Kristin McCloy

I was going through an old book journal and found my first impressions of this novel from back when I read it in 1994--I don't think I would feel the same way about SOME GIRLS now, but I would need to reread McCloy's tale and I'm not sure I'm up for that:)...Anyway...

The dialogue uses dashes like Alan Paton's CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY, but McCloy is definitely no Paton. Sharp writing is used to reflect the always edgy New York City, which serves as both backdrop and catalyst. Two friends--and eventually very reluctant lovers--struggle with their differences even as they inexplicably bond. Claire, naive native of New Mexico, finds herself in the Big Apple, eager to take everything in even if she doesn't understand it. Jade, as much a part of the city as the concrete, is appropriately named for nothing impresses her and she looks for highs in all the wrong places.

Claire and Jade never actually declare their love for each other, but they cannot seem to function without one another. McCloy's oddly fascinating romance-but-not-a-romance reminds me of Joyce Carol Oates' SOLSTICE (only Oates does it much better.)… (more)

HOLLYWOOD SAVAGE by Kristin McCloy
Published by Washington Square Press
A division of Simon & Schuster
ISBN 978-0-7432-8647-3
At the request of Simon & Schuster, a TPB was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
Synopsis (from back of book): "Meet me at five," the voice said on the answering machine, Four ordinary words yet, when heard by the wrong person, enough to change the course of a marriage.
Marooned in Hollywood while writing a screenplay based on his latest bestselling novel, Miles King, records in his journals his escalating conviction that his glamorous wife, a New York-based journalist named Maggie, his having an affair.
Amidst the un-buffed egos and the longing for connection and fame he encounters at every cocktail party and no-name bar in Hollywood, Miles finds unexpected comfort in an affair if his own with Lucy, a young mother whose open, eager mind sparks an irresistible passion in him. Miles's constantly shifting emotional state-a potent brew of lust, guilt, anger and betrayal- is only one of the perils he must navigate as his fantasies become increasingly hard to distinguish from reality.
My Thoughts and Opinion: When I first accepted this book for review, I thought it was going to be the typical Hollywood life style that is the basis of many books, the gossip in magazines and on entertainment TV shows. The following opinion is mine and only mine. I read 50+ pages, and at that point, I still had not been pulled into the story. I found the narrative of first-person very wordy, that at times, I would have to reread sentences to process what was really being said. I felt that the storyline was slow paced in the pages read. Unfortunately, this book had to be put aside in the DNF pile.
My Rating: 1 DNF… (more)