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catherine_the_greatest 's review for:
Saint Mazie
by Jami Attenberg
Based on a real-life heroine, the self-proclaimed "Queen of the Bowery," this novel consists mostly of the fictional diary of Mazie Phillips, from age 10 to somewhere in her 40s, punctuated with interview snippets from people who knew her, or knew someone who knew her, or researched her. Ms. Attenberg has chosen to frame the first-person account as an obsessive topic for a young documentary maker.
The story itself is interesting enough: starting in her early 20s, Mazie worked in the box-office of a NYC movie theater owned by her brother-in-law, a Jewish (at least by heritage) business man with possible criminal connections. When the Great Depression brought her city to its knees, she fought to keep the theater open, walking the streets after the last showing, calling ambulances for injured and sick men, handing out change, blankets, and bars of soap.
In the diary format, the narrative sometimes drags. Some of the fictional flourishes were melodramatic, and the bits of back story for the documentary maker were distracting. While I think Ms. Attenberg made some interesting choices, I don't feel like they were all successful.
The story itself is interesting enough: starting in her early 20s, Mazie worked in the box-office of a NYC movie theater owned by her brother-in-law, a Jewish (at least by heritage) business man with possible criminal connections. When the Great Depression brought her city to its knees, she fought to keep the theater open, walking the streets after the last showing, calling ambulances for injured and sick men, handing out change, blankets, and bars of soap.
In the diary format, the narrative sometimes drags. Some of the fictional flourishes were melodramatic, and the bits of back story for the documentary maker were distracting. While I think Ms. Attenberg made some interesting choices, I don't feel like they were all successful.