Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... Cooperative Livesby Patrick Finegan
None Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book.
Ambitious and sophisticated, Cooperative Lives is a diverse and gorgeous tapestry of character studies. There’s much to relish and ponder in this tragicomedy. AwardsDistinctions
A landmarked midtown Manhattan address. Carnegie Hall and Central Park at your feet. Three hundred units. Thirty-two full-time employees. Five hundred neighbors. You've hit the big time. Joined the elite. But what do you know about them, the neighbors? Have you ever met them? Really engaged with them? Or do you gaze down in the elevator, the same way you do on the subway and the street? Oh sure, you've heard a famous writer lives on the fourteenth floor, a retired US senator on the eighteenth. You've witnessed so many Broadway impresarios glide through the lobby you've lost count. But what about your real neighbors - the couple in 7H, for instance, or the family in 8B? Did you know they once harbored the most wanted fugitive in America? No? It was in the papers for weeks; nearly tore the co-op apart. Even that famous writer on fourteen got involved. And all because an M7 bus side-swiped a resident-shareholder while turning down Seventh Avenue. You're busy? Oh, I'm sorry. Just thought you should know something about the co-op's history. And buy more insurance, lots more; I've got a friend named Stanley. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNone
Google Books — Loading... GenresNo genres RatingAverage:
|
Patrick Finegan’s luscious novel Cooperative Lives follows characters whose lives change when they are brought into close proximity with each other through a series of coincidences, accidents, and international espionage.
The book’s cast at first appears to have little in common with one another, other than the building they share in New York City. Their wounds and disappointments are revealed as they navigate the frustrations of modern life. They make efforts to hide their weaknesses, private embarrassments, and regrets—until an accident, a mistake, and an attempted cover-up inflame their steamy conflicts and secrets.
An investigation, confounded by misplaced assumptions, ineptitude, injured pride, opportunism, and bad luck, results in intrigue with surprising consequences. The story moves forward and backward in time with ease, teasing forth details and offering clues about a deeper underlying story and tangled interconnections.
The addition of an international conspiracy makes it tempting to turn pages at a rapid speed, but masterful prose, marked by evocative phrasing and apt metaphors, encourages savoring each exquisite sentence and its imagery, from “heeled and wheeled travelers scuffled for possession of the asphalt” to “Steam rose from her coffee. It traced curls between the cup and the visor. Invisible currents spun the curls about, feathered them into wisps then swallowed them as they dispersed.”
Descriptions capture settings in striking ways, including inlaid marble flooring, antique vases, and carved furniture, or a derelict apartment with a broken heater and a bathroom ripened with mold. Specificity regarding road routes, ski runs, and obscure hiking trails brings places from Squaw Valley to Oahu to life, and the book’s knowledgeability extends to the inclusion of facts about historical events and medical conditions and treatments. Characters are credible in their roles as doctors, stock traders, and IT professionals, captured as distinct and complex.
Subtle clues about characters’ backstories are inserted with care, revealing the uncertainties and compromises that drive them to make their choices and assumptions. Current events help to anchor the story in time, while tidbits of humor highlight the ironies of the modern world, and a recurring connection in chapter openings ties the pieces together in a creative way.
There’s much to relish and ponder in this tragicomedy. Ambitious and sophisticated, Cooperative Lives is a diverse and gorgeous tapestry of character studies and is a pure delight to read.
Reviewed by Wendy Hinman
May 13, 2019
added by WendyHinman | editForeWord Reviews, Wendy Hinman (May 13, 2019) ( )