Chatter: A Novel

商家名称	信用等级	购买信息	订购本书
		Chatter: A Novel
		Chatter: A Novel

基本信息·出版社：Algonquin Books
·页码：245 页
·出版日期：2007年10月
·ISBN：1565125401
·International Standard Book Number：1565125401
·条形码：9781565125407
·EAN：9781565125407
·装帧：精装
·正文语种：英语

内容简介 在线阅读本书

Michael and Sarah's marriage is already in trouble. But the revelation that Michael has a daughter he's never mentioned—and only just met—pushes their relationship to the breaking point. His secrecy about the past, his compulsion to visit his ex-lover, and the sudden presence of his beautiful, grown daughter in their lives drives Sarah to search for the truth—a search that takes her from Washington, D.C., to Latin America.

Chatter is a snapshot of a marriage taken against the landscape of our frenetic culture, where invasive news reports, overheard conversations, and screaming headlines punctuate our days. Its dead-on dialogue captures the collapse of communication and the tension created when discussions go unfinished and questions go unanswered.

Balancing humor and terror, Ireland brilliantly depicts the elusiveness of security—globally and in our own homes—and the longing to find that safe place in a loved one's arms.
作者简介 Perrin Ireland is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Ana Imagined. Previously a senior program officer for the National Endowment for the Arts and an associate director for drama and arts for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, she divides her time between Boston, Massachusetts, and Charleston, South Carolina. For more information, see www.perrinireland.com.
媒体推荐 "Chatty in tone, this appropriately titled debut novel features a cast of characters who converse and think in clipped sound bytes. Initially distracting, the author's peripatetic pacing mirrors the media-generated background noise that accompanies contemporary life. As the story of Michael and Sarah, a middle-aged couple whose marriage is challenged by the appearance of a daughter Michael never knew he had, evolves, the slice-of-life plot is bolstered by the almost omniscient television and radio reports chronicling the political and cultural fallout of a landscape steeped in the tensions generated by the ever-present threat of global terrorism. When the quirky, dialogue-heavy narrative is read between the lines, an eventually affirmative portrait of a modern relationship resonates with hidden depths."--Booklist (Booklist )

"Reading Chatter is not unlike using the television remote to flip back and forth between a compellingly hour-long dramedy and CNN; it's a dark romantic comedy punctuated by bursts of post-9/11 chatter, a novel that conjures the discomforting way news flashes and other bits of information peck at our psyche every day. . . . Ireland's clever, believable voice expertly conveys the uncertainty of life and love, at home and in the terror-crazed world."—More magazine (More )

"[A] humor-terror nexus that Ireland so charmingly brings to life"—New York Times Book Review (New York Times Book Review )

"[Ireland] keeps readers engaged even while making clear that not every question has an answer. . . .Strongly recommended."—Library Journal (Library Journal )

"[Perrin Ireland] has crafted a wonderful novel that balances humor and terror, growing apart and finding the way back. She has a deft touch and a great ear for dialogue, delivering complex and memorable characters."—Charleston Post and Courier (Charleston Post & Courier )

Chatty in tone, this appropriately titled debut novel features a cast of characters who converse and think in clipped sound bytes. Initially distracting, the author's peripatetic pacing mirrors the media-generated background noise that accompanies contemporary life. As the story of Michael and Sarah, a middle-aged couple whose marriage is challenged by the appearance of a daughter Michael never knew he had, evolves, the slice-of-life plot is bolstered by the almost omniscient television and radio reports chronicling the political and cultural fallout of a landscape steeped in the tensions generated by the ever-present threat of global terrorism. When the quirky, dialogue-heavy narrative is read between the lines, an eventually affirmative portrait of a modern relationship resonates with hidden depths.--Booklist (Booklist )

Reading Chatter is not unlike using the television remote to flip back and forth between a compellingly hour-long dramedy and CNN; it's a dark romantic comedy punctuated by bursts of post-9/11 chatter, a novel that conjures the discomforting way news flashes and other bits of information peck at our psyche every day. . . . Ireland's clever, believable voice expertly conveys the uncertainty of life and love, at home and in the terror-crazed world.More magazine (More )

[A] humor-terror nexus that Ireland so charmingly brings to lifeNew York Times Book Review (New York Times Book Review )

[Ireland] keeps readers engaged even while making clear that not every question has an answer. . . .Strongly recommended.Library Journal (Library Journal )

[Perrin Ireland] has crafted a wonderful novel that balances humor and terror, growing apart and finding the way back. She has a deft touch and a great ear for dialogue, delivering complex and memorable characters.Charleston Post and Courier (Charleston Post & Courier )
专业书评 From Publishers Weekly

After a career at the NEA and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Ireland published her debut novel, Ana Imagined, in 2000, and follows it with this intriguing, sophisticated look at talk in marriage. Comfortable Bostonians Sarah and Michael are sorting out their childless 18-year marriage (the second for both) when Camila, a beautiful 30-something Latina, turns up claiming she's Michael's daughter. Michael, who already has a daughter from his first marriage, is great-looking and mischievous and charming, but hot-tempered and uncommunicative about his past, including his Latin American Peace Corps stint. As the consequences of Michael's continued stonewalling spin out, he prepares to visit Camila's mother. Sarah, meanwhile, seeks comfort in the arms of a man she meets on a train. Ireland is less after their story than the ways Michael and Sarah communicate, a pointed staccato rife with missed connections, misdirection and blithe ignoring. That chatter is also bombarded from the outside by TV, radio, periodicals and other organs of the culture at large, often with complex effects—especially for novelist Sarah, and particularly given the pointedly post-9/11 setting. So while the plot is contrived and the characters honed to razor-thin dimensions, Ireland gets uncomfortably close to what people say about what they do. (Oct.)
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