Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
A Novel
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ISBN10: 1250151163
ISBN13: 9781250151162
Trade Paperback
304 Pages
$18.00
CA$24.00
She took 1930s New York by storm, working her way up writing copy for R.H. Macy’s to become the highest paid advertising woman in the country. It was a job that, she says, “in some ways saved my life, and in other ways ruined it.”
Now it’s the last night of 1984 and Lillian, 85 years old but just as sharp and savvy as ever, is on her way to a party. It’s chilly enough out for her mink coat and Manhattan is grittier now—her son keeps warning her about a subway vigilante on the prowl—but the quick-tongued poetess has never been one to scare easily. On a walk that takes her over 10 miles around the city, she meets bartenders, bodega clerks, security guards, criminals, children, parents, and parents-to-be, while reviewing a life of excitement and adversity, passion and heartbreak, illuminating all the ways New York has changed—and has not.
A love letter to city life in all its guts and grandeur, Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney paints a portrait of a remarkable woman across the canvas of a changing America: from the Jazz Age to the onset of the AIDS epidemic; the Great Depression to the birth of hip-hop.
Reviews
Praise for Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
“Lillian’s wide-ranging meditations are reason enough to read this charming novel, but it’s also like taking a street-level tour through six decades of New York.”—The New York Times
“Irresistible . . . funny and touching . . . This witty and heartfelt ode to a city, to its infinite variety, to its melting pot of citizens not only enchants but offers an important lesson: that human connections and work are what give life meaning.”—Boston Globe
“Prescient and quick . . . A perfect fusing of subject and writer, idea and ideal.”—Chicago Tribune
“Effervescent . . . steeped in humanity and wit.”—The Christian Science Monitor
“Easily the best gadding-around-town novel since Dawn Powell and Dorothy Parker.”—Daniel Handler, author of Why We Broke Up and We Are Pirates
"There is a little of Lillian Boxfish in all of us. And if there isn’t, there ought to be.”—Julia Claiborne Johnson, author of Be Frank With Me
“This walk will sweep listeners off their feet . . . seemingly effortless yet so compelling.”—AudioFile Magazine (Earphones Award winner)
“If you are not charmed by Lillian Boxfish, then there may be no hope for you.”—BookPage
"Past and present intermingle in Rooney’s novel, distinguished by a careful shift from past to present tense but always unified by Lillian’s unfailingly witty, reflective voice."—Book Reporter
"A lively, fictionalized version of Fishback's story . . . [with] plenty of charm."—Kirkus Reviews
"Rooney's delectably theatrical fictionalization is laced with strands of tart poetry and emulates the dark sparkle of Dorothy Parker, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Truman Capote. Effervescent with verve, wit, and heart, Rooney’s nimble novel celebrates insouciance, creativity, chance, and valor."—Booklist (starred review)
“Needle-sharp . . . A delightful stroll with a colorful character.”—Library Journal (starred review)
“Extraordinary . . . hilarious . . . Elegantly written, Rooney creates a glorious paean to a distant literary life and time—and an unabashed celebration of human connections that bridge past and future.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Reviews from Goodreads
BOOK EXCERPTS
Read an Excerpt
1
The Road of Anthracite
There once was a girl named Phoebe Snow. She wore only white and held tight to a violet corsage, an emblem of modesty. She was not retiring, though, and her life...
About the author
Kathleen Rooney
