'Girls' Poker Night: A Novel of High Stakes'
By: Jill A. Davis
(Paperback / 240 Pages / Random House (Paper) / ISBN: 081296683X / $10.95)
Description:When journalist Ruby Capote decides to flee boring Boston for the bright lights and hopefully more exciting world of New York City, she discovers love is still the same challenge it was in Bean Town. By turns endearing, funny and downright irritating, Capote ends one relationship with the annoying but handsome Doug and begins another with her editor boss Michael, all the while mulling things over with her circle of female poker pals.
Verdict: Ms. Davis used to write for David Letterman, and it shows. The book consists of short pieces, with titles like "A Bad Case of Dumb-Ass," clever riffs about childhood memories interspersed with current plot lines about Michael and accounts of Ruby's sessions with her crafty therapist Ella. The vignettes are off-the-wall, subtle, funny and bittersweet. The spare style works especially well for the more painful revelations that begin in the middle of the book. Because Ruby really does want to grow up. But to do so she has to confront her pain over the loss of her father, first by divorce, then by car accident (that some say was suicide). After all that she's lost, she has to learn to choose risk.
In the end, 'GIRLS' POKER NIGHT' is more than just funny. It's also very moving. Ruby achieves a true transformation, and by the time she goes to see Randy, a chubby, gay, Jewish psychic who's been with his boyfriend for 32 years, you'll find yourself agreeing with her on many a topic!
Reviewed By Sarah Hickson
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