A WINTER'S VIGIL by Norval Rindfleisch
iUniverse, Inc.
2021 Pine Lake Rd, Lincoln, NE
www.iuniverse.com
Genre: Fictional Memoir
Rating: Good
ISBN: 9780595430277, $16.95, 252 pp.
Quoting from the back cover:
"This fictional memoir, set in a blue-collar neighborhood movie theater of a Midwestern city, will remind the reader how quickly the past fades and yet how powerfully it persists unrecognized below the surface of later conscious decisions. Alternately comic, nostalgic, reflective, and even whimsical, the narrator recalls his tenure as the doorman and general flunky of the Imperial Theater threatened by the competition of television. He gradually drifts into a partnership with the long time woman manager, desperate to keep the theater going as a community institution, to restore with his free labor and her personal expense the dilapidated condition of the theater and to change the format from traditional B films to musicals of the 40's and 50's."
We follow Ted, a self-deprecating teenager, through his Catholic high school, home and first job experiences to the closure of the theater. I don’t fully understand why people write fictional memoirs, but such is the case.
Norval Rindfleisch is a consummate writer; however, A Winter’s Vigil could benefit from further editing. To whom might this novel appeal? . . . possibly teenagers working at their first minimum-wage jobs or readers raised in the Catholic faith. Would I recommend this book based on the storyline? . . . not particularly, but that’s just my take. As the author has taught literature and writing at secondary and college levels, won writing awards and recognition, you may find something in this fictional memoir which appeals to your taste.
Reviewed by Kaye Trout - June 22, 2007
2021 Pine Lake Rd, Lincoln, NE
www.iuniverse.com
Genre: Fictional Memoir
Rating: Good
ISBN: 9780595430277, $16.95, 252 pp.
Quoting from the back cover:
"This fictional memoir, set in a blue-collar neighborhood movie theater of a Midwestern city, will remind the reader how quickly the past fades and yet how powerfully it persists unrecognized below the surface of later conscious decisions. Alternately comic, nostalgic, reflective, and even whimsical, the narrator recalls his tenure as the doorman and general flunky of the Imperial Theater threatened by the competition of television. He gradually drifts into a partnership with the long time woman manager, desperate to keep the theater going as a community institution, to restore with his free labor and her personal expense the dilapidated condition of the theater and to change the format from traditional B films to musicals of the 40's and 50's."
We follow Ted, a self-deprecating teenager, through his Catholic high school, home and first job experiences to the closure of the theater. I don’t fully understand why people write fictional memoirs, but such is the case.
Norval Rindfleisch is a consummate writer; however, A Winter’s Vigil could benefit from further editing. To whom might this novel appeal? . . . possibly teenagers working at their first minimum-wage jobs or readers raised in the Catholic faith. Would I recommend this book based on the storyline? . . . not particularly, but that’s just my take. As the author has taught literature and writing at secondary and college levels, won writing awards and recognition, you may find something in this fictional memoir which appeals to your taste.
Reviewed by Kaye Trout - June 22, 2007
posted by Kaye | 8:19 AM
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