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Adult Books - Fiction - General Fiction
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Apprentice to the Flower Poet Z.
Weinstein, Debra (author).
Jan. 2004. 256p. Random, hardcover, $23.95 (1-4000-6155-5).
REVIEW.
First published November 15, 2003 (Booklist).
Academia is a perennially popular target for lethally witty satire, and Weinstein’s spare and agile debut novel is a marvelously toothsome addition to the genre. Herself a poet, Weinstein takes on New York City’s academic poetry scene with knowledge and ire through a poison-pen portrayal of that most frightening of creatures, a celebrity poet. Z. writes sexy if vapid poems about flowers and love and is hell bent on protecting her turf, pleasing her politically well placed lover, avoiding her actor-writer husband, showcasing her Harvard-bound daughter, and taking full advantage of Annabelle, her initially enthralled, soon disillusioned assistant. An undergraduate steeped in Emily Dickinson, entangled in a weird affair, in debt to her therapist, and eager to learn from the master, Annabelle finds herself doing Z.’s housework, running dubious errands, and, in effect, writing Z.’s poems. Smart, funny, and mordant, Weinstein’s tale of the hard-knocks education of a young poet explores the conflicts of art and ambition, and reveals the time-tested truth that we must teach ourselves the most important lessons in life. — Donna Seaman
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