"Francine Prose is a powerhouse. The Vixen will fascinate and complicate the histories that haunt our present moments. Like Coney Island's Cyclone, this story tumbles and tangles a reader's grip of reality. It's told with the heart, humor and daring of a true artist. Prose's Vixen is a triumph and a trip though the solid magic that books make real."—Samantha Hunt"A rollicking trickster of a novel, wondrously funny and wickedly addictive."—Maria Semple Critically acclaimed, bestselling author Francine Prose returns with a dazzling new novel set in the glamorous world of 1950s New York publishing, the story of a young man tasked with editing a steamy bodice-ripper based on the recent trial and execution of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg—an assignment that will reveal the true cost of entering that seductive, dangerous new world. It's...

A feminist reinterpretation of the myths surrounding Cleopatra casts new light on the Egyptian queen and her legacy "A thoughtful, sympathetic portrait of a legendary historical figure."—Kirkus Reviews The siren passionately in love with Mark Antony, the seductress who allegedly rolled out of a carpet she had herself smuggled in to see Caesar, Cleopatra is a figure shrouded in myth. Beyond the legends immortalized by Plutarch, Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, and others, there are no journals or letters written by Cleopatra herself. All we have to tell her story are words written by others. What has it meant for our understanding of Cleopatra to have had her story told by writers who had a political agenda, authors who distrusted her motives, and historians who believed she was a liar? Francine Prose delves into ancient Greek and Roman literary sources, as well as modern representations of Cleopatra in art, theater,...

From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. The trick to writing, Prose writes, is reading—carefully, deliberately and slowly. While this might seem like a no-brainer, Prose (_Blue Angel_; A Changed Man) masterfully meditates on how quality reading informs great writing, which will warm the cold, jaded hearts of even the most frustrated, unappreciated and unpublished writers. Chapters treat the nuts and bolts of writing (words, sentences, paragraphs) as well as issues of craft (narration, character, dialogue), all of which Prose discusses using story or novel excerpts. This is where the book truly shines; Prose is remarkably egalitarian in choosing exemplars of fiction: David Gates, Denis Johnson, John le Carré and ZZ Packer, for instance, are considered as seriously as Chekhov, Melville, Flaubert or Babel. Prose insists that "literature not only breaks the rules, but makes us realize that there are none," and urges writers to re-read the classics (Chekhov, especially) and view "reading as something that might move or delight you." Prose's guide to reading and writing belongs on every writer's bookshelf alongside E.M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel. (Aug.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From School Library JournalAdult/High School–Life is precious, and much of that preciousness lies in the details: the sights, the sounds, the scents we too often ignore in our busy lives. Prose makes a superb application of that concept for readers of fiction. To know how the great writers create their magic, one needs to engage in a close reading of the masters, for that is precisely what successful writers have done for thousands of years. College programs in creative writing and summer workshops serve a purpose, but they can never replace a careful reading of the likes of Austen, Dostoyevsky, Flaubert, Kafka, Salinger, Tolstoy, and Woolf. In this excellent guide, Prose explains exactly what she means by close reading, drawing attention to the brick and mortar of outstanding narratives: words, sentences, paragraphs, character, dialogue, details, and more. In the process, she does no less than escort readers to a heightened level of appreciation of great literature. Many will want to go to the shelves to read again, or for the first time, the books she discusses. And to aid them, she thoughtfully adds a list at the end: Books to Be Read Immediately._–Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA_ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Francine Prose might well find herself on one of those lists of oddly appropriate congruency between name and occupation. Indeed the prolific writer has demonstrated an enviable versatility in her witty fictional works and journalistic forays. Yet at her best, her voice is far from prosaic, conveying the distilled, sympathetic wisdom of the unfaltering observer. That characteristic pervades her treasurably evocative, literary travel memoir Sicilian Odyssey--part of the ongoing National Geographic Directions Series. A few months after the trauma of 9-11, Prose embarked with her husband on a trip to Sicily "partly to discover what this island has learned and can teach us about the triumph of beauty over violence, of life over death." She colorfully invokes the profuse legends and myths linked with Sicily (Homer's "Island of the Sun" where Odysseus washed ashore) as a classical backdrop to her own odyssey, which at times in fact assumes the character of a trip back to a timeless, pre-modern way of life. Prose is especially effective at threading into her narrative fascinating items of reference--artistic, historical, and sociopolitical--without appearing didactic. She packs an extraordinary amount of information into her account: art historical observations (including a trenchant interpretation of Caravaggio's disturbing "The Burial of St. Lucy"), the spectacle of religious ecstatics, accounts of culinary traditions, political intrigue, and memorable character sketches of people engaged in everyday habits, with the novelist's touch for the telling detail. Throughout, Prose is keen to capture Sicily's vacillating moods--its cheerful colors as well as its melancholy strain--as a place that "has seen countless cycles of violence and peace, of poverty and prosperity, of horror and beauty"--and yet embodies humanity's will to survive. As the ultimate travel guide, her prose conveys the sights, sounds, smells, and sense of the place with vicarious finesse. --Thomas May

Finally back in print, "Bigfoot Dreams"--a hilarious comedy of American psychology and pop culture. Vera, the bright, edgy heroine, works for a sleazy supermarket tabloid writing about UFO sightings, miracle cures, and the ever-popular Bigfoot. But then one of the stories Vera invented turns out to be true in ways she could never have dreamed.

