...

15 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 22, 2008

Dayna rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 17, 2007

Janet rated it:

This is a warm and very human story. I loved getting to know the main character, Sabine, and watching her come to terms with the choices she's made as she struggles to build a new life after losing her magician. All the characters in this story are so multi-dimensional that I found myself simply engaging with them at a human level and losing the critical distance I usually maintain when I read fiction.

My only real complaint with the novel involves the pacing. Some of the narrative More...

5 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 23, 2008

Heather rated it:

A friend recommended Ann Patchett, and I'm definitely going to come back for more. Although the plot is not usually something I would be interested in, Ann writes in a style I love. I prefer character based novels more than anything else, and the way this book wrapped me up in this family's lives made me unable to put it down.
**Update...I have a slow processor in my brain, so often my opinions take a lot of time to develop. So, I've come back to hash it out more with this book. Still love More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 04, 2007

Elizabeth rated it:

This was my first Ann Patchett book, despite the fact that I've been told I would like her for years. I really did like this, too; her writing is clever in a not-trying-too-hard kind of way. The premise was fascinating (the magician's assistant Sabine going off to Nebraska in search of her recently deceased gay husband's mystery family that he never told her about) and I thought it was interesting how she reacted and interacted to and with them. My only complaint was the relationship that Patche More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 14, 2008

Natalie rated it:

Despite feeling like the ending was a bit of an anticlimax, I thought this was a beautiful and tender book. The main character, Sabine, is very likable but difficult to get to know--both for other characters, and for the reader. So while she does have wonderful, real love in her life, she is also profoundly lonely, especially after losing her husband/best friend. Her grief leads her down a road she never imagined, to unlikely friendships, and that was more than enough for me. I love how Patchett More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 09, 2008

Lisle rated it:

Maybe Nebraska has some magic. When Sabine's husband, the magician Parsifal, dies, she discovers his unknown family is living in Alliance, Nebraska. Parsifal had told Sabine, his assistant of twenty-two years, that his family was all dead, in Connecticut. Sabine begins a delicate dance, telling his family about him, while they tell her about him. Set in both L.A. and Nebraska, dream sequences take place in both, interweaving with memories of the past. There are shocks and surprises, like any goo More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 05, 2008

Shoshana rated it:

This is my favorite book (so far) by Ann Patchett. It has a very sweet story that is told beautifully.

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Mar 17, 2008

Holly rated it:

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3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 03, 2010

Lisa rated it:

I picked this book up a few times and lost interest before finishing the first page. But when I finally got past the first three or four pages, I was really hooked. This characters are just so, so compelling. They're actually so compelling that when I was partway through the book I almost lit a candle at church for two of the characters in it, temporarily confusing them with real people. Which I _think_ is more a testament to how well-written and absorbing the book is than to how socially ma More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 11, 2011

Karolyn rated it:

It is rare to find a literary page-turner, but Ann Patchett never fails to give us exactly that. Her writing is elegant, sophisticated and quiet; it never gets in the way of the story. The closer I got to the end of this book, the more obsessed I became with it, wanting to make sure that everyone was going to be okay, at least in some sense of the word.

The Magician's Assistant follows the same pattern of Patchett's other novels: An unsuspecting character is thrust into a world full of More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 28, 2011

Julia rated it:

Michelle, I have to agree with you on your comments about this book.

I am a fan of Patchett's writing, but this book just didn't live up to my expectations.

Last week, while vacationing in New Orleans, I finished the 2 library books I had taken along with me and had to have another book to read, so we found this wonderful little book store in the Garden District of New Orleans and when I saw this one, I didn't think twice about it and bought it. After all, Patchett is More...

0 comments like

Aug 31, 2011

Lorraine rated it:

The Magician's Assistant begins with "Parsifal is dead. That is the end of the story." It really is not the end of the story, but just the beginning. Sabine was Parsifal, the magician's assistant for 20 years. They have been married for one year and only after his partner Phan dies of AIDS.

Yes, this is an unorthodox marriage and why Sabine accepted this unusual arrangement is not clear. Why a beautiful woman like her falls in love with a man she knows is gay, is unusual, More...

0 comments like

Aug 21, 2011

Jill rated it:

Having enjoyed State of Wonder and Bel Canto, I though I'd try some of Patchett's other titles. While I enjoyed this as I read it, once I put it down, I felt like there could have been more to it. We only see Parsifal and Phan though dreams, and since they comprised Sabine's life, I felt like we could have gotten to know them better. I was also surprised at how little magic was really discussed. I though we'd hear more of where they went to perform, their mishaps while learning tricks, their More...

