Wise Children by Angela Carter

Genius!

Dora and Nora, the illegitimate daughters of an eccentric family of acting greats were raised by their landlady Mrs Chance. This is the story of their lives as showgirls and the bizarre and humorous intertwining of their lives with the family and father who is never quite theirs.

Their uncle Peregrine is a fabulous character, a man who drifts in and out of our tale - frequently fabulously rich and with an attention span that -might- fill a gnats navel.

Thank you again to juipitah who has fabulous taste in birthday presents. I haven't read all her books yet but I'm working on it.

A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler buying is almost a fetish now; see book = buy book. I haven't that many of her books but I've yet to hit a dud. You have to be in the right mood, Tyler has a gift for writing about people with problems and situations that don't quite work. This can be a lot of fun - The Accidental Tourist was very popular - but if you don't appreciate the absurdity of being alive she will drive you nuts.

Barnaby Gaitlin is divorced, an ex-delinquent, the black sheep of his neurotic family and the owner of a fabulous car he doesn't appreciate. He works for Rent-a-Back doing odd jobs for elderly clients and his wry narration and baffled response to the world around him is very enjoyable. I also appreciated his complete inability to not stuff things up, the man has an auto-destruct response to things going well and the scene where he almost gooses his brother's wife had me reading in horrified anticipation. ( Bibliography for the curious )

( Bibliography for the curious  )