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Customer Reviews (2)

One Of A Kind!
What do you get when you mix fashion, feminism, vampires, and neurotic New York Jews? --- a one-of-a-kind novel of fate. "The Last Jewish Virgin" is quirky, fun, and colorful. Janice Eidus is one of the most original writers out there. If you can catch one of her readings, it's a real treat because she is an engaging storyteller. Happily, she is also prolific. (My soft spot is for the story collection "The Celibacy Club"--one of the most enjoyably motley set of characters to join up between front and back cover).

Through the Eyes of Eidus


THE LAST JEWISH VIRGIN?IS THERE A BETTER TITLE ANYWHERE? "A NOVEL OF FATE?" READ THAT AS EIDUS IRONY.THIS STORY IS AN INTRIGUING MIXTURE OF JEWISH MYTH AND CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE, A COMBINATION BOTH FANCIFUL AND CONVINCING, AND AS ORIGINAL AS JANICE EIDUS ALWAYS IS. WHO ELSE WOULD INTERWEAVE VAMPIRES, MODERN JEWISH FEMINISM AND ADOLESCENT HORMONES?

AFTER YOU HAVE READ IT, TRY ALL OF THE EIDUS NOVELS AND TAKE A LOOK AT THE WORLD THROUGH HER EYES.

RUDY AND SHIRLEY NELSON ... Read more

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The War of the Rosens is as fierce, unflinching and tender as its feisty ten year-old heroine, Emma Rosen. Growing up in the mid-60's in the Bronx, Emma carries the weight of the world and the fate of her volatile, unpredictable family on her small shoulders. Emma, a budding poet seeks answers to questions about the nature of good and evil while struggling with an alternately brutal and loving father, a meek and "lost" mother, and a spiteful older sister.

While the Rosens ricochet off life's hard knocks, 13-year-old May, Emma's sister, keeps her physical symptoms a secret because of her fear of doctors. When tragedy strikes the family, it is Emma, with a tenacious spirit and an indomitable imagination who, through the power of love and the force of the written word, instigates her family's salvation.

The Rosens are dreamers. They are all trying to change things, to map their own dreams of a world in which the meanings of 'Faith' and 'Love' will one day be fully understood and realized, to create some possibility of a future, which becomes the most essential dream of all. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Not your everyday disfunctional family
A cousin of mine lives in Italy and her women's book group is considering inviting the author, Janice Eidus, of War of the Rosens to participate in their fall event. So she asked me to read it. The author is new to me and she is a deceptively powerful writer. I don't know how she did it but eventhough this age group, location, the projects in the Bronx in 1965, were totally foreign to me, I was there! It taught me that you don't have to identify with characters or their circumstances inorder to appreciate fine writing and poignancy.Do yourself a favor..read it, buy it!

Didn't want to put it down.....
I found myself so engrossed in the Rosen family, that I read this book in 3 days.The characters were unusual, complex, yet sympathetic despite their flaws. They continue to linger with me, and I'm looking forward to the next book. (I also recommend "The Celibacy Club"--a short story collection by the same author. The first story "Elvis, Axl, and Me" is hysterical!)

A funny and touching book for all time.
I loved this book!I didn't think I would at first.Why would I be interested in a coming-of-age tale of a 10 year old girl?But Janice Eidus is such a talented writer.Before long, the reader discovers that this is more than the little girl's story.Eidus has an amazing ability to explore the actions and inner feelings of all of the book's main characters.I feel as if I've come to know these characters as well as I have ever known any fictional family.
Also, while Eidus does a wonderful job of depicting the lives and times of Bronx in the 1960's, her story is universal.The issues faced by the Rosen family, crises of religious faith, love and fidelity between husbands and wives, sibling rivalries, adolescent love, tensions between parents and children, and questions of illness and mortality will resound with readers of any time and from any background.
The book made me laugh and cry and I recommend it highly.

War of the Rosens is wonderful!
This is a novel about the relationships among and between a mother and father and two daughters.The narrator reveals her family; her father whose politics put him at odds with the rest of the neighbors, her mother who works hard to care for husband and daughters, and her sister with whom she has tremendous sibling rivalry.

In one incident, the ten-year-old narrator sneaks into a Catholic church and has a conversation with the Virgin Mary.She dips her hand into the holy water font and fears that she has baptized herself.

I have met the writer and plan to read her other books.

