false 3914 3 <div><div>First acclaimed as a story-length memoir, then expanded into a novel, <i>Sylvia </i>draws us into the lives of a young couple whose struggle to survive Manhattan in the early 1960s involves them in sexual fantasias, paranoia, drugs, and the extreme intimacy of self-destructive violence.<br><br>Reproducing a time and place with extraordinary clarity, Leonard Michaels explores with self-wounding honesty the excruciating particulars of a youthful marriage headed for disaster.</div></div> 1683268 1992 Sylvia: A Novel total:115|5:40|4:45|3:22|2:6|1:2| 115 460 189 28 5 3 false false Sat Sep 06 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 03 10:20:02 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 08 13:07:41 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jun 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 06:28:05 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 14:06:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Sep 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 16:31:18 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 12 22:49:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Aug 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 05 13:19:16 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 10:41:51 -0700 2009 Sylvia gives us a hint of the crazy side of the 1960's. The narrator throws himself into disastrous relationship and marriage to a woman by the name of "Sylvia."
As sympathetic as I might have felt for him, I also felt frustrated by his helplessn...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 22 13:35:42 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 22 13:37:32 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 04 18:09:21 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 12 08:35:11 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 30 17:21:12 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 30 17:21:12 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Oct 31 07:12:27 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 31 07:23:25 -0700 2007
Love, or more aptly put, why we love the people we love, seems to be an unanswerable question. Leonard Michaels certainly ignores it. In this memoir about his first wife Sylvia, his deep connection to Sylvia is a given. So is Kennedy's assasination, along with the rise of movies, and ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jan 25 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 07:48:23 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 07:56:06 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 17 21:59:07 -0800 2008 Tue May 06 11:41:08 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Tue Jan 20 12:06:21 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 12:07:55 -0800 2009 I'd call LM a good happy medium between Bukowski and Miller]]> 4 0 false false Sun Sep 13 08:22:16 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 08:25:41 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Sep 16 09:43:03 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 15 21:38:29 -0700 2009
Now, does that make you want to read the intro more or less? Don't read it. It'll spoil it. Weird thing to say about such a terrible ending. The ending is a punch in the stomach. I read it and then I turned around and said, "Well that was wh...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 30 20:01:26 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 30 20:22:39 -0700 2007
In the mood for a riveting read that will make you want to curl up on your bathroom floor in a puddle of tears? Have I got the book for you!

But seriously...Michaels's matter-of-fact but poetic style...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Dec 13 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 10:57:50 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 11:01:02 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Mon Jul 06 22:05:20 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 06 22:05:30 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Jan 02 22:25:53 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 02 22:30:19 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Nov 04 19:02:32 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 04 19:07:28 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 true false Mon Jun 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 25 13:03:03 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 25 13:05:01 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Tue Jan 01 19:29:13 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 01 19:31:22 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=3914