By George

I love the layout of books like this one; one chapter is written in the voice of an eleven-year-old boy, and the next is written in the voice of a ventriloquist's made-to-order dummy (who warns that he should be called "boy" rather than "dummy.") The chapters are separated by forty-three years, so the back and forth can get a bit confusing; however, I enjoyed being forced to pay attention. No reader will quickly scan this book--nor would one want to! The characters are all a bit quirky--much like real people. Nonetheless, I found myself looking forward to reading the "boy's" chapters. I learned a great deal about ventriloquism, along with bits about magic tricks and show business from the 1930s through 1980s, which made this an interesting read. The story is a complex family tale. I loved it! There is some profanity.

"by George" is simply excellent. It works on such a simple, refreshingly straightforward level, and yet - and I won't go into any of the plot here since other reviews have covered it - given Stace's handling of the theme (ventriloquism, finding ones own voice, etc), almost every scene becomes as deep and complicated as the reader wants it to be, layered with extra meaning: some become unbearably poignant, others take on a rather sinister aspect. I only realised towards the end that there aren't in fact three narrators, as it seems, but two - and this works perfectly too. The whole book has a beautiful, subtle mechanism. Apart from this, the story works most satisfactorily and the characters are richly described. I've never read another book quite like it and I suspect I'm not alone. It's quite a feat to pull this kind of thing off, particularly without making it all seems show-offy, but Stace makes it seem so easy. Highly recommended.

Reading by George was like eating candy. In the very best of ways. The pace is fast, the characters are real, the writing is both dickensian and contemporary. It's about vaudeville, a topic that didn't interest me but that Stace developed so well, I found myself looking forward to each foray into his fictional vaudevillian world. One thing by George did was to make me want to race back and re-read Stace's debut novel, Misfortune. Both books have a redeeming warmth and a sophistication that's remarkable in contemporary fiction. Check them out. They're both really good. Stace is really good.

Reviewed by April Sullivan for Reader Views (7/07) Two boys named George piece together their family history in this exciting and magical novel. George Fisher is a wooden "boy," a ventriloquist's dummy, who leads an adventurous life as a war hero when he and his owner, Joe Fisher, become a traveling act entertaining the troops during World War II. The other George Fisher is Joe's grandson and named after the first George. He leads a lonely life as an only child in a house full of theatrical dames. His great-grandmother Evie was the well-loved ventriloquist Echo Endor. His grandmother Queenie is also a ventriloquist and children's party entertainer. His mother Frankie is a stage star. "by George" is written from the point of view of both Georges. Alternating chapters give alternate voices. While half of the book is told by the wooden George, it is really the story of Joe, the grandfather. We find similarities between Joe and his grandson as the story unfolds. They both grow up with the same set of show business women who don't trust men, only boys. After inheriting some books from his grandfather, George becomes intrigued and enlightened by Joe's writings on ventriloquism. He gets interested in magic and learning the technique of throwing his voice. These books lead George to seek out his namesake and find the dummy's memoirs that give him even more insight into his family. George resurrects the dummy and together they reveal deep family secrets. At first I found the novel a bit confusing, especially because one of the main characters is a dummy. Every time he opened his mouth I couldn't help thinking, "That is George talking, but really it is Joe talking through George." Eventually, I told my rational mind to get out of the way and let my imagination take over. I was able to enjoy the book much more after that. "by George" is an entertaining novel that includes drama, comedy, and mystery. I found the magical world of ventriloquism and show business fun to explore. Wesley Stace is a strong writer who does not give it all away, but relies on the reader to fill in the gaps. He builds up the action to an exciting and unexpected climax.

Wesley Stace has fashioned his second excellent novel in "by George." The book creates a world probably little-known to most Americans, the English music hall of the 1920s and 1930s, a special vaudevillian milieu in which ventriloquism could thrive as a major fine art and broad entertainment. That's half the book. The other is a more contemporary story about a teenage scion of a great family of the music hall, coming to understand the family business and secrets and their effect on his own family life. Surprisingly rich psychologically for a book in which a major protagonist is made of wood, "by George" uses the ventriloquist's art of misdirection to cast light on one very entertaining storyline while allowing a richer and more resonant thread to take the reader by surprise. I recommend "by George" as well as Mr. Stace's previous book Misfortune.