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Tully

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Esteemed editor Bob Wyatt's initial book for his new imprint, this much ballyhooed first novel is not notable for literary merit but for the melodramatic story it tells. Set during the last two decades in Topeka, Kans., and centering on a tough kid named Tully who oddly resembles skater Tonya Harding in looks and deportment, the narrative chronicles Tully's wild struggle against her lower-class origins, circumstances and fate (not to mention her genes) without any redeeming growth or insights achieved by any of the central characters until at the end Tully belatedly realizes the error of her ways. It's an emotionally crude coming-of-age story in which Tully, her two best girlfriends and the two men she loves never seem to rise above adolescent emotions and behavior. The story has the no-holds-barred, cranked-out quality of 19th-century penny novels, with an abundance of cheap thrills and hair-raising scenes. We tag along as Tully endures abandonment, incest, abortion, child and spousal abuse, passion, promiscuity, marriage, motherhood, infidelity, terrible nightmares, midnight graveyard scenes, tortured partings with lovers and more. The most interesting character is the villain, Hedda Makker, Tully's mother, whose chief pleasure in life is beating the living daylights out of Tully. Though billed as &doublequote;a big Russian novel&doublequote; about mothers and daughters, much of the narrative has a breathless, awkward oral texture, although long patches of exposition have an evenness and clarity that suggest Simons's potential. Despite all the wailing, sighing and bloodletting--or perhaps because of it--the story is engrossing as tabloid features often are: not believeable or artful, but fascinating in a macabre way. 165,000 first printing; $150,000 ad/promo; BOMC selection .
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.  --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
In this beautifully written first novel, Simons captures the lives and loves of Tully and her friends Julie and Jennifer in Topeka, Kansas. After her father and brother disappear, Tully's childhood is shaped by an abusive mother. Her wild adolescence culminates when Jennifer commits suicide. Unable to accept the death or admit to grief, Tully seeks consolation at the gravesite, where years later she meets Jack, a former lover of Jennifer. Although married to Robin, she begins an affair with Jack, despite the warnings of her friend Shakee, also one of his former lovers. When Jack wants her to move to California, a lifelong dream of both Jennifer and Tully, this survivor in life must come to grips with past griefs to make a decision. A strong story line with great characterization makes this book hard to put down. A potential best seller, it is highly recommended for public libraries. [BOMC and Quality Paperback selections.]-Heather Blenkinsopp, Mercy Coll. Lib., Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
--Heather Blenkinsopp, Mercy Coll. Lib., Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.  --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
 
 


Category: 102
Condition: New
ISBN: 0006490018  Published: 1995-10-09
Author: Paullina Simons  
Publisher: Harper





                      
                      
                      



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