Editorial Content for Künstlers in Paradise
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
“Grandma, you want me to pay more attention to you? I thought I was just annoying.”
“You are annoying, Julian.”
And so begins the pandemic lockdown adventure of twenty-something Julian, who has chosen this exact time to pay a visit to Mamie Künstler --- his regal, entitled, eccentric 93-year-old grandmother --- and her dedicated housekeeper in Los Angeles. Sheltering in place for the New Yorker proves difficult, and his grandmother, in her own inimitable LA way, attempts to regale him with tales from her past to help him enjoy the time he will be spending with her. With her usual combination of humor and pathos, Cathleen Schine gives readers a gentle ride into the past of Mamie and the future of Julian.
"KÜNSTLERS IN PARADISE is going to be in a lot of beach bags this summer. It will offer something special and meaningful for readers of all ages. Everyone will understand and appreciate this thought-provoking story."
Schine excels at telling stories about families and loves a good exchange between those from different generations. Their conversations feel real, and the dialogue is funny and sparkling. When we are introduced to Julian’s father, Frank, there is yet another level of family interplay happening here. As the three of them talk via Zoom, their interactions pick up all the salient aspects of lockdown life: racial and political issues are discussed, and the revolution in the streets is addressed. It’s a bold move to give a true account of what people were doing and thinking at this time.
As Mamie talks about who she was, Julian thinks about the realities of his life and what will happen to him. In doing so, Schine gives readers a truly pertinent look at how Gen Z weathers the new world that has arrived with the pandemic. In his grandmother’s crumbling universe, Julian can see quite clearly why so much of what was important and considered to be set in stone is going away. The world is in a tumult, with change roaring towards those who have survived and could face down the poor policies and fascist attitudes of the past. Julian is making decisions that affect everyone of his generation.
Mamie is a pip; she is as nutty as any old Hollywood dame, but her stories have great depth. As Julian takes the time to listen to her, he begins to comprehend how every moment in our history is one that is rife with change. All generations have dealt with something for which they were not initially prepared. Even in Mamie’s stories about ice skating with Greta Garbo and playing tennis with the greats of her time, Julian begins to see that history has always been the same. There are the vaulted and the no-names, the celebrities and the regular folks. And somehow it all becomes a comfort to him in the end.
KÜNSTLERS IN PARADISE is going to be in a lot of beach bags this summer. It will offer something special and meaningful for readers of all ages. Everyone will understand and appreciate this thought-provoking story.
Teaser
For years Mamie Künstler has lived happily in her bungalow in Venice, California, with her inscrutable housekeeper and her gigantic St. Bernard dog. Their tranquility is upended when Mamie’s grandson, Julian, arrives from New York City to seek his fortune in Hollywood. But it is 2020, the pandemic sweeps in, and Julian’s short visit suddenly has no end in sight. Mamie was only 11 when the Künstlers escaped Vienna in 1939. They made their way to sunny, surreal Los Angeles where they joined a colony of distinguished Jewish musicians, writers and intellectuals also escaping Hitler. Now, Mamie begins to tell Julian the buried stories of her early years in Los Angeles. While the pandemic cuts Julian off from the life he knows, Mamie’s tales open up a world of lives that came before him.
Promo
For years Mamie Künstler has lived happily in her bungalow in Venice, California, with her inscrutable housekeeper and her gigantic St. Bernard dog. Their tranquility is upended when Mamie’s grandson, Julian, arrives from New York City to seek his fortune in Hollywood. But it is 2020, the pandemic sweeps in, and Julian’s short visit suddenly has no end in sight. Mamie was only 11 when the Künstlers escaped Vienna in 1939. They made their way to sunny, surreal Los Angeles where they joined a colony of distinguished Jewish musicians, writers and intellectuals also escaping Hitler. Now, Mamie begins to tell Julian the buried stories of her early years in Los Angeles. While the pandemic cuts Julian off from the life he knows, Mamie’s tales open up a world of lives that came before him.
About the Book
There was a time when the family Künstler lived in the fairy-tale city of Vienna. Circumstances transformed that fairy tale into a nightmare, and in 1939 the Künstlers found their way out of Vienna and into a new fairy tale: Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
For years Mamie Künstler, 93 years old, as clever and glamorous as ever, has lived happily in her bungalow in Venice, California with her inscrutable housekeeper and her gigantic St. Bernard dog. Their tranquility is upended when Mamie’s grandson, Julian, arrives from New York City. Like many a twenty-something, he has come to seek his fortune in Hollywood. But it is 2020, the global pandemic sweeps in, and Julian’s short visit suddenly has no end in sight.
Mamie was only 11 when the Künstlers escaped Vienna in 1939. They made their way, stunned and overwhelmed, to sunny, surreal Los Angeles where they joined a colony of distinguished Jewish musicians, writers and intellectuals also escaping Hitler. Now, faced with months of lockdown and a willing listener, Mamie begins to tell Julian the buried stories of her early years in Los Angeles: her escapades with eminent émigrés like Arnold Schoenberg, Christopher Isherwood, Thomas Mann. Oh, and Greta Garbo. While the pandemic cuts Julian off from the life he knows, Mamie’s tales open up a world of lives that came before him. They reveal to him just how much the past holds of the future.
Audiobook available, read by Jesse Vilinsky
