Lit

When I read the gushy jacket blurbs, I really wanted to be able to turn up my nose at this book. But once I waded through the smarmy prologue, I was completely taken by Ms. Karr's 3-D, Technicolor, "let's go smoke some pot and watch Fantasia" gorgeous language.

Some glowing examples:

When Ms. Karr has the last word in an altercation on a train, she reports: "The girl withdraws like a slug doused with salt ..."

"The bottle gleamed in the air between us. I took the whiskey, planning a courtesy sip. But the aroma stopped me just as my tongue touched the glass mouth. The warm silk flowered in my mouth and down my gullet, after which a little blue flame of pleasure roared back up my spine. A poof of sequins went sparkling through my middle."

"Then I sail off into a sleep that unrolls in my head endless bolts of black velvet."

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