I was sorry when it ended

A book about a 10-year old Jewish girl in the Bronx seemed to me an unlikely page-turner, but I found this a compelling read. The social milieu is well-defined, and the characters are alive. Eidus does not shy away from portraying the little black corners of the two sisters' hearts (nasty characters are always more interesting), but the ultimate result of this 'war' is not devastation, but creation. Her quirky sense of humor(great names, for example)keep things moving along. I look forward to a sequel.
... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

A delightful diversion
Into this slice of New York City life in the '90s comes a heroine on the verge of crisis.

Narrator Babette Bliss, 35, frets about her biological clock, her unsatisfying job at an avant-garde theater and her husband's possible infidelity. She has taken the summer off from work to think through her problems, but the theater is threatened by a group of developers and its director is frantic for her to come back and organize some resisitance.

Babette, however, planning a confrontation with her husband, is deaf to the director's pleas. And once her suspicions are confirmed she's too distraught to spare a thought for a doomed theater.

She decamps to an absent friend's apartment and seesaws between righteous fury and tears, forgiveness and revenge (in kind). In lucid moments she worries about the horrors of apartment hunting, and surviving without her husband's generous income.

Into her life comes a roomate, another beneficiary of the apartment owner's largesse. Babette has always considered Carlos Carlos a cad and a phony - for stealing her friend's wife and for changing his whitebread name. But with greater knowledge comes wider understanding - Carlos is not only worthy of sympathy, he's handsome too. And he sees a spark of creativity in Babette that she has long resisted.

Meanwhile, her rock singer/shrink has decided to give up therapy and devote herself to music, her husband is leaving plaintive messages on the answering machine in the words of the Beatle he resembles and Babette returns to her theater despite her sense of futility.

Should she return to her husband? Have an affair with Carlos? Overcome her writing phobia and become a playwrite?

Babette's dilemma's are not earthshaking, nor will her decisions set her life on an irreversible course but Eidus' playful, wisecracking and vulnerable style sweeps the reader into her world.

Blissful
In this comic, ironic tale, Babette Bliss guides us on a totally enjoyable journey through the domestic and artistic pathways of Manhattan, circa 1993. Check out the noise band called Mild Neurosis, and other maddeninglyfamiliar urban icons. --Thaddeus Rutkowski, author of Roughhouse

Very enjoyable
Clever, funny, and well written.Like her short stories, and maybe even better. ... Read more

Product Description
It's Only Rock and Roll is the first anthology of fiction ever published that deals exclusively with the intoxicating urgency, iconic power, and even disturbing underside of rock music, arguably the most influential art form of the past fifty years. In pieces that range from the wildly comic to the achingly poignant, from surreal tales of excess to small moments of human joy and pathos, these twenty-two stories by some of the most exciting American writers currently at work celebrate the many sides of rock and roll and its remarkable cultural impact.

Among the many gems here are Lee K. Abbott's wild portrait of a delusional, megalomaniacal rock star on his comeback; Lance Olsen's apocalyptic vision of a rock and roll future; T. Coraghessan Boyle's wryly comic depiction of a recently deceased guitarist trying to find his way to "rock and roll heaven" (via just about every kind of musical heaven imaginable); Kathleen Warnock's wistful tale of a schoolteacher in the 1980s who meets the real Elvis (for those of you who wondered, he is indeed alive and well, and traveling through the South in a beat-up Cadillac); Janice Eidus's hip romance between a fifties doo-wop singer and his high-school sweetheart; Lucinda Ebersole's fine riff on Kafka's Metamorphosis, in which a "nineties guy" named Sammy wakes up one morning as a sixties moptop Beatle; and Geoffrey Becker's moving story of a road trip taken by a guitar-playing father and his teenage son, a journey on which they learn the real meaning of the blues.

Also included are pieces by Madison Smartt Bell, Rochelle Ratner, François Camoin, Bruce Jay Friedman, Jill McCorkle, and ten other comparable talents.

As diverse and exciting as the music that inspired it, It's Only Rock and Roll is both a great collection of fiction and a fresh approach to one of the most enduring, riveting, and creative musical forms of our time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Captures rock lifestyle from an unusual literary perspective
A unique collection of rock-and-roll focused stories captures the rock lifestyle through an unusual literary perspective. Sectioned off into tales about "Glory Days," Keepin' the Faith," You've Really Got a Hold on Me," "Welcome to the Jungle," and "Rock and Roll is Here to Stay." Not focused on the superstar phenomenon, but really exploring the cultural significance of life on the road through fiction, and surprisingly, rarely (if at all) mentions drugs.

