A Night at the Movies: Or, You Must Remember This (Collier fiction)

From Publishers Weekly The interlocking stories in this collection by the author of Gerald's Party follow the program of an old-style afternoon at the movies, with an adventure, a comedy, a musical and shorts. PW found that "although too many of his imaginings are sophomoric and vulgar, a good deal of this book is as thrilling as a striking dream." Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Coover here presents a series of short, connecting fictions associated with the cinema. Thus, we are given contrivances titled "Adventure," "Comedy," and "Romance," but they violate our expectations of these time-honored forms: "Shootout at Gentry's Junction" is a typical Western, but the good guys lose; in "Charlie in the House of Rue," a sort of funhouse, the tricks turn nasty, even murderous; and the romance in "You Must Remember This" sours into sordid adultery. These longer fictions are framed by shorter ones carrying out the cinematic conceit: there are previews, shorts, cartoons, even an intermission. Coover's style is viciously witty, so that one must finally ask "What's the point?" A brilliant but empty tour de force, though librarians should still consider this new work by the author of the well-received Gerard's Party ( LJ 2/1/86).Susan Avallone, "Library Journal" Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.