0 comments like

Jul 12, 2011

Juanita rated it:

2.5 stars, really. A "page-turner" like her book "Bel Canto," and similar also in its unpredictable, and in this case quirky vivid characters. To top it off for this Nebraska reader, I applaud the surprise appearance of Alliance, Nebraska, in a novel that starts in a Los Angeles mansion, takes in rug-buying trips to Asia, card tricks, Johnny Carson, abusive marriages and ends en route to something new. Especially of note were a series of dream sequences that were delightf More...

0 comments like

Jul 03, 2011

Bettina rated it:

As the second Ann Patchett book I've read, I was already aware of her melodic language and ability to set a scene so exquisitely and humanize her characters so thoroughly that you truly forget reality. Patchett's use of words is far superior to other contemporary writers. The Magician's Assistant was not exactly what I expected it to be, and I was beyond captivated by it. Sabine, the central character underwent incredible emotional changes from turmoil to peace and everything in between. Pat More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 03, 2011

Donna rated it:

I enjoyed this book, which is mostly a character sketch and a story about relationships, quite a bit. The fact it is "haunted" by ghosts of dead people and "sprinkled" with magic tricks and miniature buildings (constructed by the main character) makes for a delightful, interesting read.

Since this book focuses on character, relationships, and how individuals react to each other and fate, don't expect a fast-paced plot, or tricky twists and turns in the action. The More...

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Mar 17, 2011

Kayb rated it:

The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Pratchett

At the heart of this story all the women in this book are portrayed as alone and lonely whether they are married or have been married in the past.

Sabine accepts her future husbands offer to be his widow and she consents knowing that there will never be any opportunity to be his wife, no chance of anything more than this, his widow. Parsifal does not want a wife, but his generous offer masks the cruelty of unrequited love. He know More...

0 comments like

Jan 20, 2010

Jayci rated it:

Sabine, the beautiful assistant to Parcifal The Magician, finds herself without a purpose after the death of her mentor and husband. Sabine feel in love with Parcifal from the moment she saw him on stage. Dedicating her life to this man was a sacrifice Sabine was willing to take. She overlooked the fact that Parcifal would never love her the was she desired, as he was in love with a vietnamese male named Phan. After Phan's death, the two performers and best friends marry. Tragically, the mar More...

0 comments like

Nov 16, 2009

Tim rated it:

Ann Patchett's small, wise, character-driven tale unlocks a good man's secret after his death and expands his widow's idea of family.

Sabine, the magician's assistant of the title, is married to her charismatic stage partner, Parsifal, whose homosexual relationship — his partner died before him — was no secret. Parsifal's tragic past is, however, news, and Sabine's growing relationship with the family she never knew Parsifal had is at the heart of this well-written story. After Parsif More...

3 comments like

Jun 23, 2009

Sandie rated it:

With The Magicians Assistant, Ann Patchett has performed the proverbial "Hat Trick" with a tale that is filled with beautiful writing but contains nothing new in the way of plot.

By diverting our attention with conversations with the dead, flashbacks, dreams and vicarious travel being experienced by Sabine, the title character of this piece and widow of Parsifal the Magician, she manages to make us think we are experiencing a tale of substance when, in fact, it is really al More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 14, 2009

Amy rated it:

I don't usually deliberately choose a contemporary fiction story, usually because there are too many out there, so I rely on a book that has been passed on by those who's taste I share. So it is with this book. Sabine, the main character, has just lost the love of her life, her husband Parsifal, a charismatic magician and successful rug-store owner. The fly in the ointment is the fact that Parsifal, an intensely loyal man who deeply loves Sabine, just lost the love of his life, a man named Pa More...

0 comments like

Jul 28, 2011

Adriane rated it:

The Magician’s Assistant captures the essence of anyone who feels lost behind someone else’s limelight; be they a wife who stays home with small children while the husband receives acclaim at a “real” job; or be they a shy child who stands in the shadow of an outgoing sibling; or even an actual magician’s assistant, who though she knows all the tricks even better than the magician himself, gets little or no accolades for her invisible work inside boxes and panels. Patchett’s story, though obvio More...

0 comments like

Jul 26, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Aug 15, 2011

Kara rated it:

I loved Bel Canto so I thought I would give this one a try. It was if the two books were written by different authors in my opinion. The Magician's Assistant did not have the depth or complexity that I enjoyed with Bel Canto. I was also so shocked I think by the continual "bad behavior" of the mid western "relatives" that I missed any beauty that may have been woven into the story. In the very beginning you learn that a woman has tied herself to a gay man and eventually ma More...

0 comments like

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