Crazy about Lili

by William Weintraub

The author of City Unique takes us back to the wicked old Montreal of 1948 in this fine, funny novel, where an innocent seventeen-year-old McGill student falls for a famous stripper“Catcher in the Rye... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0771089163
• ISBN13: 9780771089169
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Douglas Gibson
• Length: 263 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Beguiling book.

A young man, Richard Lippman goes to university in Montreal in the 1940's but before he gets there his uncle introduces him to Lili L'Amour after watching her dance naked at the Gayety Theatre. Lili is kind to Richard and even gives him the pasty off her left breast. Later that evening as he lies alone he looks at that pasty and decides to write a poem about Lili. So begins an intriguing and electric relationship between the two. Richard writes the poems to which Lili dances. She is a legendary performer often compared to Isadora Duncan. I liked Richard a lot. He's a lovable, intelligent romantic lead in the dance that leads him to manhood. This is the first time I've read Weintraub and his even tempo and enchanting story telling are enough to lure me to read more of his work.

Warm-hearted story resonates for me

Mr Weintraub's story incorporates an impressive set of elements: coming of age, or at least losing your virginity; several trips to the Gayety Theatre which is now rebranded as the Theatre de Nouveau Monde, thanks to the decline in Vaudeville and Burlesque; and several of the arts: poetry, public relations, and theatre. I thought the story is lively: it resonated with me and in no way was the story contrived. There was a believable quality to our boy wonder writing a wee poem and mailing it to Miss Lili, and then setting off the chain of events. Obviously there is some feeling of nostalgia here. It's a far cry from Bright Lights, Big City (or other modern tales) but I felt, as a Montrealer, that Weintraub knows what he was talking about.