Three Girls and Their Brother: A Novel
by Theresa Rebeck
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Book Summary Information
Author: Theresa RebeckEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-04-21
ISBN: 0307394158
Number of pages: 337
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Book Reviews of Three Girls and Their Brother: A Novel
Book Review: Not Enough Satire, Not Enough Story
Summary: 3 Stars
There are moments in Teresa Rebeck's Three Girls and Their Brother where the satire is sharp and precise. Most of that satire is found in Rebeck's portrayal of the publicists, agents, and media that attach themselves to another's celebrity. Rebeck utilizes the copious amount of time that she's obviously spent with these parasites to create characters that are ruthless in their desire to both maintain their status and perpetuate a celebrity's fame. When the story is focused on these characters, the book works.
The bad news is that the book doesn't focus on them often enough. Instead, the story focuses on the Heller siblings, who are bland main characters. Despite Rebeck's efforts to give them a unique voice by having each sibling act as sole narrator for several chapters, the main characters seem to be the same individual (a surprising result, given Rebeck's background as a playwright). Worse yet, the plot has some gaping holes that beg to be addressed, but never are. For instance, despite a couple of hints, the answer as to how the Heller girls received a cover shoot for the New Yorker magazine is left unanswered. Also briefly mentioned and then dropped is a possible incest storyline. Plot holes like these give the appearance that Rebeck wasn't sure how to develop the plot.
In the end, Three Girls and Their Brother is just an okay book. As I mentioned before, there are moments of great satire within the book that are definitely worth reading. But, those moments are few and fleeting. Instead, the reader is left with a book that wants to be a biting satire of the celebrity culture, but ends up having no teeth.
Summary of Three Girls and Their Brother: A Novel
Now that it?s all over, everybody is saying it was the picture?that stupid picture was behind every disaster. . . .They may be the granddaughters of a famous literary critic, but what really starts it all is Daria, Polly, and Amelia Heller?s stunning red hair. Out of the blue one day, The New Yorker calls and says that they want to feature the girls in a glamorous spread shot by a world-famous photographer, and before long these three beautiful nobodies from Brooklyn have been proclaimed the new ?It? girls.
But with no parental guidance?Mom?s a former beauty queen living vicariously through her daughters, and Dad is nowhere to be found?the three girls find themselves easy prey for the sharks and piranhas of show business. Posing in every hot fashion magazine, tangling with snarling fashonistas and soulless agents, skipping school and hitting A-list parties, the sisters are caught up in a whirlwind rise to fame that quickly spirals out of control.
When Amelia, the youngest of the three?who never really wanted to be a model in the first place?appears in an Off-Broadway play, the balance of power shifts, all the pent-up resentment and pressure comes to a head, and the girls? quiet, neglected brother reaches a critical point of virtual breakdown. And against the odds, even as the struggle for fame threatens to tear the family apart, the Hellers begin to see that despite the jealousy, greed, and uncertainty that have come to define their relationships, in the celebrity world of viciousness and betrayal, all they really have is one another.
Narrated in four parts, from the perspective of each sibling, Three Girls and Their Brother is a sharp, perceptive, and brilliantly written debut novel from an acclaimed playwright.
From the Hardcover edition.
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