Jennifer Crusie
Sep. 26th, 2005 02:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rushthatspeaksI am having a bizarre love-hate relationship with the books of Jennifer Crusie, but it totally isn't her fault.
Crusie writes enjoyably screwball romances-with-mystery-elements that have entertaining characters, genuinely witty humor, sex scenes that advance the plot and characterization and are still steamy, and a general bonhomie that ought to make the books a great pleasure for me the way they are for the people who rec'd them to me, except that they're ALL SET IN OHIO and I can't get over it.
So far I've gone through Faking It (heroine's family runs an art gallery, long and complicated plot involving art forgery), Tell Me Lies (heroine's husband is a total asshole in a tiny little town where everybody pokes their noses into everything, long and complicated plot involving this), and Welcome to Temptation (heroine is trying to make a movie in a small town in Ohio, with attendant inevitable problems), and my primary reactions can be summed up as follows:
Faking It: No, your art gallery is not in that neighborhood in Columbus. At least, not since the book takes place after 1990. Also, the neighborhood association actually would have made you repaint ten years ago, or sued you. I lived about ten blocks away from there, and the area everyone lives in in this novel is desperately trying to keep up appearances to make that bit not turn into the neighborhood I was living in. It can't support a bad art gallery, because it can't support a good art gallery, either. If y'all were real, you'd be on public assistance if you were really trying to live like that.
Tell Me Lies: No, the thing you do when something like that happens in a town of that sort is get the hell out of Dodge. In fact, leaving on general principle is a pretty good idea-- *notes actions of hero*-- ASDF!^%&*^ WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE MOVING BACK THERE YOU GOT OUT YOU TWIT GO LIVE SOMEWHERE INTERESTING WHERE THERE'S A BOOKSTORE WITHIN TWENTY MILES AND A MOVIE THEATRE THAT DOESN'T CLOSE AT THE OWNER'S KIDS' BEDTIME GYAAAAAHHHHHHGGGHHHH
Welcome to Temptation: Okay, better. Somewhat. Highly enjoyable, actually. Really, really pleasant. Mostly because you are ignoring what you are making the neighbors think about you, which is exactly how to go about things. ...except at the end, huh? Well, as long as you're going to be doing whatever the hell you want to. I think I can live with this one, and may pick up a copy for comfort reading, because it's very funny and the sex scenes are spectacular.
So, is there any Crusie that isn't set in Ohio? Please? I get the feeling I'd be really enjoying these, otherwise.
Crusie writes enjoyably screwball romances-with-mystery-elements that have entertaining characters, genuinely witty humor, sex scenes that advance the plot and characterization and are still steamy, and a general bonhomie that ought to make the books a great pleasure for me the way they are for the people who rec'd them to me, except that they're ALL SET IN OHIO and I can't get over it.
So far I've gone through Faking It (heroine's family runs an art gallery, long and complicated plot involving art forgery), Tell Me Lies (heroine's husband is a total asshole in a tiny little town where everybody pokes their noses into everything, long and complicated plot involving this), and Welcome to Temptation (heroine is trying to make a movie in a small town in Ohio, with attendant inevitable problems), and my primary reactions can be summed up as follows:
Faking It: No, your art gallery is not in that neighborhood in Columbus. At least, not since the book takes place after 1990. Also, the neighborhood association actually would have made you repaint ten years ago, or sued you. I lived about ten blocks away from there, and the area everyone lives in in this novel is desperately trying to keep up appearances to make that bit not turn into the neighborhood I was living in. It can't support a bad art gallery, because it can't support a good art gallery, either. If y'all were real, you'd be on public assistance if you were really trying to live like that.
Tell Me Lies: No, the thing you do when something like that happens in a town of that sort is get the hell out of Dodge. In fact, leaving on general principle is a pretty good idea-- *notes actions of hero*-- ASDF!^%&*^ WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE MOVING BACK THERE YOU GOT OUT YOU TWIT GO LIVE SOMEWHERE INTERESTING WHERE THERE'S A BOOKSTORE WITHIN TWENTY MILES AND A MOVIE THEATRE THAT DOESN'T CLOSE AT THE OWNER'S KIDS' BEDTIME GYAAAAAHHHHHHGGGHHHH
Welcome to Temptation: Okay, better. Somewhat. Highly enjoyable, actually. Really, really pleasant. Mostly because you are ignoring what you are making the neighbors think about you, which is exactly how to go about things. ...except at the end, huh? Well, as long as you're going to be doing whatever the hell you want to. I think I can live with this one, and may pick up a copy for comfort reading, because it's very funny and the sex scenes are spectacular.
So, is there any Crusie that isn't set in Ohio? Please? I get the feeling I'd be really enjoying these, otherwise.
