My Life, Starring Dara Falcon (1997)

by Ann Beattie

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In her latest novel, the author of Another You combines intensely realistic description and an effortless command of mood to examine the treacherous difference between love and fascination--between what we know about other people and what we think we know.nbsp;nbsp;Dara Falcon is someone other people think they know.nbsp;nbsp;Charismatic and theatrical, she has no sooner arrived in a New England town than she is wreaking havoc in the lives of her new friend Jean and her family.nbsp;nbsp;As Ann Beattie follows Dara's antics, she braids subplots and vibrant characters into a work that is compassionate, tartly funny, and teeming with life.nbsp;nbsp;… (more)

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The book hinges on the changing intensities of the relationship between Jean Warner and Dara Falcon, but not enough time is spent on building this critical relationship. It would have been better if Jean was one-sidedly obsessed with Dara, or if the two of them were mutually bad for each other, or if Dara held more sway over Jean's decisions. As it is written, it is sort of all of these things and sort of none of these things. Nothing is pushed to a dramatic point, or realistically described and character building either. Except for one scene where Jean spontaneously sleeps with the grown son of one of her husband's friends (which was a great scene, but ends up going nowhere), everything is quotidian, predictable, and unaffecting with a big scoop of predictable 1970s feminism on top.

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-life-starring-dara-falcon-by-ann.html ] (

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kristykay22 | Nov 28, 2010 |

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1997

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Ann Beattie

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In her latest novel, the author of Another You combines intensely realistic description and an effortless command of mood to examine the treacherous difference between love and fascination--between what we know about other people and what we think we know.nbsp;nbsp;Dara Falcon is someone other people think they know.nbsp;nbsp;Charismatic and theatrical, she has no sooner arrived in a New England town than she is wreaking havoc in the lives of her new friend Jean and her family.nbsp;nbsp;As Ann Beattie follows Dara's antics, she braids subplots and vibrant characters into a work that is compassionate, tartly funny, and teeming with life.nbsp;nbsp;

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