A vivid, imaginative response to the sensual and erotic in postwar
American photography, with attention to the beauty of the nude,
both male and female When photographer Coda Gray befriends a family
with a special interest in a young boy, the motivation behind his
special attention is difficult to grasp, “like water slipping
through our fingers.” Can a man innocently love a boy who is not
his own? Using fiction to reveal the truths about families,
communities, art objects, love, and mourning, Like a Lake tells the
story of ten-year-old Nico, who lives with his father (an Italian-
American architect) and his mother (a Japanese-American sculptor
who learned how to draw while interned during World War II). Set in
the 1960s, this is a story of aesthetic perfection waiting to be
broken. Nico’s midcentury modern house, with its Italian pottery
jars along the outside and its interior lit by Japanese lanterns.
The elephant-hide gray, fiberglass reinforced plastic 1951 Eames
rocking chair, with metal legs and birch runners. Clam consommé
with kombu, giant kelp, yuzu rind, and a little fennel—in each
bowl, two clams opened like a pair of butterflies, symbols of the
happy couple. Nico’s boyish delight in developing photographs
under the red safety light of Coda’s “Floating Zendo”— the
darkroom boat that he keeps on Lake Tahoe. The lives of Nico, his
parents, and Coda embody northern California’s postwar landscape,
giving way to fissures of alternative lifestyles and poetic
visions. Author Carol Mavor addresses the sensuality and complexity
of a son’s love for his mother and that mother’s own erotic
response to it. The relationship between the mother and son is
paralleled by what it means for a boy to be a model for a male
photographer and to be his muse. Just as water can freeze into snow
and ice, melt back into water, and steam, love takes on new forms
with shifts of atmosphere. Like a Lake’s haunting images and
sensations stay with the reader.
General
Imprint: |
Fordham University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
October 2020 |
Authors: |
Carol Mavor
|
Dimensions: |
216 x 140 x 20mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover - Cloth
|
Pages: |
144 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8232-8932-5 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-8232-8932-X |
Barcode: |
9780823289325 |
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