Groovy
By culling the best of a pop-driven genre, editors Janice Eidus and John Kastan have succeeded in putting together a collection of stories that work like good songs. --Thaddeus Rutkowski, author of Roughhouse

A Very Mixed Bag
Twenty-two very hit or miss stories grouped around the theme of rock and roll. The first five, grouped under the "Glory Days" theme of "evoking the past" are all pretty sound and worth reading, as arethe four stories about the relationship between musicians and fans/loversin the "Keepin' the Faith" section. The four stories in the"You've Really Got a Hold On Me" are grouped around the idea ofintertwining music and love/lust, but this is a rather loose connection anddoesn't quite work. The T.C. Boyle story here is a total throwaway, butLewis Shiner's "Sticks" and Linda Sexton's "Shine" areboth excellent. The four stories of "Welcome to the Jungle" makefor the weakest section, as the editors were apparently looking for"wild" writing. I would skip them all except Roberta Smoodin's"Ursus Major" (about a bear in a band). The editors write thatthe "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay" section "applauds thedurability of the music"--I'm not sure what that means. The fivestories here are all very strong, especially Geoffrey Becker's"Bluestown" and Kevin Downs' "Like A Lead Balloon"which is probably my favorite in the anthology.

A wonderful tribute to the greatest voices in rock and roll.
"It's Only Rock And Roll" transports the reader to another dimension.The stories weave through the greatest voices in rock and roll, treating the reader to an amazing journey.I especially enjoyed the story,"Elvis in Wonderland" by Kathleen Warnock.Roller coaster buffswill surely enjoy this ride with Elvis. Lucinda Ebersole's story had merolling in laughter. This book is a must for real rock and rollers.

From the Publisher
As the publisher, it may seem ingenuous to say that we are really excitedabout this book. Still, we think this says it best:

From Publisher'sWeekly: How different this anthology would be if it had been published in,say, 1972, when rock and roll still had its messianic buzz. Twenty-fiveyears later we have a book of 22 stories about rock in which not a singlecharacter even thinks about doing acid. If that makes you feel, well, old,welcome to the overriding theme of the book. Jill McCorkle captures themood here in the wonderful "Final Vinyl Days" (also the title ofher current collection from Algonquin), in which the narrator, a mid-30smale rock aficionado, experiences both the phasing-out of real records andthe parallel rejection (by a series of girlfriends) of his alternative,non-advancing lifestyle. In a similar vein, the 35-year-old father inGeoffrey Becker's "Bluestown" (from his novel of that name)removes his 15-year-old son from high school for an unauthorized journey toCanada, ostensibly to share his last shot at a steady gig but really in ahurtful effort to overcome his own sense of failure. Then there is the moodof rueful mundaneness in Madison Smartt Bell's "Never Mind,"covering a day in the life of a "covers" band, whose members knowthat it will never make the big time. Still, all is not resignation. Moreupbeat tales include Kevin Downs's funny story of how an ex-punker came tolove that schlock classic, Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven";Harold Jaffee's stream-of-consciousness post-gonzo rant"Madonna"; and Lucinda Ebersole's throwaway, "Bigger ThanJesus," about a man who wakes up as a Beatle--Ringo, of course.(Sept.) ... Read more

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In this wildly erotic, magical and comic novel of fast-paced suspense, Rebecca, a modern day Scarlett O'Hara from New York City, embarks on an impassioned search for her infant daughter, Lily, and Lily's kidnapper.Her quest leads to a mountaintop community of women emulating mythical Amazon warriors where Rebecca is reunited with both Lily, being raised as an Amazon, and Sagana, formerly Rebecca's devoted best friend and now the passionate, fierce, and beautiful Amazon queen.She also meets the equally memorable HowardGeller, a wisecracking, romantic, runaway teenager living on the fringe of the community.This many-leveled contemporary fable incorporates such motifs as personal ads and female bodybuilding, while asking difficult questions about women's roles as friends, lovers, mothers, and daughters. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Feminazis
Rebecca's lover Sagana steals Rebecca's child and takes off for a commune of Amazons in upstate New York.Rebecca follows her to recover the child and gets involvedwith a group that Rush Limbaugh would have been justified in calling Feminazis. Later, for no apparent reason, the child dies, and Rebecca decides that being a mother wasn'ta good idea anyway.I think we are meant to see a woman starting off as wanton and seductive and abandoning stereotypicalornamental and maternal female roles as she becomes stronger and more mature.
It is badly constructed and never really coheres as a novel.The upstate New York scenes are set in a kind of sword-and-sorcery fantasyland (maybe that is the way Manhattanites think of upstate) and even the Manhattan scenes lack any nitty-gritty realism and often merge into daydreams and confusing flashbacks
This is Eidus juvenilia (published in 1987) probably of interest to Eidus fans who are interested in her development as a writer. Some may be turned on by the kinky erotic scenes which are, shall I say, unusual.
... Read more

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Ms. Eidus's tales are often amusing, but she tends tosubstitute pop culture references for character development, and highconcept ideas, i.e., a Barbie doll goes to group therapy, fortheme. Still, readers who enjoy this type of ultra-hip urbanstory-telling may well find The Celibacy Club entertainingreading. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

I laughed so hard.....
The humor in this collection of stories is what kept things sailing along. I laughed so hard reading "Elvis, Axl, and Me," that I had trouble keeping the book open. Charming, original, and thoroughly readable. Highly recommended.

