The Last Lovely City: Stories

by Alice Adams

Book Overview

Few writers interpret the depth and range of human experience as honestly as Alice Adams. A storyteller whose work "recall[s] such past masters as Flannery O'Connor and Katherine Mansfield"... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679454411
• ISBN13: 9780679454410
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 191 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

LOVE MAKES NEARLY ALL OF US GO ROUND

Love makes the world and the middle aged characters in Alice Adams's fifth short story collection go round. In the incisive prose style that we've come to expect from the acutely perceptive Ms. Adams, The Last Lovely City is a series of vignettes, oftimes snapshots, of those beyond the blush of youth who are disillusioned by or disappointed in love but will nonetheless give amor another go-around. In settings as diverse as San Francisco and a down-at-the-heels Mexican beach resort those who should know better reach for the heart's brass ring. "His Women," the opening piece introduces Carter, a sometimes befuddled and impotent academician. Estranged from his first wife who couldn't "stand this tacky town a minute longer," he finds solace with a family friend, Meredith, whom he later marries. After their union falters, the couple meet again to speak of reconciliation. Mutely indecisive, Carter listens to Meredith as he mentally revisits the other women in his life. In "The Haunted Beach" we find an art dealer, Penelope, and a judge, now lovers, visiting a resort once frequented by Penelope and her former en amorata. An ill choice for a new beginning, to say the least. Another couple are drawn together by "the greatest sex," while a fading, neurotic actress focuses longing on her beloved cat. Sometimes self-centered, often psychologically dependent, the characters created by Ms. Adams are vividly limned yet elusive, leaving the reader wishing to know more yet feeling that all has been told. Among the strongest of the tales is the title piece, The Last Lovely City, in which a widower, Dr. Benito Zamora, recalls the free clinics he has established in Mexico. Childless, he and his lovely wife, his "white soul" were happy, but now, he wonders. "Is no one able to imagine the daily lack, the loss with which he lives?" Part Two, beginning with "The Drinking Club" consists of four interdependent stories, almost resulting in a novella. Julian, a California psychiatrist, is married to Karen, an alcoholic concert pianist. He is involved in an affair with Lila, another psychiatrist. They reflect the passivity of Ms. Adams' other characters: "I do wonder what we'll do next, don't you?" Julian remarks to Lila. "But even as Lila smiles at his phrasing, at the implication of their being watchers rather than participants.......She too wonders what will be next, for them. However, she only murmurs (somewhat falsely), `Do we have to do anything?'" Again, lives not fully lived but placed on lay-away. Ennui, even in the deft hands of Ms. Adams, tends to pale. One may come away from The Last Lovely City admiring the author's narrative gifts while, at the same time, wanting to light a fire under her characters. - Gail Cooke

I just love this author

I have read all of Ms. Adams short story books, and they are all great. Many times short stories will leave you feeling like there is something missing, but I always feel satisfied with hers. I am looking forward to reading her novels.

Another 5 star Alice Adams book

How does she do it? She makes it look so easy, yet her world is complex, sad, witty...these stories sneak up on you and stay with you. I was so very saddened to hear of her death last May. We've lost a great American writer who never quite got the attention she deserved.

Wonderful book!

I loved this book. As a 39 year old professional woman, I felt that Alice Adams has a wonderful way of reaching out to any woman who has tried a mature relationship. Such an interesting life her characters lead! I found it honest. As a cat lover too, I will recommend "Islands", and as a matter of fact the whole collection is worthy of a classy gift to friends.

Melancholy but superb collection about aging relationships

The first nine stories make up part one of this collection. This section takes readers all over North America with the recurring theme being the relationships of middle age and senior citizens. The individuals starring in the tales are typically mourning a loss even as they look to the future. Part two consists of four related short stories that flow together as if they form a loose novella. These tales evolve around a psychiatrist Lila Lewisohn and her professional and personal relationships, which often times intermingle. This section is more often sad than happy, but in a "that's life" type of inevitable determination. The renowned Alice Adams scribes a fascinating, but melancholy collection that shakes the very foundation of the aging baby boomer generation. Part one is well written with its emphasis on the death and renewal of relationships. Part two is an excellent collection that deserved full novel status as Ms. Adams deeply digs into the varying intimacies of the different relationships of her characters. Though a pensive but dispiriting feeling flows throughout the tales, THE LAST LOVELY CITY is a lyrical anthology that demonstrates the brilliance of the awesome talent of Ms. Adams.Harriet Klausner