The School of Beauty and Charm
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Book Overview
This is the story of the Peppers family of Counterpoint, Georgia. Henry and Florida Peppers are pertinacious Baptist parents whose dearest wishes are to keep their asthmatic son Roderick alive and their smart-ass daughter Louise from going to hell. Louise, the little hellion, tells the story. And what a story it is, about how ponderous Henry, hysterical Florida, and hell-bent-for-rebellion Louise, awash in grief after Roderick's death at fifteen, go on living. Steady-at-the-helm, Henry buries himself in his work managing Southern Board, the local cardboard factory. Flamboyant Florida, with a fine-honed knack for losing her cool, redecorates their custom-built house, the Aerie, and takes up painting by numbers. Louise indulges her addictions: at nine, she discovers vanilla extract. After Roderick dies, she adds liquor, food, sex (at sixteen, she seduces a Southern Board laborer), and out-and-out danger, finally, at eighteen running off to join the circus (a carnival, actually). Louise gets to be the clown. THE SCHOOL OF BEAUTY AND CHARM is a daring novel that walks a fine line between high comedy and real tragedy. But at heart, it is a moving portrait of a father and mother, two good-hearted people doing everything wrong to win back their daughter.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:1565122860
ISBN13:9781565122864
Release Date:September 2001
Publisher:Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Length:308 Pages
Weight:1.15 lbs.
Dimensions:1.1" x 5.9" x 8.8"
Customer Reviews
5 ratings
Five Stars for Sumner
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
I'm reading this book for a class, and it's the best out of the whole pile. At first I was like, oh no, another southern chick-lit book, but this one is like a classic or something. I can see my grandkids reading it. Everybody in it is really, really real. I can see everything happening just like I was there. This lady is Great!
A Wonderful Story
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
Okay, this is what I loved about The School of Beauty and Charm: The hamster named America The Beautiful The old Kentucky farmer who asks, "Voulez-vous couchez avec moi?" on his death bed. The sex scene on the Ferris Wheel. The inmate reading Southern Living in her cell. The father who routinely lets the family car run out of gas because he's compulsively shopping for the best price. The unfriendly encounter between two Bible Thumpers. A teenager's seduction of her would-be rapist. A conservative business man's retirement speech - for the first time in his career, he draws a blank and ends up telling the company about his earliest memory. Florida - the mother. Everything about Florida.
Wow!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
The School of Beauty and Charm by Melanie Sumner; Wow! This book is filled with emotions that we are rarely able to confront eye to eye, but is written with a frankness that is not only sought after but often necessary! Take my word; this book is a movie waiting to happen! More books Melanie, Please!
Not what I was expecting
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
Based on an interview I heard with the author on NPR, I expected the book to be a quirky comic romp about a Southern family. While the book seems to start out that way, it completely turns on you and becomes much more. More than any other author I've read recently, Melanie Sumner completely understands the mother-child relationship in America. In the relationship between Louise and her mother, I see almost every mother I have ever met. The extremeness of Louise Peppers' rebellion may seem like it comes out of left field as one reviewer noted. On closer inspection, however, it's a rebellion like many teenagers have experienced. Louise doesn't know why she does what she does - she just does it because she's a teenager and hasn't figured anything out yet. I would recommend this to any parent having a hard time coping with an unruly teenager and any teenager who feels chafed by their parents but doesn't quite know why.
Roaming about...
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
This excellent story of the roamings and "maturation" of an independent young Southern hellcat has kept me howling for two days now. From flower-eating cats to poodle-eating owls to sneakily thrown devil's paws, to unprotected sex with carnies, the parade of oddities and absurdities called forth by this author will give even the most jaded sense of humor a good workout. Underneath all this is a sweet story about a rural (kind of) Southern family with the eccentricities of all Southern families, and their attempts to keep sane in the face of adversity. Definitely worth your while.
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