Dancer With Bruised Knees

From Library Journal This innovative comic novel tells the story of Sarah Blight, a 40-year-old photographer who has fallen into a deep depression. Sarah has lost her right eye in a barroom fight, her lover to another woman, and perhaps even her mind-she has been diagnosed as a manic depressive. She must also cope with an agoraphobic mother, an alcoholic father, and an abusive brother who is in jail for the murder of his own wife. Instead of flashbacks, the author uses descriptions of Sarah's family photographs to show us her childhood. Always funny while remaining poignant, the novel has a philosophical overtone that will grip the reader. Although Sarah has been wounded by life, both physically and emotionally, her spirit soars until she is dancing. Recommended for public libraries. Stephanie Furtsch, New Rochelle P.L., N.Y. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. Product Description This novel tells the story of photographer Sarah Blight who, in her fortieth year, falls into "a depression so deep that not even the thought of sex could raise me from it." Sarah is somewhat unclear as to the source of her malaise. It could be that her continuing sexual relationship with her ex-husband has gone awry because of an affair she had ten years ago, or that she has lost an eye in a barroom fight with a jealous woman, or that her mild-mannered, maintenance-drinker father has been thrown out of the house by her agoraphobic mother. Or it may be that her brother, who terrorized her childhood, has been arrested for the murder of his third ex-wife, or that her grandmother's death has resulted in the sale of the family farm. As she takes us through these wild events and the photographic images from her life, Sarah calmly dispatches advice, both practical and philosophical. From Publishers Weekly "It happened in my 40th year that I fell into a depression so deep that even the thought of sex could not raise me from it." So begins McFall's seductive novel about a severely dysfunctional family, a group that makes the eccentric clan in Robert Boswell's Crooked Hearts (to which McFall refers) seem like ordinary people. Sarah Blight is a photographer who has lost one eye in a barroom brawl over an ex-lover. Even while she mourns his loss, Sarah secretly hopes that she will reunite with her ex-husband Rich, though he has remarried. Meanwhile, Sarah's mother is caught in the grip of agoraphobia; her father devotes himself to drink; her sister takes refuge in rigidly positive thinking; her brother Morgan, who has sadistically mistreated Sarah throughout her life, is accused of murdering his ex-wife; and the Blights lose their 900-acre California homestead. But this tale is no conventional soap opera. McFall (The One True Story of the World ) is a remarkably talented writer who makes Sarah's voice-wry, cynical and bitter, yet capable of poignant tenderness-so mesmerizing that one comes under the spell of her bleak view of life. McFall writes with poetic intensity, her precisely honed prose powered by striking imagery. If at times Sarah is a little too quirky, needy and off-the-wall, and if her tolerance of Morgan's destructive rage goes on a bit too long, the depiction of her life, with its losses, disappointments, reckless errors and aching regrets, is unforgettable. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist It has been a tough year for sometime photographer Sarah BIight, but then, the first 39 weren't so hot, either. A series of ugly events has pushed her into deep depression. Dumped by Jake, a pipe fitter with a killer smile, Sarah gets her eye poked out with a pool cue in a barroom brawl with his new girlfriend. Her brother, Morgan, has been arrested for murdering his wife and stuffing her in a trash can. Sarah suspects he did it, basing her opinion on Morgan's behavior as a child, when he forced her to play Russian roulette and killed her 26 cats. Sarah's mother, an agoraphobic with a penchant for hanging the wash b