Items related to Paint It Black
In the aftermath of the death of her lover, art student Michael Faraday, a Harvard dropout and the son of a famed pianist, Josie Tyrell, an art model and teenage runaway, struggles to uncover the meaning behind Michael's death and to deal with his mother, Meredith, who holds her responsible for the tragedy. Reader's Guide available.
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Review:
Following the huge success of White Oleander, where Janet Fitch portrayed the coming-of-age of Astrid, a young girl placed in foster care after her mother murders a former lover and goes to prison for life, she has once again created an indelible portrait of a young woman in Paint it Black. Josie Tyrell is a teenage runaway, an artist's model, and an habitué of the '80s LA punk rock scene. She is a white trash escapee from Bakersfield, having left a going nowhere life there. Now, sex, drugs and rock n' roll inform her days and nights. Paint it Black is the perfect title choice because Josie's lover is never coming back, as the song says.
About the Author:
Josie meets Michael Faraday, son of concert pianist Meredith Loewy and writer Calvin Faraday, long divorced. He is everything that she is not: refined, wealthy, well-traveled, brilliant by fits and starts. He is also a Harvard dropout, leaving school so he can paint; his new obsession. He refuses help from his mother, who is furious about his decision to leave school, but it doesn't bother him to have Josie working three jobs to support them. He is given to black moods, frozen in amber by his perfectionism, contemptuous of those who do not agree with him about art and life. Josie adores him. One day much like any other, he leaves their house, saying that he is going to his mother's so that he can paint in solitude. Instead, he goes to a motel in 29 Palms and shoots himself in the head.
What follows is days of watching Josie in a near fugue state from grief, drugs, booze, and going over and over her love for Michael, trying to grasp how he could do what he did. After all, didn't they share the "true world," Michael's characterization of their cocoon of love and exclusivity?
Meredith calls her and says, "Why are you alive? What is the excuse for Josie Tyrell? I ask you." Ultimately, they form a tenuous relationship, because all that is left of Michael lives in the two women. Josie even lives with Meredith for a while. When Meredith is ready to go on tour again, she asks Josie to go to Europe with her. Before she can do that, she must go to 29 Palms and try to understand, finally, why Michael's depression pushed him over the edge. That puzzle is not solved, nor can it be, but the end of the story is a hopeful, upbeat, new beginning. Janet Fitch has beaten the curse of the sophomore slump with this dynamite second novel. --Valerie Ryan
Janet Fitch teaches fiction writing in the Master of Professional Writing program at the University of Southern California.
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- PublisherLittle Brown & Company
- Publication date2007
- ISBN 10 1860499708
- ISBN 13 9781860499708
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages400
- Rating
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Paint It Black
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Little Brown & Company
(2007)
ISBN 10: 1860499708
ISBN 13: 9781860499708
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Paperback
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Good. The book has been read but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact and the cover is intact. Some minor wear to the spine. Seller Inventory # GOR001934988
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Paint It Black
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Little, Brown Book Group, United Kingdom, London
(2007)
ISBN 10: 1860499708
ISBN 13: 9781860499708
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Josie came to Los Angeles to escape her run-down family with its sad history of trouble and abuse; when she met Michael - brilliant, musical, handsome - she thought she'd found her first chance for real love and a new life. But Michael, despite a youth filled with every material advantage, was an emotional trainwreck, with an apathetic, distant father and a mother who stayed all too close. As the novel begins, Josie has just learned of Michael's suicide. Alone, grieving, in shock, Josie is trying to understand what happened when Michael's mother Meredith, a renowned concert pianist, accuses Josie of causing her son's death. As the two women circle one another from the extreme poles of their lives - Meredith secluded in a mansion in the hills, Josie scraping an existence from low-budget film roles, nude modeling for art classes, and a circle of friends from the seedy world of L.A.'s underground music scene - they embark on a strange partnership that is equal parts mistrust and blind need. And just when Josie is convinced she knows the truth about Michael's death, she uncovers a secret from his life that changes everything forever. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR001299521
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Paint It Black This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 7719-9781860499708
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Used; Very Good. Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine. Seller Inventory # CHL1525317
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 6545-9781860499708
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ISBN 13: 9781860499708
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Book Description Befriedigend/Good: Durchschnittlich erhaltenes Buch bzw. Schutzumschlag mit Gebrauchsspuren, aber vollständigen Seiten. / Describes the average WORN book or dust jacket that has all the pages present. Seller Inventory # M01860499708-G
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Paint It Black
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Virago
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Book Description Trade Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Spine is uncreased. Seller Inventory # 040857
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Book Description Taschenbuch. Condition: Sehr gut. 320 Seiten Schnitt etwas fleckig angegilbt, kleine Lagerspuren am Buch, Inhalt einwandfrei und ungelesen 418364 Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 545. Seller Inventory # 112069
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