About this title: For 20 years Sabine was the assistant of the magician, Parsifal. Deeply in love with him despite his homosexuality, she had to settle for his friendship. After his death, Sabine learns that Parsifal has surviving relatives in Nebraska, so she decides to visit them in an attempt to learn more about his past. In the place where her beloved came of age, she slowly pieces together the mystery of the magician's life, and finds herself drawn into the tangled webs of affection and tragedy that drove Parsifal to reinvent himself in the first place.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harvest Books
Date Published: 1998-09-17
ISBN-13:9780156006217ISBN:0156006219
Description: Fair. 1998. Harvest Books. Paperback. Clean text. Coffee colored stains on page edges. Tilted spine. Fold crease on front cover. Light wear and scuffing. Ship same or next day. More fiction books in our store. Matching ISBN. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Dust Cover Missing. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Fair. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Very good. Very minimal damage to the cover (no holes or tears, only minimal scuff marks), in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, minimal to no highlighting/under. read more
Description: Good. Minimal damage to the cover, dust jacket not necessarily included minimal wear to binding, majority of pages undamaged, minimal to no highlighting/underlining of text, no missing p. read more
"In my analysis of this book, I have to remind myself that Patchett had written it prior to her amazing, "Bel Canto" and her most recent, "Run". The latter included flat characterizations,and was filled with implausible coincidences and did not meet the expectations for "suspense", as was publicized. In this novel, Patchett had already demonstrated her talent for fashioning her language to convey the complexities of her characters' emotions and actions. She was so adept at this in Bel Canto, one could almost hear the music!
"The Magician's Assistant" is Sabrine, recent widow of Parsifal,a talented, complex magician. Following his death, she discovers that he had a family, the existence of which he had never revealed. In the midst of Sabrine's deep grief, she then has to contend with a new aspect of dealing with his absence. Throughout this book, Sabrine's grief and sense of loss is poignantly felt. Patchett has written a tender, sad, often symbolic and sometimes humorous tale. Sabrine is obviously downcast, but warm and likable. Other characterizations are vivid, varied and, for the most part, engaging.
Although the subject of mourning and grief would appear unappealing, Patchett has created a compelling, warm novel."
"With The Magicians Assistant, Ann Patchett has performed the proverbial "Hat Trick" with a tale that is filled with beautiful writing but contains nothing new in the way of plot.
By diverting our attention with conversations with the dead, flashbacks, dreams and vicarious travel being experienced by Sabine, the title character of this piece and widow of Parsifal the Magician, she manages to make us think we are experiencing a tale of substance when, in fact, it is really all just smoke and mirrors. This story of a woman in love with a man who is in love with a man, as well as the "tragic" childhood experiences and hidden family with a trunkful of secrets are classic Hollywood fodder and not worthy of the woman who gave us Bel Canto and Patron Saint of Liars.
Okay, I get the premise. Everyone is searching for love and acceptance and at sometime in our lives we all have to deal with death, or loss, or grief ..... or a combination of all of the above. This search, however, was boring and it's final outcome less than satisfying and definitely without true resolution. Ms. Patchett was probably going for an abstract look at one woman's spiritual journey. All I can say is you had better pack a large lunch to take along on this trip, because that is the only thing that will sustain you, since there is little in this story to feed your grey matter."
"Might be a little hard to take if you are recently widowed yourself as the lead character has just lost her husband. It hits close to home. A different kind of story throwing together unlikely characters. Patchett has a great way with dialogue and characterization. After loving Bel Canto and Run, I was pleased with this one and will seek out another novel by Patchett."
"I don't usually deliberately choose a contemporary fiction story, usually because there are too many out there, so I rely on a book that has been passed on by those who's taste I share. So it is with this book. Sabine, the main character, has just lost the love of her life, her husband Parsifal, a charismatic magician and successful rug-store owner. The fly in the ointment is the fact that Parsifal, an intensely loyal man who deeply loves Sabine, just lost the love of his life, a man named Pan, and married Sabine partly to give her financial security. Heartless, he is not, but Sabine discovers, even before her grief has had a chance to settle in, that he was not entirely truthful to his loyal partner about his past. Sabine reluctantly gets swept away by the unexpected visit by the mother and sister of Guy, as Parsifal used to be named. This visit propels her to follow Guy's history all the way to the cold isolation of Nebraska, and all the way through her grief to the other side of life."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
