false 2725134 7 <i>Wit's End</i> is many things: a quest novel - a young woman's search for the truth about her dead father's past; a mystery - the story of a long-ago murder in which that father might have been complicit; and a game - one that ensnares readers in cunning deceptions, challenging them to separate the true from the fictive.<BR><BR> Set in contemporary Santa Cruz, the novel centers on Rima Lanisell, a young woman at loose ends, having just lost her father to cancer. (Rima seems to lose people and things habitually - sunglasses and car keys, lovers and family members.) Now she has come to coastal California at the behest of her godmother, Addison Early, who once knew Rima's father well. Perhaps too well. Rima is on a mission to discover just what that relationship was really about.<BR><BR> Addison, a bestselling mystery writer, is secretive and feisty. Over the years, she has tried to protect her work and her privacy as her passionate fans have become ever more intrusive. In this age of the Internet, with its blogs, chat rooms, websites, its Wikipedia, false personas, and hidden identities, those fans have begun to take over the plot lines and the life of her famous fictional detective. For many, he is more real than Addison herself. So <I>Wit's End</I> is also a highly inventive take on the way dedicated readers appropriate their favorite books, perhaps the one act of theft applauded the world over - except by authors.<BR><BR> Above all, <I>Wit's End</I> is Karen Joy Fowler at her most subversive and witty, creating characters both oddball and endearing in a voice that is uniquely and memorably her own. 2750737 1 4 2008 Wit's End total:297|5:16|4:62|3:110|2:76|1:33| 297 843 506 113 2 2 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri May 30 10:16:02 -0700 2008 Fri May 30 10:23:17 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 2 false false Tue May 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon May 12 21:08:48 -0700 2008 Wed May 21 08:20:47 -0700 2008 Readinggroupguides.com contest. I have read The Jane Austen Book Club, which was also set in the Norcal area, so I'm right at home with that.

Epilogue: Just because you get a book for free does not mean you should read it. There was no point or direction...more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Jan 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 02 17:08:30 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 02 17:09:22 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 13:48:01 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 14:16:22 -0700 2009 We start with the protagonist, Rima Lanisell, arriving a...more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Apr 16 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 16:44:06 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 16 19:38:14 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Jun 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 09:03:02 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 15:29:21 -0700 2009
It was very... cur...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Feb 05 09:56:45 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:56:45 -0800 2009 Critical reception of Wit's End ran the full gamut. Like The Jane Austen Book Club, the novel should appeal to lovers of mystery books and to readers who enjoy pondering the relationship between characters, their creators, and their fan bases. Yet while these critics couldn't put the book down, othe...

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The UK jacket copy made the book sound like a lighthearted romp with a fictional detective come to life to help the heroine.

Inste...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 09 08:46:52 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 09 09:36:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat May 17 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri May 16 07:04:14 -0700 2008 Tue May 20 18:00:49 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue May 13 15:56:22 -0700 2008 Tue May 13 15:58:51 -0700 2008 including highly imaginative plots for the books written by Addis...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu May 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat May 10 09:11:14 -0700 2008 Thu May 22 09:05:11 -0700 2008
Thi...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Apr 26 19:27:13 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 14 07:34:07 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 26 19:26:53 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Dec 14 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 13:45:03 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 13:45:03 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Feb 23 11:41:18 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 28 09:35:40 -0800 2009

Now that I've finished it, I have to say there wasn't enough about the giant eyeball.

There was though a lot about Santa Cruz and a good deal about perception of persons. Is a celebrity a) who they think they are b)...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jan 03 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 11 11:23:19 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 11 11:25:05 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Mar 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 18:53:30 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 19:10:37 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jun 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 15 06:14:40 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 20 14:59:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 0 true false Tue Jul 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 19:10:02 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 20:39:38 -0700 2009 1
I read this book on a bus trip to Milwaukee....more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon May 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 09 18:15:51 -0700 2009 Mon May 11 15:21:03 -0700 2009 more...]]>