Good for anyone who has examined life
This book is great for anyone who has examined life.After reading this book, one will feel as though they have experinced soneone else's life, which is not similar, but not too far away from their own.This book explores life as it is:happy, sad, unpredictable, disgusting, wonderful, etc.The stories in this book model the fact that life can contradict itself.The variety of stories in this book exhibit people against the world, and their struggles for meaning.Anyone can relate to this. The stories are about people trying to be accepted in a fast-paced, thick-cored, sex-crazed, money driven,but wonderful and interesting society. The stories depict discovering yourself and dealing with life, no matter what it throws your way.Janice Eidus writes in a matter-of-fact, uncensored way that evokes a variety of emotions. After reading this, I feel as if I have met twenty new interesting people, who I could relate to.This is a book that one can read again and again.You'll never forget these stories.

Good for anyone who has examined life
This book is great for anyone who has examined life.After reading this book, one will feel as though they have experinced soneone else's life, which is not similar, but not too far away from their own.This book explores life as it is:happy, sad, unpredictable, disgusting, wonderful, etc.The stories in this book model the fact that life can contradict itself.The variety of stories in this book exhibit people against the world, and their struggles for meaning.Anyone can relate to this. The stories are about people trying to be accepted in a fast-paced, thick-cored, sex-crazed, money driven,but wonderful and interesting society. The stories depict discovering yourself and dealing with life, no matter what it throws your way.Janice Eidus writes in a matter-of-fact, uncensored way that evokes a variety of emotions. After reading this, I feel as if I have met twenty new interesting people, who I could relate to.This is a book that one can read again and again.You'll never forget these stories.

The Celibacy club
"The Celibacy Club" is cold hearted in its treatment of characters. The author almost mocks them. I think that Eidussimply was not sure what she wanted to say with a particular story. Epiphanies don't always follow the action. I think she may be trying to be ironic. I think the opening stories are clever and touching, but the ones toward the end are a little bit more then generalities stretched into narratives. I feel like Eidus wrote the 19 stories in order, in one sitting, and getting tired halfway through! Some of the stories are good, though. In the better stories, Eidus weaves dark humor, harsh reality and sarcasm with a bit of hope mixed in. I liked the title story best. It is about a young woman who vows herself celibacy and becomes a member of a group of celibates that meet in the Bronx. Things are going okay, until one lady develops a crush on the guy who carpools to the meetings with her. The dialogue exchanged between the two was good. Overall, I basically think that this book flashes on and off with good stories but doesn't provide any real warmth.

Look forward to seeing more
As far as style, wit, and insight are concerned, Janice Eidus rates among the best modern writers I've encountered.With toungue firmly in cheek, she touches on the silliness inherent in modern living through a number of vehicles, ranging from condom-based advice columns to hair-cut strikes to born again virgins.Also, the work is peppered with a number of well-placed and very telling pop-culture references (hey, I'm a big fan of anything using Axl Rose as a cultural icon) that stretch the stories, making them accessible to readers outside Eidus' Bronx/NY setting.
However, while some of the stories, such as "Celibacy Club" and "Teen Idol" really bit at the core of modern society, each loaded with extremely insightful comedy and theme, most of the other stories do not weld character, theme, and plot as tightly.While still providing a very enjoyable read, her tales of urban mermaids and vampires, of writers in love, of a wacky Jimmy Dean just seem to fall a little short after the triumphs of wit and insight she accomplishes in a very few of them.
Overall, I highly enjoyed seeing an author romp around in such a decidedly urban setting in such a personal, emotional, fanciful, and even magical way.The book succeeds as a collection of entertaining stories, and hints at Eidus' outstanding potential to create something that will put her at the forefront of modern fiction. ... Read more

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Word count: 926. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from The Review of Contemporary Fiction, published by Review of Contemporary Fiction on June 22, 1994. The length of the article is 463 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Urban Bliss.(Brief Article)
Author: Lance Olsen
Publication: The Review of Contemporary Fiction (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1994
Publisher: Review of Contemporary Fiction
Volume: v14Issue: n2Page: p203(2)

Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more