{"title":"Rochelle Ratner","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"bobbys-girl","title":"Bobby's Girl","description":"\u003ch3 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #9a6372;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA novel by Rochelle Ratner\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eOctober 1, 1986 • 5.5 x 8.5 • 116 pages • 978-0-918273-22-2\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWith a poet’s care for nuance and detail, Rochelle Ratner has written a beautifully charming growing-up story.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eImagine that you’re a teenager living in Atlantic City during the early 1960s. Dick Clark acts as your professional advisor and you’ve become a regular guest on “American Bandstand.” Imagine that Bobby Rydell is your secret boyfriend; you party with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funcello; and you console Fabian when his film career sags. Life promises continuing rewards. You only have one problem . . . this glamorous scenario isn’t true. You’ve created a vivid fantasy life to substitute for your dismal middle class real life. And even in your fantasy world, nothing ever quite works out for you.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn scenes reminiscent of \u003cem\u003eThe Bell Jar\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eI Never Promised You a Rose Garden,\u003c\/em\u003e the intelligent neurotic heroine of \u003cem\u003eBobby’s Girl\u003c\/em\u003e intertwines fantasy and reality. Her dream world is an exaggeration of the common romantic fantasies young teens develop after poring over fan magazines. But even in this dream world the heroine experiences failure. By facing the failures in her fantasies she learns how to deal with the problems in her life, gradually growing free of her suffocating family and making new friends. With a breathtakingly direct style and a searing authenticity, Ratner tells a story of the drab and the glamorous, of fear and hard-won joy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith a poet’s care for nuance and detail, Rochelle Ratner has written a beautifully charming growing-up-story. There’s pain in \u003cem\u003eBobby’s Girl,\u003c\/em\u003e but the wit and accuracy of Ratner’s language shines through, making even it glow. And time and place are captured too; cities, families, public figures in fantasy, they all live: like adolescent songs in the memory. A very moving and special book.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReviews\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"text\"\u003e“This rendering of a painful adolescence effectively underscores the gravity of youth’s seemingly transitory traumas.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The troubled, unnamed heroine in this short, first novel by poet Ratner often lives in a fantasy world populated by singers such as Fabian, Bobby Rydell and Annette Funicello (the story takes place in the ’50s and ’60s). As for the character’s real life, school is boring, her parents are by turn overly solicitous or oblivious to her suffering, and she is convinced that her schoolmates make fun of her. It is only when confronted with an impending hospitalization that the heroine begins to grapple with her outside world, a process that coincides with the collapse of key parts of her fantasies. By the end of this evocative novel, the protagonist is on the road to recovery.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CHPbeta","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43707415950,"sku":"","price":9.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1475\/9808\/products\/Bobbys-Girl-RGB.jpg?v=1499210580"},{"product_id":"the-lions-share","title":"The Lion's Share","description":"\u003ch3 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #9a6372;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA novel by Rochelle Ratner\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003eJuly 1, 1991 • 5.5 x 8.5 • 176 pages • 978-0-918273-87-1\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eThe Lion’s Share\u003c\/em\u003e is an uncommon love story, a delving into the creative process, and a forum for issues of arts censorship and recovery from childhood sexual abuse.\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis story of late-blooming love, set against the obstacles of career, artistic expression and the scare of previous relationships, is closely observed and sensitively told. Living and breathing New York’s SoHo art scene, Jana, a career-minded painter has just met Ed, a soft-hearted arts funder. She is faced with juggling a budding relationship with her studio painting, and the biggest challenge in her tenure as the curator of a small art gallery.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe 34-year-old virgin could be ready to begin a serious relationship, but why is she suddenly bombarded with memories, dormant for so long, of a childhood summer in a camp infirmary? Ed may succeed in providing himself to Jana, but will his corporate employer interfere with her controversial art exhibition thereby destroying their already delicate relationship?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReviews\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"text\"\u003e“Dominating this story of a thirtysomething artist living in Manhattan is her struggle with healing the wounds left from being sexually abused as a child. Jana Replansky is a respected curator for the Paperworks Space (a successful, nonprofit gallery), a painter, and—a virgin. Early on in this quirky novel, she states emphatically, ‘Virginity—it isn’t a disease,’ but it has, in fact, become a burden. Enter Ed Gabrielli. The author explores themes dealing with censorship and the arts and the creative process. But primarily, Ratner chronicles the evolution of a contemporary, urban relationship—albeit quite an unusual one.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eBooklist\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Artist Jana Replensky seems to be battling the same problems as many women in modern society: a stressful job, unfulfilling relationships, and a need to find herself. As she tells Jana’s story, Ratner gives us a very intriguing look at the artistic community and how much art galleries are at the mercy of corporate businesses. . . . A very well-written look at the emotions and problems Jana has encountered, this is recommended for all public libraries.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003cem\u003eThe Lion’s Share\u003c\/em\u003e reads like an adult Judy Blume novel.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eNew York Newsday\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CHPbeta","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43707778126,"sku":"","price":10.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1475\/9808\/products\/Lions-Share.jpg?v=1499211036"}],"url":"https:\/\/coffeehousepress.org\/collections\/rochelle-ratner.oembed","provider":"Coffee House Press","version":"1.0","type":"link"}