The Performances
First Chapters: And In The Beginning… is a presentation of the first chapters from seven debut novels on the list of The New York Times “Notable Books from 2003.” Readers will include Laurence Carr, MMSC's resident Dramaturg and MMSC favorite, Ann Citron. And Now You Can Go, by Vendela Vida. One afternoon, 21-year-old Ellis is held at gunpoint by a man who wants to shoot himself and her. She manages to talk him out of it, but her recovery from the trauma leaves her psychologically reeling. The novel traces her sometimes frustrating, sometimes unexpected steps toward a return to normalcy. Vida’s unconventional, unsentimental book turns what might have been just another tale of recovery into a compelling story with keenly drawn details, a fresh voice, and heart. The Quality of Life Report, by Meghan Daum. Lucinda Trout, a young assistant producer for a New York City television morning show, is sent on assignment to Prairie City, a small Midwestern town. Embracing the charms of affordable real estate and country hospitality, she soon moves to “P.C.,” as the locals call it, but finds that life in the heartland is not all she expected. The Bug, by Ellen Ullman. This compelling story vividly traces the fate of The Dogs of Babel, by Carolyn Parkhurst. Paul, a linguist living in Virginia, learns that his wife, Lexy, has died mysteriously in a fall from an apple tree in their backyard. Lorelei, Paul’s Rhodesian Ridgeback dog, is the only witness to the event, and Paul resolves to teach her to talk so that she can reveal what happened. The Eyre Affair: A Novel by Jasper Fforde. Picture an alternate world where literature is more revered than professional sports, and vending machines spouting Shakespearean soliloquies dot the landscape, and you have the setting for this quirky, clever debut. The intrepid heroine, Thursday Next, is an operative in the Literary Detective Division, placed in charge of an investigation to find master criminal Acheron Hades. Hades has stolen a device that allows people to enter into literary works, and has subsequently kidnapped Jane Eyre. By the end of the novel, Thursday manages to thwart Hades’ evil scheme and give Jane Eyre a more satisfying ending, as well. The Hazards of Good Breeding, by Jessica Shattuck. The comfortable existence of Jack Dunlap, scion of a blue-blooded family in Concord, MA, is about to be turned on its ear: his wife, who left him two years before and now lives in NYC, has returned to Concord; his daughter Caroline has come home for the summer after graduating college; and Eliot, his 10-year-old son, is reeling from the unexpected and unexplained departure of his beloved baby sitter, Rosita. In a carefully crafted novel using multiple viewpoints, Shattuck illuminates the isolated lives of her characters and the fragile aristocratic social structure that traps them. The Minotaur Takes A Cigarette Break, by Steven Sherrill. The Minotaur, a mythical half-man, half-bull, has endured 5000 years of immortality and now lives in the Lucky-U trailer park in a small North Carolina town, working as a line cook at Grub’s Rib. He has learned to cope with the limitations of his existence -- deadly horns, communication largely reliant upon grunts, and a body not meant for clothing -- but his greatest challenge is dealing with people. When he falls in love with Kelly, a waitress prone to epileptic fits, he must navigate the tricky path to happiness that is threatened by two cruel and obnoxious young waiters at the steakhouse.
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