Back Flip - Softcover

Denoon, Anne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0889842388 ISBN 13: 9780889842380

Publisher: Porcupine's Quill Inc.,Canada, 2002

Synopsis

Set in Toronto in 1967, the title of this novel refers to a painting by a young artist, Eddie O'Hara. When it is selected for a prestigious exhibition organized by a visiting English curator, it becomes the focus of a power struggle between Eddie and his dealer. This is a social comedy of errors and a study of wishful thinking.

About this title

Review

The ensemble cast of this first novel ... is ... constantly on the make -- for sex, social advantage, financial gain or some combination thereof. In other words, they're exceedingly entertaining.... The moral of the story is that there isn't any -- and that's part of the wicked charm of this satirical romp, which mixes insights on the politics of influence and of intimacy with a gossipy, buoyant insouciance.'--Barbara Carey "Toronto Star "

The Sixties, though much written about, are not easy to get right in fiction or film.... What Denoon brings to the mix is what was missing at the time: wisdom.... [Her portrait of the tight, incestuous world that formed the Toronto art scene in '67 thoughtfully skewers it, while magically bringing it to life.'--Nancy Wigston "Books in Canada "

Toronto visual artists and mavens who came of age in the late 1960s will likely find Anne Denoon's first novel a delight -- when they're not cringing at its satiric pricks.... Gender disparities and furtive sex-capades are recurring motifs, pursued with a keen, sometimes touching eye for the ridiculous.'--Jim Bartley "Globe & Mail "

Denoon does a remarkable job of mixing and matching her creations ... as assignations go wrong and flirtatious behaviours and sexual innuendoes are misinterpreted.... There is a forgery, a painting is vandalized, there are at least two deaths, and the pretentious art community is wickedly satirized in an entertaining manner.'--W.P. Kinsella "Books in Canada "

Synopsis

"Back Flip" is set in Toronto, in 1967. The title refers to a painting by a young artist, Eddie O'Hara. When it is selected for a prestigious exhibition organized by a visiting English curator, it becomes the focus of a power struggle between Eddie and his dealer, the passionate and paranoid, Bruno Gonzaga. After the painting mysteriously disappears, O'Hara makes a copy and complications quickly ensue, raising questions of authenticity and ownership. Much of the action derives from the competing delusions and deceits of the group of artists, dealers, critics and collectors who surround O'Hara and Gonzaga. A social comedy of errors and a study of wishful thinking, "Back Flip" ends with a flash-forward to the year 2000 that brings readers up to date with its characters' subsequent lives and, in some cases, deaths.

Edition details

• Publisher: Porcupine's Quill Inc.,Canada
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0889842388
• ISBN 13: 9780889842380
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336