Angelica's Grotto
by Russell Hoban
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Description
Russell Hoban takes this premise and shows why he is one of Britain s most startling, original and funniest writers. Harold first visits Angelica's Grotto after losing his 'inner voice', that censoring mechanism that keeps us from blurting out the first reckless thing that pops into our heads. As well as consulting a therapist about this new lack of mental privacy, Harold begins a one-to-one onscreen dialogue with Melissa in the Grotto. 'If I had an inner voice I wouldn't be telling you all show more this,' he explains. But when the flesh-and-blood Melissa enters his life with her large and well-hung colleague Leslie, Harold finds he needs to keep the angina medicine at the ready. His odyssey takes him not only through erogenous zones but into various corners of the London art world, down the underground and up the buses. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Having read Riddley Walker, which is complicated, intense and sometimes puzzling, this story really surprised me, as it is none of those things. I feel sorry for anyone who chose it on the basis of the blurb on the front, "A novel about internet sex", as it they may well have been left frustrated... It's actually a novel about an old man, and I found it rather sweet. As Harold lurches from one unlikely encounter to another he seems to be chasing an image of youth and innocence that he knows does not exist. Hoban develops the character of Harold Klein so that I felt empathy for him, despite his faults and ineptitude, however the other characters were not very well rounded, in particular Leslie, who seems to have been taken from the book show more of one-dimensional black male stereotypes... although I wasn't sure if that was intended to portray Harold's point of view. Overall a quite entertaining easy read - but not what I expected from a Russell Hoban book. show less
A modern story about age and sex with a disappointing ending.
Of all of Hobans books that I have read I liked this one the least. The story was simple & straight forward. Not very inventive or original. Just Blah.
It was good. Some graphic content, but story was interesting.
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Author Information
110+ Works 30,502 Members
Russell Hoban was born in Lansdale, Pennsylvania on February 4, 1925. He attended art school in Philadelphia and during World War II, he served in the Army and earned a Bronze Star. He taught art in New York and Connecticut, and also worked as an advertising copywriter and a freelance illustrator before beginning his career as a writer. He began show more publishing children's books in the late 1950s, including What Does It Do and How Does It Work?, Bedtime for Frances and the six other books featuring Frances, The Story of Hester Mouse Who Became a Writer, What Happened When Jack and Daisy Tried to Fool the Tooth Fairies, and The Mouse and His Child, which was adapted as an animated film in 1977. In 1973, he published his first adult novel, The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz. His other books for adults include Turtle Diary, Pilgermann, and Ridley Walker. He received the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and the Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award for Ridley Walker. He died on December 13 at the age of 86. In 2015 he made the Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist for his title Jim's Lion wth illlustrator Alexis Deacon. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Il sito di Angelica
- Original publication date
- 1999
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 142
- Popularity
- 229,718
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.11)
- Languages
- English, Italian
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 4
