Arkansas: Three Novellas

I enjoyed reading this book.. In facr, I have read it more than 5 times!!!

Read this book for the first novella in it: "The term paper artist" which is perfect, no less. In this novella, Leavitt combines autobiographical details with what seem to be pure fiction. However, no one can know for sure. The novella is fascinating, daring, in my opinion even revolutinary. The other 2 novellas are nice, but nothing like the first one.

David Leavitt's novels are filed under the "alternative literature" section in our local bookshops. His works come recommended as that of an important modern writer. Apart from his award winning debut "Family Dancing" which focussed on a myriad of dysfunctionality in modern families, his subsequent novels and short stories have (I am told) been exclusively about gay life. "Arkansas - Three Novellas" is no different. It is purportedly also his most daring. Though graphic and explicit in some of its sex scenes, it is never pornographic. Leavitt has such a natural and easy writing style his prose never comes across forced. Neither does his plots seem contrived. Of the three novellas, "The Term Paper Artist" work best. It is both touching and funny. I found myself laughing through most of it. "The Wooden Anniversary" is also great. The twist at the end is simply ingenius. This makes me want to read its prequel in one of Leavitt's earlier short story collections. However, "Saturn Street" isn't quite as good. I found the story shallow and unconvincing. If "Arkansas - Three Novellas" is anything to go by, Leavitt is a writer that will appeal to readers of all persuasion. His stories and are both entertaining and enjoyable.

Educational, original, minutely observed, belly-muscle-crampingly funny, and at times too touching and real, Arkansas was the first book I'd ever read of Leavitt. Liked it so much I bought all his previous work too. Have been reading it since and still enjoying (and analyzing, if I may) every word of it. Long live Dave's work!

David Leavitt's new collection of three "novellas," *Arkansas,* has attracted a lot of attention because of the first story, "The Term Paper Artist." But you should buy it for the second one, "The Wooden Anniversary," which--in its sly portrayal of reality suddenly showing itself to be illusion, if not delusion, and relationships as but a creation of the character's or the reader's imagination--comes close to the best efforts of a James or a Racine. (The third novella, "Saturn Street," on the other hand, is just Forster's famous charge to our century, "Only Connect," once again writ large.) "The Term Paper Artist" is probably the more likely candidate to find its way into anthologies. Leavitt has shrewdly recognized that he could take an MLA fantasy--Famous writer cures a creative block by writing term papers in return for sex--overlay it with the personal--the writer is one "David Leavitt," who shares much of his recent history and backlist with his creator--and create 15 minutes of sensationalism. (The real) Leavitt has patiently assured each interviewer eager for (The Real) Story that, no, he's never written papers for UCLA hunks in return for a closeup of their tan lines, and that the personal elements provide the jumping off point for fiction, not the gray matter of memoir. (He does, after all, post a neatly worded disclaimer toward the end of the story.) Christopher Isherwood, looking down from his table at the heavenly Kit Kat Klub, is probably laughing, Been there! Done that! (and 60 years ago, too). Esquire pulled this story from publication, afraid that the gay content would offend advertisers. So how spicy is it? About a poblano on the chile scale. Leavitt tends to break for a discreet line space when payment comes due. And with all the confusion about what's fiction and what's David Leavitt, do you think he wanted to be grilled on the details of the sex scenes!?