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South African authors - Fiction - |
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Boogie Woogie |
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 Boogie Woogie byDanny Moynihan Gerald Duckworth & Co. 254 pages, 2000 ISBN 0715630032 Reviewed by Marie Thorpe - South Africa adams.west@saol.com Danny Moynihan paints a no-olds-barred picture of the subterranean New York art world. In imitation of the frenzied rhythm of Mondrian's Brooay Boogie Woogie, Moynihan whirls us breathlessly from scene to scene, as we follow his characters' frantic pursuit of passion and pleasure. There is gay Greg who cuts his lover's throat; Paige who zooms around on a skateboard and later gives birth to a teratoma; and ElaineYoon who specializes in putting herself on video to seduce young girls. There are the cut-throat gallery owners; the desperate young artists; and the social climbing elite, like Spindle whose "greeting was dependent on the importance of the recipient." The characters switch from partner to partner with the rapidity of a game of musical chairs in a hopeless search for they know not what. The novel escalates in rhythm almost in imitation of the act of passion itself, to end in a tragic but hilarious climax. The characters are larger than life, yet there is a frightening realism about them, and at times a startling accuracy. A thread of wicked humour runs through the novel so that the reader is exhilirated rather than depressed. One cannot help being charmed by Moynihan's skillful use of words and seduced by his painfully accurate observation of detail. This is Moynihan's first novel and I hope it will not be his last. |
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