Pages for You

by Sylvia Brownrigg

Book Overview

Winner of a 2002 Lambda Literary Award In a steam-filled diner in a college town, Flannery Jansen catches sight of something more beautiful than she's ever seen: a graduate student, reading. The... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312420048
• ISBN13: 9780312420048
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Picador USA
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.67 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A testament to the beauty of nostalgia

This is the first book I've read that truly embraces the detached intimacy that nostalgia can evoke. From the prolog you know their love will not turn out with a "happily ever after;" you can respect the journey of Flannery's love and respect the bittersweet flavor of ominous foreshadowing. The voice that narrates this story is detached in a way that allows you to imagine an older, wiser Flannery narrating something that she remembers vividly; however, the narrator is such a vastly different person by the time she's narrating it that it feels almost foreign. I was, at first, thrown by the third-person narration of a book that I felt was narrated by one of the characters but it artfully depicts the difference in perspective between the characters and the narrator. Don't be thrown by the narration or the wistful nostalgia in Brownrigg's voice; it works. Completely relatable and utterly believable, from the build of obsession into love to the evolution of their love and intimacy. Knowing that they won't be together in the end doesn't spoil the sweetness of their story. If you can appreciate the grandeur of the Titanic knowing that it's now lying deep in the Atlantic, then you can appreciate the beauty of this love/story knowing that it is doomed. I only wish I could know the memory that inspired Brownrigg to write this story.

Insightful for women or men

This is not a trite or shallow book. Yes, it is the story of a simple romance, but most real romances are simple, probably even yours. The beauty of this book is the way the author reveals the romance petal by petal by petal. It is breathtakingly specific, and in the description of the story's context (a 17 year-old's first year at a college that must be Yale) it is unflinchingly accurate. I believe it will have staying power as a significant piece of literature. As to gender issues: anyone who isn't homophobic should enjoy it because the focus is on experiences that are universal. I particularly recommend it to young men.

Lyrical, Observant, and Literate

With the first paragraph, I was addicted. Pages for You is an intelligent, beautifully articulated exploration sexual awakening in an academic setting. The text can neither be categorized as "lesbian fiction" nor a "coming of age story". It defies genres and resists pigeon-holing. Over 264 we follow Flannery through her first encounters with college life, Derrida, intense longing, sex, and eventually a newfound sense of self as the result of loss. Brownrigg's flair for thick description never comes at the expense of the story and the reader is treated to what amounts to a first-hand experience of Flannery's awakenings. For anyone that has ever found him/herself in awe of another or felt erotic stirrings coupled with intellectual hunger, Pages for You is a must read.

A tour of the heart for women AND men

The striking cover drew me in - yes judge it by the cover -- and the prose kept me there. No, more than the prose, the insight to the shape and nuance of love. I felt present in this story so that the words dropped away and I was with these two lovers: laughing, playing, loving, learning, fearing. As a male reader, the theme is universal (and hotly revelatory, I must say, too). Two women, yes, but more like a younger and a wiser, though sometimes the wiser and the older. Brownrigg finds these moments and holds them, like catching light and letting us see the impulse before releasing it. The format is PAGE by PAGE -- a whole emotional imprint within the discipline of a page. "Pages for You" is delicious and compelling. I stretched out in bed and read it through. Wrung out a bit, but the story and vivid images are in my dreams. Dare I say it?: a masterpiece, a book unlike any I've read. Brownrigg in her other books writes bravely and imaginatively, with a confident and witty voice. I think this book will thrive. PFY will certainly keep many readers warm...