The Glorious Ones travel the length and breadth of seventeenth-century Italy, playing commedia dell'arte in the streets and palaces with equal vigor. Founded by the ingenious madman Flamino Scala, the small company of players endures kidnappings and passionate affairs, cabals, riots, disgrace—all manner of triumph and hardship. Pantalone the miser, sunny Armanda the dwarf, gossip-loving Columbina, and evil-minded Brighella view their myriad shared adventures through markedly different eyes. Yet not one of them is prepared for the strange twisting of the road brought about by the mysterious arrival of Isabella Andreini, who has come to direct their wayward troupe.

Francine Prose's life of Caravaggio evokes the genius of this great artist through a brilliant reading of his paintings. Caravaggio defied the aesthetic conventions of his time; his use of ordinary people, realistically portrayed -- street boys, prostitutes, the poor, the aged -- was a profound and revolutionary innovation that left its mark on generations of artists. His insistence on painting from nature, on rendering the emotional truth of experience, whether religious or secular, makes him an artist who speaks across the centuries to our own time.Born in 1571 near Milan, Michelangelo Merisi (da Caravaggio) moved to Rome when he was twenty-one years old. He became a brilliant and successful artist, protected by the influential Cardinal del Monte and other patrons. But he was also a man of the streets who couldn't seem to free himself from its brawls and vendettas. In 1606 he fled Rome, apparently after killing another man in a dispute.

What is charismatic Holocaust survivor Meyer Maslow to think when a rough-looking young neo-Nazi named Vincent Nolan walks into the Manhattan office of Maslow's human rights foundation and declares that he wants to "save guys like me from becoming guys like me"? As Vincent gradually turns into the sort of person who might actually be able to do this, he also transforms those around him: Meyer Maslow, who fears heroism has become a desk job; the foundation's dedicated fund-raiser, Bonnie Kalen, an appealingly vulnerable divorced single mother; and even Bonnie's teenage son.Francine Prose's A Changed Man is a darkly comic and masterfully inventive novel that poses essential questions about human nature, morality, and the capacity for personal reinvention.

My father was killed on 9/11.When eighth grader Bart Rangely is granted a "mercy" scholarship to an elite private school after his father is killed in the North Tower, doors should have opened. Instead, he is terrorized and bullied by his own mentor. So begins the worst year of his life.

Francine Prose's first collection of stories displays her gift for revealing the mysteries and contradictions at the heart of contemporary life. A young woman, disappointed by her lover, discovers that "what you'd hoped was the start of your life could turn out to be a scene from someone else's porn movie." A college professor is disturbed by his attraction to the physical therapist caring for his dying father. A Manhattan gallery owner baby-sitting her infant nephew watches herself pretending to be her suburban housewife sister. With wit and compassion, Prose's collection reminds us that nothing is as we've foreseen ... not even our own desires.

It's been years since Swenson, a professor of creative writing at a small American college, has published a novel of his own. And it's been longer since one of his students has shown the faintest glimmer of talent. Enter Angela Argo: pierced, tattooed, sullen - and a wonderful writer. Swenson can't believe his good fortune at having such a gifted student. Nurturing Angela's talent becomes his obsession, he is more than happy to find time to give her the extra-curricular, one-to-one tutorials she craves. Revitalised by Angela, Swenson's life seems perfect. However, as experience shows, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Nominated for the prestigious National Book Award, Blue Angel is one of the most acclaimed American novels of recent years. A pitch-perfect, wickedly funny satire on academia, it is a joy to read.

What are these barbaric rituals that pass for social and family life? Who are these fearsome creatures who linger in decaying mansions and at glittery malls, trendy weddings and dinner parties? These are the questions that trouble Simone, a beautiful, smart young Haitian woman. She has fled the chaotic violence of Port-au-Prince only to find herself in a world no less brutal or bizarre -- a seemingly civilized landscape where dead sheep swing from trees, lightbulbs are ceremonially buried, fur-clad mothers carve terrifying goddesses out of pumice...and where learning to lie is the principal rite of passage into adulthood.The primitive people of this darkly satiric novel are not, as one might expect, the backward denizens of some savage isle, but the wealthy inhabitants of the Hudson Valley in upstate New York.

A richly imagined and stunningly inventive literary masterpiece of love, art, and betrayal, exploring the genesis of evil, the unforeseen consequences of love, and the ultimate unreliability of storytelling itselfParis in the 1920s. It is a city of intoxicating ambition, passion, art, and discontent, where louche jazz venues like the Chameleon Club draw expats, artists, libertines, and parvenus looking to indulge their true selves. It is at the Chameleon where the striking Lou Villars, an extraordinary athlete and scandalous cross-dressing lesbian, finds refuge among the club's loyal denizens, including the rising photographer Gabor Tsenyi, the socialite and art patron Baroness Lily de Rossignol, and the caustic American writer Lionel Maine.As the years pass, their fortunes--and the world itself--evolve. Lou falls in love and finds success as a race car driver. Gabor builds his reputation with vivid and imaginative photographs, including a haunting...