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by Whitney Otto

Whitney_Otto Contemporary English
  • ISBN: 0812966813
  • Category: Fiction
  • Author: Whitney Otto
  • Subcategory: Contemporary
  • Other formats: lrf mobi rtf docx
  • Language: English
  • Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks; Random House Trade Pbk. Ed edition (March 11, 2003)
  • Pages: 295 pages
  • FB2 size: 1132 kb
  • EPUB size: 1183 kb
  • Rating: 4.7
  • Votes: 277
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In trying to recreate a modern version of a Japanese pillow book, she took as her model the diaries of Dawn Powell, a rich white woman who leeched off artists without having a shred of art in her own soul. True to form, the characters in this book look and act artistic, but only one-Micha the painter-has any genuine talent. The others are basically rich, spoiled wastrels of the early '80s, lost in their world of parties, dope and ennui while they kind of flutz around the art.

A Collection of Beauties If I could paint this book's contents and frame it in my. .I bought this on the force of Otto's novel, "How To Make An American Quilt. I found it a less rosy tale, but along the same lines.

A Collection of Beauties If I could paint this book's contents and frame it in my living room I would. It's that aesthetically pleasing. The world of these 20-something, 30-something friends in San Francisco, cloaked in ancient Edo culture, is minimalist chic. A Collection of Beauties puts the pictures out there for us to look a.turn around, from this perspective, and now that one- every one brilliant in its own wa.Nov 24, 2011 Andrea rated it it was amazing.

Whitney Otto (born March 5, 1955) is an American novelist best known for her debut novel, How to Make an American Quilt. A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity (2002). Otto was born and raised in California to a couple who later divorced; her father was an engineer, while her mother worked in advertising. She attended university at the University of the Pacific, San Diego State University, and the University of California, Irvine before graduating. Eight Girls Taking Pictures (2012).

Published by The Random House Publishing Group.

Set in San Francisco in the 1980s, A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity is a novel of late youth-the final indulgences and excesses of .

Diversity Collections The passion dream book.

Diversity Collections. A collection of beauties at the height of their popularity. The beautiful and mysterious Jelly roams aimlessly through the novel until she falls in love with an Iranian boy (after a brief tryst she sends him pictures of herself in places all over San Francisco) who in turn falls in love with a transvestite. The passion dream book. Now you see her. by Whitney Otto. Daily reflections on a smile.

In a novel about drifting and reckless youth looking for a more permanent form of happiness, Whitney Otto transports us to San Francisco, a magical, fog-shrouded city suffused with possibility and restless energy.

Whitney Otto (March 5, 1955 - ) is an American novelist best known for How To Make An American Quilt. Now You See Her (1994). The Passion Dream Book (1998). Category:Articles created via the Article Wizard

Whitney Otto (March 5, 1955 - ) is an American novelist best known for How To Make An American Quilt. Category:Articles created via the Article Wizard. Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel is an American writer, best known for her romance novels. She is the best selling author alive and the fourth bestselling fiction author of all time, with over 800 million copies sold. She has written 174 books, including over 141 novels.

In a novel about drifting and reckless youth looking for a more permanent form of happiness, Whitney Otto transports us to San Francisco, a magical, fog-shrouded city suffused with possibility and restless energy. Her characters congregate night after night at a North Beach bar called the Youki Singe Tea Room, their lives conjoined by bonds of friendship and shared experience, and by the poignant realization that true ecstasy may be found only in surrendering oneself to someone or something else. A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity explores the intricacies, the pain, and the rapture of human connection.
Reviews about A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity: A Novel (7):
Acrobat
Whitney Otto, one of my all-time favorite writers, has misstepped badly in "A Collection of Beauties." In trying to recreate a modern version of a Japanese pillow book, she took as her model the diaries of Dawn Powell, a rich white woman who leeched off artists without having a shred of art in her own soul. True to form, the characters in this book look and act artistic, but only one--Micha the painter--has any genuine talent. The others are basically rich, spoiled wastrels of the early '80s, lost in their world of parties, dope and ennui while they kind of flutz around the art community without ever really being part of it. Perhaps the most typical character is Micha's lover, a woman so vapid that she hasn't even bothered to unpack most of her things or buy furniture for her apartment because she is simply too lazy to do it. What a waste of talent!! Whitney, go back and re-read "The Passion Dream Book," that is your masterpiece. Give us more like that and less of a Dawn Powell-lookalike,
Arabella V.
I found this an odd book. Not just the format- vignettes loosely bound together, styled after a Japanese courtesan’s ‘pillow book’ from the Edo period , each vignette featuring a different member of a group of friends. Set in 1980s San Francisco, these friends are late 20 somethings, all well educated but none working in the field that they are educated for. They float through life; drinking, smoking pot and sometimes doing coke, attending art openings and going to restaurants but mainly meeting at the Youki Singe Tea Room, a North Beach dive where pot smoking is allowed- but only in a small room.
Elodie is the woman who sets the tales down. She writes only when in the Tea Room, leaving her notebooks there. The characters- the collection of beauties- seem to have no ambition, content to simply live like butterflies, pushed by the winds of life. Connections between them turn to love, break up, and realign. There is no real plot; it’s just events happening in the vignettes.

While reading the book, I didn’t much care for most of the characters. Which makes it odd that I later found myself thinking about them, and going back and rereading sections of the book. The prose is beautiful.The vignettes are like little jewels. The book is physically beautiful, too, illustrated mostly with old Japanese woodblock prints but with a couple of 20th century works. To read this book is enjoyable, even if I didn’t connect with most of the characters.
Hanelynai
I've read two other Whitney Otto books, both insightful and rich in their story and content. THIS treasure, however, moves to the top of my list. She has woven a delightful novel full of promise, texture, and curiousities. As I read it, I could see where she was taking me, how the tale would unwind, and I went willingly. When I finished the book, I felt a sense of loss. I've been enjoying the book for several nights now as it was my short read before sleep. Now that it is finished, I am mesmerized and want it to continue.
Otto is a very creative writer. She draws you in with the whimsical lightness and before you realize it, you are sitting in the tea house watching each story unfold.
I'm going to find and read, "The Passion Dream Book," as it is the only one of her books I've not read. Good writing survives. This one did and will.
Yananoc
This is an amazing book. It is beautiful, enchanting, and a little bit cynical. The plot weaves in and out among itself: the book is composed of a series of what at first appear to be independent short stories, but soon begin to link and spread, forming a connecting and disconnecting network. The stories skip in and out of time and place, following a pattern in theme rather than in chronology; the discontinuity can be confusing if you want to remember everything, but it contributes wonderfully to the dissipative, collectivist mood of the book. Each story opens with a copy of a Japanese print and a description that is meant to parallel the events of the story, and the book as a whole is meant to reflect a famous Japanese diary. These connections are occasionally obvious and often obscure; searching for them is part of the excitement of reading such an interwoven work. The prose is always smooth and often beautiful, and the characters and plot are developed with a distinct sense of artistry. The book as a whole is amazingly balanced, readable, and occasionally stunning. It deserves to be read slowly and in a quiet room.

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