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I'll take you there by Wally Lamb
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I'll take you there (original 2016; edition 2016)

by Wally Lamb

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4052061,909 (3.2)10
"New York Times bestselling author Wally Lamb weaves an evocative, deeply affecting tapestry of one Baby Boomer's life--Felix Funicello, introduced in Wishin' and Hopin'--and the trio of unforgettable women who have changed it, in this radiant homage to the resiliency, strength, and power of women. I'll Take You There centers on Felix, a film scholar who runs a Monday night movie club in what was once a vaudeville theater. One evening, while setting up a film in the projectionist booth, he's confronted by the ghost of Lois Weber, a trailblazing motion picture director from Hollywood's silent film era. Lois invites Felix to revisit--and in some cases relive--scenes from his past as they are projected onto the cinema's big screen. In these magical movies, the medium of film becomes the lens for Felix to reflect on the women who profoundly impacted his life. There's his daughter Aliza, a Gen Y writer for New York Magazine who is trying to align her post-modern feminist beliefs with her lofty career ambitions; his sister, Frances, with whom he once shared a complicated bond of kindness and cruelty; and Verna, a fiery would-be contender for the 1951 Miss Rheingold competition, a beauty contest sponsored by a Brooklyn-based beer manufacturer that became a marketing phenomenon for two decades. At first unnerved by these ethereal apparitions, Felix comes to look forward to his encounters with Lois, who is later joined by the spirits of other celluloid muses. Against the backdrop of a kaleidoscopic convergence of politics and pop culture, family secrets, and Hollywood iconography, Felix gains an enlightened understanding of the pressures and trials of the women closest to him, and of the feminine ideals and feminist realities that all women, of every era, must face"-- "From the New York Times bestselling author of WISHIN' AND HOPIN', a remarkably evocative, deeply affecting tapestry of one Baby Boomer's life--and the women who have changed it--in the American Century"--… (more)
Member:LibraBooks
Title:I'll take you there
Authors:Wally Lamb
Info:New York: Harper, [2016]
Collections:Your library
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Tags:fictie

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I'll Take You There by Wally Lamb (2016)

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» See also 10 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 19 (next | show all)
My first Wally Lamb book! I enjoyed his conversational tone of Felix Funicello and found it very easy to sink into the story, like a lovely warm bath after a long day. Felix's feminist views surprised me a little, but I appreciated his voice. I liked the shades of the past coming to see him and the part film played throughout the story. I love movies, believing they are like visual books brought to life, and have been teased for getting wrapped up in them, the characters and story. Books are always better, but I love the experience of movies. I am looking forward to reading other books by Wally Lamb. ( )
  BarbF410 | May 22, 2022 |
Not for me. No plot and underwhelming characters. ( )
  sparemethecensor | May 9, 2022 |
Wally Lamb is one of our best. This book, however, seemed like he was searching for a plot and never quite found it. That said, I'll be first in line for his next one. ( )
  ChristieJames | Apr 16, 2021 |
This is the first Wally Lamb book I've read. It will not be the last! ( )
  dandailey | Nov 8, 2020 |
Felix Funicello is back from "Wishin' and Hopin'" though in a darker and more issue-oriented story encompassing the past and present. In present day, he is a divorced film studies professor and movie connoisseur on good terms with his ex, Kat and enthralled by his young adult daughter Aliza who is making her way in NYC as a writer. However, Felix is propelled to the past by some ghosts of movie stars and a prestigious woman director. He is able to view the film of his childhood in 1959 by entering it and reliving a day with his older sisters Simone and Frances, walking through his hometown with all the familiar places and characters. "That's what movies are right? Thousands of still pictures taken months or years or decades before -- streams of images burned onto celluloid that are reeled in front of a lamp and projected onto a screen, allowing us the illusion that they're alive. Flickers of light and dark. Brightness and shadow that won't stand still -- like life itself." (3) He returns again in 1965 to view a family crisis centering on his sister Frances, and like many families of the era, especially those with deep immigrant roots -- here Italian, not much is explained or openly expressed. Felix is chosen for this experience because he is "educable" according to ghost director Lois Weber, so what he needs to figure out is the bigger lesson here. Given that the book is dedicated to "feminists everywhere of every era" and that Frances struggled both with body image and sexual identity, that's part of what he is supposed to learn, which helps him understand both his feminist ex-wife and his post-feminist daughter. Skillfully interwoven is the true history of the Miss Rheingold advertising campaign, a beer company that had the public choose its spokesmodel from the 40s to the 60s (predecessor to St. Pauli girls?) and lots of other nostalgia and reflection upon time and its impact on society and culture. Felix reflects: "If the future is inevitable, then maybe it's best that we're blind to it." (162) He concludes with a treatise: "what do I believe in? Equality. Forgiveness. Compassion. Social Justice. I believe in the value of family, whether you define it as your blood relatives or the people you draw to you -- which is to say that I believe in love....I believe too, that art -- literature, painting, music, film --
has the power to illuminate the human condition.....How could I not believe in ghosts, and what they have to teach us about how to learn from the past, fully inhabit the present, and embrace the propulsive thrust of the future...." (252) This is a folksy story with a bit of a Mitch Albom feel, though with a little more bite and substance and another song-title title bullseye. ( )
  CarrieWuj | Oct 24, 2020 |
Showing 1-5 of 19 (next | show all)
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Wally Lambprimary authorall editionscalculated
Guidall, GeorgeNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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For feminists everywhere, of every era
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I turned sixty earlier this year, an age that brings deficits, of course: creaky knees, a temporary inability to remember familiar people's names, and a second colonoscopy.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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"New York Times bestselling author Wally Lamb weaves an evocative, deeply affecting tapestry of one Baby Boomer's life--Felix Funicello, introduced in Wishin' and Hopin'--and the trio of unforgettable women who have changed it, in this radiant homage to the resiliency, strength, and power of women. I'll Take You There centers on Felix, a film scholar who runs a Monday night movie club in what was once a vaudeville theater. One evening, while setting up a film in the projectionist booth, he's confronted by the ghost of Lois Weber, a trailblazing motion picture director from Hollywood's silent film era. Lois invites Felix to revisit--and in some cases relive--scenes from his past as they are projected onto the cinema's big screen. In these magical movies, the medium of film becomes the lens for Felix to reflect on the women who profoundly impacted his life. There's his daughter Aliza, a Gen Y writer for New York Magazine who is trying to align her post-modern feminist beliefs with her lofty career ambitions; his sister, Frances, with whom he once shared a complicated bond of kindness and cruelty; and Verna, a fiery would-be contender for the 1951 Miss Rheingold competition, a beauty contest sponsored by a Brooklyn-based beer manufacturer that became a marketing phenomenon for two decades. At first unnerved by these ethereal apparitions, Felix comes to look forward to his encounters with Lois, who is later joined by the spirits of other celluloid muses. Against the backdrop of a kaleidoscopic convergence of politics and pop culture, family secrets, and Hollywood iconography, Felix gains an enlightened understanding of the pressures and trials of the women closest to him, and of the feminine ideals and feminist realities that all women, of every era, must face"-- "From the New York Times bestselling author of WISHIN' AND HOPIN', a remarkably evocative, deeply affecting tapestry of one Baby Boomer's life--and the women who have changed it--in the American Century"--

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