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The House Beautiful
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B.K. Troop — a middle-aged, witty, bipolar, alcoholic homosexual — lives alone in a cramped New York apartment. His life is turned upside down when his best friend, Sasha Buchwitz, dies and leaves him her Manhattan brownstone. To afford the property tax, B.K. turns his new home into a colony for young, struggling artists, to whom he can serve as mentor, if not muse. He chr
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Paperback, 288 pages
Published
September 12th 2006
by Carroll & Graf
(first published 2006)
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The Further Adventures of B.K. Troop
Allison Burnett has succeeded in creating a literary character so unique and thoroughly painted that in his first novel CHRISTOPHER B.K. Troop emerged as a middle aged, overweight, fussy, alcoholic gay man whose distorted views of his world provided us with some of the finest comic writing of the past few years. Happily, Burnett has given us another installment in what many of us hope will be a continuing saga of this strangely loveable dreamer.
B.K. Troop has ...more
Allison Burnett has succeeded in creating a literary character so unique and thoroughly painted that in his first novel CHRISTOPHER B.K. Troop emerged as a middle aged, overweight, fussy, alcoholic gay man whose distorted views of his world provided us with some of the finest comic writing of the past few years. Happily, Burnett has given us another installment in what many of us hope will be a continuing saga of this strangely loveable dreamer.
B.K. Troop has ...more
In The House Beautiful B K Troop continues to exert his charms following his failed attempt at the seduction of Christopher (in Allison Burnett’s previous novel Christopher: A Tale of Seduction). The ageing, wine guzzling, overweight queen who posses a cutting tongue and a biting wit learns that he is the sole beneficiary of his recently deceased friend and landlady Sasha Buchwitz, and so inherits the brownstone in which he resides. To make ends meet he takes in young aspiring artists and writer
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Disclaimer: I met Allison Burnett at a book fair this weekend and liked him so you could think I was predisposed to liking his book. But I am sincere in my appraisal - this was very funny! Very approachable literary fiction. This is a sequel of sorts to his first novel, which I haven't read and don't think you need to in order to enjoy. I loved his protagonist, BK, who is only quasi-sympathetic as a narrator. Burnett pokes gentle fun at BK's bloated ego and middle-aged body. Really crackling tur
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I first learned of The House Beautiful on KCRW's Writer's Block.
I was hooked from the start.
This book is WHY I READ.
Allison Burnett definitely has a way with words.
It's poetic, almost.
This book will charm and titillate you on it's many paths.
The words are so flowing and beautiful.
They seem to roll right off my tongue.
You soon learn through a peeping tom (and main character), that the artists of house beautiful aren't perfect.
However,
The House Beautiful is The Book Beautiful!
I was hooked from the start.
This book is WHY I READ.
Allison Burnett definitely has a way with words.
It's poetic, almost.
This book will charm and titillate you on it's many paths.
The words are so flowing and beautiful.
They seem to roll right off my tongue.
You soon learn through a peeping tom (and main character), that the artists of house beautiful aren't perfect.
However,
The House Beautiful is The Book Beautiful!
Allison Burnett really, really, REALLY wants to write like David Sedaris but he doesn't. Not even remotely.
I will admit that a couple of moments did make me chuckle, but not enough to save the book.
I will admit that a couple of moments did make me chuckle, but not enough to save the book.
I have read most of Allison Burnett's books and I always enjoy them. He creates vivid worlds with gorgeous language. The hardest thing to define about them is their tone, a mix of artistic melancholy and off-color humor.
A fun little story that doesn't tax the brain.
A different narration style so if you don't like the first chapter stop reading ... it doesn't change.
A different narration style so if you don't like the first chapter stop reading ... it doesn't change.
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Allison Burnett grew up in Evanston, Illinois, the son of a clinical psychologist and a Northwestern University professor. After graduating from Northwestern, he was a fellow of the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Program at the Juilliard School.
His novels include Christopher (a finalist for the 2004 PEN Center USA Literary Award), The House Beautiful, Undiscovered Gyrl, Death By Sunshine, and t ...more
More about Allison Burnett
His novels include Christopher (a finalist for the 2004 PEN Center USA Literary Award), The House Beautiful, Undiscovered Gyrl, Death By Sunshine, and t ...more
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