The School of Beauty and Charm

by Melanie Sumner

Book Overview

In a daring novel that deftly fuses wild, satiric humor and deeply felt pain, Melanie Sumner tells the story of the Pepperses of Counterpoint, Georgia -- a family that never raises their voices or... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565122860
• ISBN13: 9781565122864
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Five Stars for Sumner

I'm reading this book for a class, and it's the best out of the whole pile. At first I was like, oh no, another southern chick-lit book, but this one is like a classic or something. I can see my grandkids reading it. Everybody in it is really, really real. I can see everything happening just like I was there. This lady is Great!

A Wonderful Story

Okay, this is what I loved about The School of Beauty and Charm: The hamster named America The Beautiful The old Kentucky farmer who asks, "Voulez-vous couchez avec moi?" on his death bed. The sex scene on the Ferris Wheel. The inmate reading Southern Living in her cell. The father who routinely lets the family car run out of gas because he's compulsively shopping for the best price. The unfriendly encounter between two Bible Thumpers. A teenager's seduction of her would-be rapist. A conservative business man's retirement speech - for the first time in his career, he draws a blank and ends up telling the company about his earliest memory. Florida - the mother. Everything about Florida.

Wow!

The School of Beauty and Charm by Melanie Sumner; Wow! This book is filled with emotions that we are rarely able to confront eye to eye, but is written with a frankness that is not only sought after but often necessary! Take my word; this book is a movie waiting to happen! More books Melanie, Please!

Not what I was expecting

Based on an interview I heard with the author on NPR, I expected the book to be a quirky comic romp about a Southern family. While the book seems to start out that way, it completely turns on you and becomes much more. More than any other author I've read recently, Melanie Sumner completely understands the mother-child relationship in America. In the relationship between Louise and her mother, I see almost every mother I have ever met. The extremeness of Louise Peppers' rebellion may seem like it comes out of left field as one reviewer noted. On closer inspection, however, it's a rebellion like many teenagers have experienced. Louise doesn't know why she does what she does - she just does it because she's a teenager and hasn't figured anything out yet. I would recommend this to any parent having a hard time coping with an unruly teenager and any teenager who feels chafed by their parents but doesn't quite know why.

Roaming about...

This excellent story of the roamings and "maturation" of an independent young Southern hellcat has kept me howling for two days now. From flower-eating cats to poodle-eating owls to sneakily thrown devil's paws, to unprotected sex with carnies, the parade of oddities and absurdities called forth by this author will give even the most jaded sense of humor a good workout. Underneath all this is a sweet story about a rural (kind of) Southern family with the eccentricities of all Southern families, and their attempts to keep sane in the face of adversity. Definitely worth your while.