Two Quick Book Reviews, As Requested

Gatsby's Girl by Preston

Summary: The novel looks at the life of Ginerva, Fitzergerald's muse for many of his characters. The story spans her jilting Fitzgerald to their deaths.

Drawbacks: I struggle with historical fiction because I always feel that as a genre it is really broad; you can have one histotical truth and a lot of fiction or tons of history and not a lot of fiction. At the end of the book, the author does list the facts.

Kudos: The book takes an interesting look on the idea of not wanting illusions to die. I think the book would have been better if read concurrently with one of Fitzgerald's works.

Me and Mr. Darcy by Potter

Summary: The novel follows a bookstore manager as she chooses an Austen book tour instead of singles vacation.

Drawbacks: The book at times is gimmicky in paralleling the Austen favorite; sometimes it mirrors the book too much, sometimes it doesn't seem close enough, making it both predictable and wanting.

Kudos: An poignant look at the idea of fantasy versus reality. Some of the methods used to modernize P&P were impressive, as were some of the plot twists.

Undecided Comment: The author implies that Darcy is not real, but a fictional character. As a true Darcy lover, this grates on my nerves; as a realist, I acknowlege the truth of the statement.