Quakeland
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- $22.99
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
“[Francesca Lia] Block writes about the real Los Angeles better than anyone since Raymond Chandler.”—The New York Times Book Review
“[Block] uses language like a jeweled sword glittering as it cuts to the heart.”—Kirkus Reviews
After enduring from afar a seemingly endless series of outside worldwide disasters—including 9/11 and the Asian tsunami—while living in earthquake-prone Los Angeles, a bereft Katrina experiences deep inner longings for some sense of permanence, meaning, and intimacy. A preschool teacher contemplating the unsettling challenges of her mid-life, she finds solace in the company of her dear friend Grace, and conflict in the arms of a narcissistic yoga instructor, Jasper.
In this intertwining series of emotionally charged stories, wistful characters weave together a dance of joy and sorrow, gain and loss, harmony and dissonance. Beautifully written, Quakeland speaks in a deeply stirring female voice to an unspoken sense of universal longing that seems quietly prevalent in these times. It is a brave, poetic work that acknowledges the pain and loss we live with every day, and offers hope—through art and through connection—of something more.
Francesca Lia Block is renowned for her groundbreaking novels and stories, including the best-selling Weetzie Bat—postmodern, magic-realist tales for all ages. Her work transports readers through the harsh landscapes of contemporary life to magic realms of the senses where love is always a saving grace. She lives in Los Angeles.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Beloved YA author Block, creator of Weetzie Bat and other indelible characters, returns to her familiar Venice, Calif., setting for this set of four adult short stories and title novella. They follow a depressed Katrina, five years single and entering mid-life after a history of bad relationships convinced no man will love her. Katrina owns a preschool, Neverland, and her fondness for kids extends to the five-year-old twins of her best friend, charismatic, sexy cancer survivor Grace. Another charismatic, sexy friend, yoga instructor Kali, gives Katrina moral support and radiates feminist Goddess light on her, to little avail. Into their lives comes Jasper, a charming, mercurial New Age dance teacher whom Katrina meets at a pagan dance (held to change the bad vibrations left behind by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami). The two get together and hit a lot of clothing-optional events, where Jasper, who suffers from sexual dysfunction due to a hex put on him by a previous girlfriend, has a seriously wandering eye. As Grace's cancer returns and Jasper's misogyny surfaces, Katrina finds her hard-won semiequilibrium slipping. Block's faux na ve narrative style sounds less sure-handed in an adult context, as Block's characters' affectations and day-to-day routines are, to put it mildly, otherworldly. But she's sharp on the nitty-gritty of female friendships and male perfidy.
