Apprentice to the Flower Poet Z. : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Fresh and Funny
Review: Apprentice to the Flower Poet Z.: A Novel is the story of a highly likeable yet naive young poet who becomes aprentice to Z.,a university professor and the most celebrated poet of her time. The book is smart and pokes fun at all the sophisticated subjects of our time--sexual harassment, homosexuality, adultery, and even poetry. More than that, it's about the dirty little world of graduate literary programs, where backbiting, revenge, and theft are essential tools for survival.

Again and I again I was struck by the similarity to The Nanny Diaries because both books twist the knife into people with mean and empty lives.

This book is an excellent example of the "open story" in which the reader knows what's coming but the protagonist doesn't. I sometimes wished Annabelle had seen through Z's shallowness, but this book is about her dawning understanding. As such, it succeeds beautifully.

I couldn't quite give it five stars because I think the weird boyfriend was incidental to the story, but I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more of Debra Weinstein's work.

Rating:
Summary: The things we do for poetry.
Review: In her first novel, Debra Weinstein, tells the wicked-funny story of creative writing student and aspiring poet, Annabelle Goldsmith, and her apprenticeship to the famous flower poet Z. "This is the story of how I came to momentary prominence in the world of poetry," Annabelle tells us, "and, through a series of misunderstandings, destroyed my good name and became a nobody" (p. 3). Because of her naivete, Annabelle ultimately becomes little more than a personal assistant to her self-absorbed literary mentor. When Z exploits Annabelle by sending her on personal shopping errands to buy blue, burgundy, and purple hand towels, "jet black, not midnight black, not shoeshine black" ink, and silk boxers, in addition to conducting botanical research, Annabelle's academic dream job soon deteriorates into pure hell. In an erotic subplot, Annabelle becomes immersed in an affair with an older graduate student, Harry, who expects her to play Nora (naked, except for high heels and gloves) to his James Joyce.

Z is a more fascinating and well-developed character by far than Annabelle. An interesting character study in narcissism, Z is equally charming and detestable, yet in the end, hardly "the finest poet writing in the English language" (p. 13) Annabelle believes her to be. Though plagued with a disappointing ending, which employs a novel-within-a-novel conceit, Weinstein's tale will nevertheless appeal to readers (like me) with a passion for poetry, and to readers (like me) who have experienced academic life in a college English department or creative writing program. Readers who enjoy this genre of fiction should also experience Tobias Wolff's OLD SCHOOL.

G. Merritt

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly wonderful
Review: Weinstein captures not only the life of a budding writer in the world of academia well, she also hits all the right notes in the relationship between her narrator and the poet Z. It's an engrossing book that's hard to put down and I was impressed with the fresh and sly tone of the entire story. Although the conclusion is appropriate, I wished for more and would've liked just a few more twists and turns before having to close the book. Still, this is one of the better novels I've read in the last few years and I highly recommend it.