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Nothing but a smile
Amick, Steve.
Adult Fiction AMICK
From Publishers' Weekly:
Amick's solid follow-up to The Lake, the River & the Other Lake gives the reader a remarkable portrait of postwar America. When Wink Dutton is discharged from the army in 1944, he has little to his name besides his Purple Heart. His prospects change unexpectedly, however, when he meets Sal Chesterton, who has been running her family's camera shop while her husband serves in the Pacific. With business struggling, Sal comes up with a plan: she shoots sexy self-portraits and sells them to girlie magazines. As Sal and Wink's friendship develops, she lets him in on the venture, and the pinup business keeps them afloat and provides an easy segue to a complex romance after Sal's husband is killed in combat. The backdrop is captivating in its detail, and bold in scope: Sal and Wink's story plays out against wartime struggles, the Chicago underworld of the '40s and '50s, HUAC and the Red Scare and the postwar migration of Americans from the cities to the suburbs. This divine love story is as much about Sal and Wink as it is about America in that era-a great story, well told. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
World War II-era expressions and details about how Americans made it through tough economic times form an authentic backdrop for Amick's (The Lake, the River & the Other Lake) unusual story about how some amateurs get involved in creating risque photos for early girlie magazines in 1940s Chicago. The tale centers on returning vet Wink Dutton, a former illustrator who injured his drawing hand in a freak shipboard accident, and Sal Chesterton, whose husband is serving in the Philippines. Together with Sal's friend Reenie, they earn much-needed cash by making photos that grow more and more revealing. The ingenuity involved in making these pictures generates much of this novel's charm; less interesting is the predictable romance between Sal and Wink. And Amick throws in a bit too much as the novel nears its end-the House Un-American Activities Committee, a local mafia, the Pulitzer Prize, and even Hugh Hefner. Overall, though, this is a satisfying slice of lesser-known Americana. Recommended.-Evelyn Beck, Piedmont Technical Coll., Greenwood, SC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Amick, Steve.
Adult Fiction AMICK
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From Publishers' Weekly:
Amick's solid follow-up to The Lake, the River & the Other Lake gives the reader a remarkable portrait of postwar America. When Wink Dutton is discharged from the army in 1944, he has little to his name besides his Purple Heart. His prospects change unexpectedly, however, when he meets Sal Chesterton, who has been running her family's camera shop while her husband serves in the Pacific. With business struggling, Sal comes up with a plan: she shoots sexy self-portraits and sells them to girlie magazines. As Sal and Wink's friendship develops, she lets him in on the venture, and the pinup business keeps them afloat and provides an easy segue to a complex romance after Sal's husband is killed in combat. The backdrop is captivating in its detail, and bold in scope: Sal and Wink's story plays out against wartime struggles, the Chicago underworld of the '40s and '50s, HUAC and the Red Scare and the postwar migration of Americans from the cities to the suburbs. This divine love story is as much about Sal and Wink as it is about America in that era-a great story, well told. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
World War II-era expressions and details about how Americans made it through tough economic times form an authentic backdrop for Amick's (The Lake, the River & the Other Lake) unusual story about how some amateurs get involved in creating risque photos for early girlie magazines in 1940s Chicago. The tale centers on returning vet Wink Dutton, a former illustrator who injured his drawing hand in a freak shipboard accident, and Sal Chesterton, whose husband is serving in the Philippines. Together with Sal's friend Reenie, they earn much-needed cash by making photos that grow more and more revealing. The ingenuity involved in making these pictures generates much of this novel's charm; less interesting is the predictable romance between Sal and Wink. And Amick throws in a bit too much as the novel nears its end-the House Un-American Activities Committee, a local mafia, the Pulitzer Prize, and even Hugh Hefner. Overall, though, this is a satisfying slice of lesser-known Americana. Recommended.-Evelyn Beck, Piedmont Technical Coll., Greenwood, SC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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