| View Larger Image | Secondhand Smoke | Hardcoverby Patty Friedmann (Author)
| List Price: | $30.95 | | Price: | $24.76 | | You Save: | $6.19 (20%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Hardcover | | Publisher: | Counterpoint | | Page Count: | 240 Pages | | Publication Date: | September 01, 2002 | | Sales Rank: | 1,099,820st |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
A gorgeous tragicomic novel of working-class New Orleans. Zib and Wilson Bailey--Jerusha's two grown kids--think the thick cloud of cigarette smoke enveloping their mother is what probably killed their father. Certainly the toxicity of Jerusha Bailey's dark and cynical attitudes has driven her children far from home. Wilson has escaped to Chicago, married, converted to Judaism, become a professor of Organic Evolution, all of which earns his mother's scorn. She doesn't think much of her daughter either: Zib, almost forty, unmarried and directionless, has made it only as far as the Florida Panhandle, where she's the assistant manager at the local Winn-Dixie and must fight off her boss's affections. So obliviously isolated is Jerusha, only one person is left in her sights: Dustin Puglia, chubby, wise, and fearless, a ten-year-old living next door with a poisonous mother of his own. The two become attached in this hilarious story of responsibility and blame. Secondhand Smoke is a deeply universal tale of blunt truth and hard-earned redemption. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 13 reviews)
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A lot of fun! by Yolanda S. Bean (Chicago, IL)  4 Stars
January 22, 2009
I enjoyed this book quite a bit - Jerusha Bailey was a very funny character and this book had several laugh-out-loud-funny parts. All in all, it made for an amusing read and I'm glad it had a good ending!
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A Dysfunctional, but Lovable, Family in New Orleans by Rebecca Kinson (Fredericksburg, VA United States) 4 Stars
January 09, 2006
I enjoyed this book very much. The cover of the book compared it to "Confederacy of Dunces," but the only thing they have in common is locale: New Orleans.
This is the story of a lower-middle class family. A mother, father, son, and daughter. The children are grown. Right at the beginning of the book the father dies of cancer. Each chapter of the book is written in the view of either the mother, son, or daughter. I like this format, because it gives you the various perspectives. For example, the mother seems unloving and harsh by her children's words, but becomes more understandable in her words.
The mother is an absolute riot. She's headstrong and proud. Her children are quite different. One is a college professor and the other an assistant manager at a Winn-Dixie grocery store. Neither child lives near the mother, but after the father's death they travel to New Orleans quite a bit for various reasons (usually due to some antics initiated by the mother).
The book is very witty, a lot of fun to read, and I highly recommend it!
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Wonderful characterizations! by M. McGinty (San Francisco, CA)  5 Stars
December 01, 2004
This novel is a delight from start to finish. The plot moves swiftly along, the lines are hysterical, and the character development is top-notch. Highly recommended.
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The most I've laughed out loud in years by Melissa Meade (Portland, OR USA) 4 Stars
November 23, 2004
I don't know why there are so few reviews for this novel; I'm assuming that they all must have been erased? At any rate, I was so glad to have stumbled upon the paperback edition of this tender, gutsy, and above all hilarious hit. The protagonist Jerusha offers so many layers of character development, and her constant bigotted proclamations cling to just enough plausibility that you can't help but enjoy her superstitious downward social comparison. What a wonderful outlet for all of life's affronts it would be to have every downtrodden class, race, and religion as your fall guy.
Friedman's editors have done a fabulous job of keeping the pace tight, often skipping unnecessary redundancies between the three narrating characters. A coming-of-age novel for the perpetual middle-aged adolescent, we could all use this little reminder of core ethics, self-determinism, and personal growth.
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What great characters! I love them all. by Sara Toye 5 Stars
November 19, 2004
I don't know what happened to the review I wrote several months ago, but here's another to replace it. Three of the most interesting characters you will ever meet in a novel are in Secondhand Smoke. Their lives intertwine in fantastic ways and you find yourself rooting for them all. I read this book before I went to New Orleans, and the book prepared me just a little for the eccentricities of one of our most eccentric cities! I highly recommend this book!
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