 | A WRITER'S WIT |  M. Gibbs |
MY BOOK WORLD
Patchett, Ann. The Magician’s Assistant. Orlando: Harcourt, 1997.
Magician Parsifal dies suddenly in Los Angeles, and his assistant wife, Sabine, is instantly burdened with a visit from Parsifal’s family of Alliance, Nebraska. The two members who fly to LA for the service are Parsifal’s mother, Dot, and the magician’s younger sister, Bertie. Sabine is in no mood, especially when they keep calling her husband Guy, a name he gave up long before for adopting his stage name, Parsifal. But Sabine suffers the visitors quietly, taking them to places familiar to Guy/Parsifal, including the rug factory he owns and runs. Oh, and readers learn early that Parsifal is gay and has acquired a lover/partner, Phan. Parsifal marries Sabine largely to protect their financial interests. Readers also learn that most magicians don’t make a living from the work; they have to have a day job, too. Sabine herself is employed by an architecture firm, creating exquisite models for structures the firm is designing. During the short visit, Sabine becomes close to Parsifal’s family members and promises to make a trip to Nebraska soon.
In the middle of January Sabine lands, after a shaky flight, in Scottsbluff. She is greeted by Dot and Bertie. Later she meets Kitty, Guy’s older sister, who looks a lot like him. So do her teenage sons, one of whom is also named Guy. At first Sabine is ill at ease but after some long visits with Dot and Kitty, she learns more about her late husband, Guy/Parsifal, mainly that he had a major tussle with the law when young, and the law won. Because he was underage, he spent his time in a reformatory, not in a prison for adults. After serving his sentence, he headed for LA to begin his career as a magician.
Back in his heyday, he and Sabine had appeared on the Johnny Carson Show, and someone had made a VHS tape of their appearance. In fact, the family watches it almost daily. They insist that Sabine see it, too. She’s never viewed a recording of their work before, so it is novel to her. Patchett does a masterful job of carefully threading together all the strands of this novel, and I won’t say more because there would have to be some spoilers, and I don’t want to do that, I just don’t.
Up Next:
TUES: A Writer's Wit | M. K. Hobson
WEDS: A Writer's Wit |August Strindberg
THURS: A Writer's Wit | Anya Seton
FRI: My Book World | Dave King, The Ha-Ha: A Novel
Magician Parsifal dies suddenly in Los Angeles, and his assistant wife, Sabine, is instantly burdened with a visit from Parsifal’s family of Alliance, Nebraska. The two members who fly to LA for the service are Parsifal’s mother, Dot, and the magician’s younger sister, Bertie. Sabine is in no mood, especially when they keep calling her husband Guy, a name he gave up long before for adopting his stage name, Parsifal. But Sabine suffers the visitors quietly, taking them to places familiar to Guy/Parsifal, including the rug factory he owns and runs. Oh, and readers learn early that Parsifal is gay and has acquired a lover/partner, Phan. Parsifal marries Sabine largely to protect their financial interests. Readers also learn that most magicians don’t make a living from the work; they have to have a day job, too. Sabine herself is employed by an architecture firm, creating exquisite models for structures the firm is designing. During the short visit, Sabine becomes close to Parsifal’s family members and promises to make a trip to Nebraska soon.
In the middle of January Sabine lands, after a shaky flight, in Scottsbluff. She is greeted by Dot and Bertie. Later she meets Kitty, Guy’s older sister, who looks a lot like him. So do her teenage sons, one of whom is also named Guy. At first Sabine is ill at ease but after some long visits with Dot and Kitty, she learns more about her late husband, Guy/Parsifal, mainly that he had a major tussle with the law when young, and the law won. Because he was underage, he spent his time in a reformatory, not in a prison for adults. After serving his sentence, he headed for LA to begin his career as a magician.
Back in his heyday, he and Sabine had appeared on the Johnny Carson Show, and someone had made a VHS tape of their appearance. In fact, the family watches it almost daily. They insist that Sabine see it, too. She’s never viewed a recording of their work before, so it is novel to her. Patchett does a masterful job of carefully threading together all the strands of this novel, and I won’t say more because there would have to be some spoilers, and I don’t want to do that, I just don’t.
Up Next:
TUES: A Writer's Wit | M. K. Hobson
WEDS: A Writer's Wit |August Strindberg
THURS: A Writer's Wit | Anya Seton
FRI: My Book World | Dave King, The Ha-Ha: A Novel
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