The Anarchist's Girlfriend--mysticism, anarchy, business cults, love, art, the churning "now" of any time.
The Anarchist's Girlfriend- Mysticism, Anarchy, business cults, love, art make this a tale of the churning now of our time (Pelekinesis)
"Somewhere along the Bowery the Anarchist's Girlfriend walks herself, her spirit taking her body. She wants to see the sunrise..."
"Somewhere along the Bowery the Anarchist's Girlfriend walks herself, her spirit taking her body. She wants to see the sunrise..."
It was 4 P.M. when the
dreamy blonde crossed to Cooper Square. She was dressed Rangerette style; white
boots with pom-poms, a red satin cowgirl mini and vest, a silver belt, and a
gray pull-string hat. One cur, a yellowish thing, followed her. I fell in line,
pausing at a music store to offset any suspicions. The racks of sheet music
were exhaustive. I waited five minutes before following her into Phebe's
restaurant on the Bowery. The dog waited outside. I ordered a coke from an
alcove, where she couldn't see me. I watched and waited, drinking in some
local color.
A
Mayflower truck pulled over at Bowery and Fourth. The door fell open. The
driver fell out of the cab, writhing on the cement. Two people tried to lift
the insensible driver. A waiter ran out of Phebe's with what appeared to be a
#2 yellow pencil. All were stopped by words from the AG. Honking cars were directed by the two people around the driver. A
cool white hand removed the pencil before it could dangerously be chomped in
two. She put the waiter to keep the crowd at bay and kept him in her sights
as…That same cool hand deposited a dime in the payphone over my head.
REVIEW--The Anarchist’s Girlfriend, a novel by Susan Weinstein; Pelekinesis
“Uh-oh, Woody, Manhattan may be in peril. Pre-Internet, pre-Kardashian, pre A-Rod New York is the setting for Susan I. Weinstein’s sneaky funny, ever-seductive, refreshingly unconventional novel, The Anarchist’s Girlfriend. It’s quite a head-spinning read. And no wonder, for Weinstein is a boldly creative, highly visual writer whose narrative moves with distinctive rhythms; she has a laser eye for hypocrisy and detail, and hits you fast with lots of stuff. Best of all, her imagined parallel universe here is occupied by a Rolodex of indelibly unique characters—starting with AG herself—unlikely to be found elsewhere. Well, at least not on this planet; UFOs come to mind. A truly original work.”
HOWARD ROSENBERG, FORMER LA TIMES TV CRITIC
“Having lived in the East Village in the ’80s, I can say from experience that The Anarchist’s Girlfriend captures the spirit of the time, real and surreal. Like Balzac and Zola, it’s the novel as social history, and like Don DeLillo, it captures that weird parallel universe version of a place that’s frighteningly close to home. Fans of DeLillo in particular should be attracted to this work.”
PETER CHERCHES, AUTHOR OF LIFT YOUR RIGHT ARM
“What a puzzle box of a novel. The writing is very fine-textured and funny, but mostly beautiful. New York under siege. I guess in a way New York is under siege every day. I loved the character of the AG and didn’t expect to. After all, there’s that annoying trend in novels where the title is always someone’s wife or daughter. The Pilot’s Wife, the Bonesetter’s Daughter, the Pony’s Aunt. But the AG is like Fitzdare in The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B, a beautiful book by JP Donleavy. New York is the only city where such a story could take place.”
SALLY ECKHOFF, AUTHOR OF F*CK ART (LET’S DANCE)
“A careening and suspenseful trip through not only pre-9/11, pre-cell phone Manhattan but into the souls of unforgettable characters...and further, into the world of ideas. Daring to delve into philosophy, metaphysics, politics, psychology, and even art, the author makes you think, feel, and ponder. Yet she’s never, ever didactic, it’s all part of the compelling story: a plot to create a horrendous event, and the love inspired by the title character—the luminous, lovely, and clairvoyant anarchist’s girlfriend. In a way, this is also a coming of age story as even mature characters such as the Irishman anarchist; the Llama, a heavy in a church that will remind you of Scientology; and a deaf-mute writer make new choices for their lives. Don’t be put off by the long cast of characters in the very beginning, or you’ll miss the sights and smells of gritty old New York, the wonderful outfits the anarchist’s girlfriend design*s, and her apartment mate Sandy’s bizarre collage. The writing is modern and hip; the surprises keep coming. The Anarchist’s Girlfriend is a unique treat.”
ANN SCHWARTZ, FORMER COPY CHIEF AT GRAND CENTRAL PUBLISHING
Known only as the AG, the anarchist’s girlfriend is a fey beauty with ESP, and an unlikely Go-Go Dancer in an out-of-the-way Brooklyn bar. The Anarchist, an Irishman who wants to fix the Irish troubles through organic food, having founded Food for Vendettas, plasters his subversive silkscreened posters all over the streets of 1980’s New York City. There is a sense of déjà vu as Sandy, the meanie of the story, sets in motion a terrorist act that will cause the country to believe in its eventual downfall, using dust as the weapon. “There will be a sigh that a catastrophe has finally occurred. Yet it’s limited in extent and duration.” The key to the anarchistic meme is effect, not result. It’s all eerily suggestive of 9/11. A deaf mute, Wayne, a con artist-like Llama, founder of the Denotational Church, and the Anarchist’s Girlfriend shape the plot in this past tense futuristic novel that taps into the absurd with sure-handed writing and a voice that does not judge but carries on quietly through downtown New York before it became real estate fodder, when artists and anarchists could still afford to roam the streets, with time to listen, to dream and to plot grandly, if naively. Susan Weinstein’s freewheeling prose, wry humor and inspired, madcap observations have created a romp of a good book.
Janyce Stefan-Cole, author of The Detective's Garden
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