Picture 1 of 1

Stock photo

My Hollywood by Mona Simpson: New - Picture 1 of 1

My Hollywood by Mona Simpson (2010, Hardcover)

AlibrisBooks (453334)

98.5% positive Feedback

Price:

US $61.13

Approximately£45.75

+ $22.59 postage

Estimated delivery Mon, 2 Jun - Wed, 11 Jun

Returns:

30 days return. Buyer pays for return postage. If you use an eBay delivery label, it will be deducted from your refund amount.

Condition:

New

New Hard cover

About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherKnopf Doubleday Publishing Group

ISBN-100307273520

ISBN-139780307273529

eBay Product ID (ePID)79793074

Product Key Features

Book TitleMy Hollywood

Number of Pages384 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicFamily Life, Literary

Publication Year2010

GenreFiction

AuthorMona Simpson

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1.3 in

Item Weight26.3 Oz

Item Length9.5 in

Item Width6.6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2010-000726

Dewey Edition22

Reviews"Simpson works her habitual magic, showing how love travels, ownerless and unbidden, among children who need adults, and adults who need children. 'Children, they are dependent for their life,' Lola observed, back in Santa Monica. But so are adults. Sitting with her friends, drinking 'nonfat lattes, ice blendeds, a dozen small consolations,' Claire asks, 'For what, exactly, were mothers always being consoled?' Simpson gently suggests an answer: for their fear of failing in their responsibilities, to their children and themselves, the extent of which they'll only know when their children grow up and tell them what they were." -Liesl Schillinger,TheNew York Times Book Review "Simpson's novel shows the intricacies and inequities of domestic politics . . .My Hollywoodis a smart, topical, absorbing novel that explores the macro economy, the micro economy and the world of work, both inside and outside the home. Mona Simpson writes adroitly about domestic matters, and she knows the domestic matters." -Jeffrey Ann Goudie,Kansas City Star "It is Lola . . . who holds center stage, emerging as an indelible character - as keenly observed as the mother-and-daughter pair inAnywhere but Here,and as much an avatar, as they were, of the contingencies and compromises of the American Dream." -Michiko Kakutani,The New York Times "It takes a very subtle, sophisticated and confident writer to make our most common problems come off as unique on the page as they feel at 3 in the morning. If anyone can do it, Mona Simpson, authorof Anywhere but Here, The Lost Father, A Regular GuyandOff Keck Road,can. And does. But there's more." -Susan Salter Reynolds,The Los Angeles Times "Simpson is a virtuoso at allowing her characters to convey their internal landscapes in first-person voices suffused with personality, insight, and wit . . . the real richness ofMy Hollywoodlies in Simpson's gift for conveying enormous meaning in moments depicted so prosaically that they don't reveal their significance at first glance . . . Simpson has given us an expansive and original look at the types of costs incurred in caring for a child, the complexities of commodifying such care, and what it can mean to belong to a family in our contemporary world. . . . Simpson's novel deftly explores that something in all its pain and comfort." -Jessica Treadway,The Boston Globe "My Hollywoodexcels in the richness of its characterization of Lola, a woman no longer sure where or to whom she belongs: in her native country, where she employed servants, or in the U.S., where she is a servant? The holy words of America, Lola says, are There is-Is there milk? 'There is.' She is wise enough to understand her contribution to that abundance (Is there help? There is). But lucky for Williamo, that hasn't made her cynical. Lola loves what she does. It doesn't seem a stretch to imagine her as representative of good nannies everywhere in the US, anxious to work despite a skill set you'd call limited. That is, until you saw her with your child." -Mary Pols,Time "My Hollywood,Mona Simpson's beautifully realized new novel, tells the story of a bewildered new mother and the live-in nanny she hires so she can continue her work as a composer. An illustration of the difficulties of raising children in dual-career households, as well as the undervalued lives of the domestic workers summoned to help, it's one the most insightful books in years about contemporary American life." -Gregory Leon Miller,The San Francisco Chronicle "[In]M, "In her first novel sinceOff Keck Road,Simpson tells a blistering story of fractured love and flailing parents. Claire, a composer and new mother, has moved to Santa Monica, Calif., so that her husband, Paul, can follow his dreams of becoming a TV comedy writer. When Paul's job requires late nights, Claire, already overwhelmed with balancing motherhood and career, hires Lola, a middle-aged Filipina, to help with her son, William, and soon Lola's trying to plug holes in Claire and Paul's slowly sinking family ship. Claire and Lola narrate in alternating chapters; fragile and sometimes fierce Claire deploys a biting wit that shreds the pretensions that permeate her social life and her marriage, while Lola is more open-hearted and eager to help people, though she also draws laughs with her observations about wealthy families. The story both satirizes and earnestly assesses the failings of upper-middle-class L.A., and Simpson's taut prose allows her to drill into the heart of relationships, often times with a single biting sentence. Funny, smart, and filled with razor sharp observations about life and parenthood, Simpson's latest is well worth the wait." -Publishers Weekly,starred review

Dewey Decimal813/.54

SynopsisFrom the much-loved author of Anywhere but Here and The Lost Father, a long-awaited novel--her first in ten years--about two women behind the glitter of Hollywood. Claire, a composer and a new mother, comes to L.A. so her husband can follow his dream of writing TV comedy. Suddenly, the marriage changes, with Paul working all hours and Claire left with a baby, William, whom she adores but has no idea how to care for. Enter Lola--a fifty-two-year-old mother of five who comes to work in America to pay for her own children's higher education back in the Philippines. Lola stabilizes the rocky household, and soon other parents try to lure her away. What she sacrifices to stay with Claire and William remains her own closely guarded secret. In a novel, at turns satirical and heartbreaking, where mothers' modern ideas are given practical overhauls by nannies, we meet Lola's vast network of fellow caregivers, each with her own story to tell. We see the upstairs competition for the best nanny and the downstairs competition for the best deal, and are forced to ask whether it's possible to buy love for our children and what that transaction costs. We see the endangerment of a modern marriage despite the best of intentions. This tender, witty, and resonant novel provides the profound pleasures readers have come to expect from Mona Simpson, here writing at the height of her powers.

LC Classification NumberPS3569.I5117M92 2010