New York Times bestselling author Wally Lamb weaves an evocative, deeply affecting tapestry of one Baby Boomer's life--Felix Funicello, introduced in Wishin' and Hopin'--and the trio of unforgettable women who have changed it, in this radiant homage to the resiliency, strength, and power of women.
I'll Take You There centers on Felix, a film scholar who runs a Monday night movie club in what was once a vaudeville theater. One evening, while setting up a film in the projectionist booth, he's confronted by the ghost of Lois Weber, a trailblazing motion picture director from Hollywood's silent film era. Lois invites Felix to revisit--and in some cases relive--scenes from his past as they are projected onto the cinema's big screen.
In these magical movies, the medium of film becomes the lens for Felix to reflect on the women who profoundly impacted his life. There's his daughter Aliza, a Gen Y writer for New York Magazine who is trying to align her post-modern feminist beliefs with her lofty career ambitions; his sister, Frances, with whom he once shared a complicated bond of kindness and cruelty; and Verna, a fiery would-be contender for the 1951 Miss Rheingold competition, a beauty contest sponsored by a Brooklyn-based beer manufacturer that became a marketing phenomenon for two decades. At first unnerved by these ethereal apparitions, Felix comes to look forward to his encounters with Lois, who is later joined by the spirits of other celluloid muses.
Against the backdrop of a kaleidoscopic convergence of politics and pop culture, family secrets, and Hollywood iconography, Felix gains an enlightened understanding of the pressures and trials of the women closest to him, and of the feminine ideals and feminist realities that all women, of every era, must face.
About the Author :
Wally Lamb is the author of five New York Times bestselling novels: She's Come Undone, I Know This Much Is True, The Hour I First Believed, Wishin' and Hopin', and We Are Water. His first two works of fiction, She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, were both #1 New York Times bestsellers and selections of Oprah's Book Club. Lamb edited Couldn't Keep It to Myself, I'll Fly Away, and You Don't Know Me, three volumes of essays from students in his writing workshop at York Correctional Institution, a women's prison in Connecticut, where he has been a volunteer facilitator for two decades. He lives in Connecticut and New York.
George Guidall has recorded over 1,700 audiobooks and is the recipient of many AudioFile Earphones Awards and two Audie Awards for Excellence in Audiobook Narration, as well as a Special Achievement Award in 2014 from the Audio Publishers Association. His forty-year acting career includes starring roles on Broadway, an Obie Award for best performance off Broadway, and frequent television appearances.
Review :
"A well-told story about a man whose dealings with women are as transformational as the women's liberation movement itself."
-- "Minneapolis Star Tribune"
"Lamb is a writer with heart, passion and skill. I'll Take You There deals with themes of feminism, eating disorders and family secrets, and winds up with a warmhearted finale."
-- "USA Today"
"Lamb's affection for these characters is so palpable, his intentions so palpably good, that it's hard not to be touched by this sweet-natured novel."
-- "Washington Post"
"This glowing fictional tribute to the evolution of American feminism is deftly aided by narrator George Guidall...Guidall's talented portrayals of complicated and dramatic characters provide listeners with an entertaining guide to feminism in this fascinating fantasy. Guidall shines in his portrayals of a wide range of women as the seemingly random events of Felix's life coalesce into a heartfelt observation of the struggles and triumphs of the women who mean so much to him."
-- "AudioFile"
