Word: ginger
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There is nothing Donleavy enjoys more than spoofing the follies of polite society. He has had some time to observe these, having fled the hopelessly declasse shores of New York City, his birthplace, to more genteel echelons in Ireland. His first novel, The Ginger Man, instantly revealed an affection for the upper classes and their dirty linen. In creating Sebastian Dangerfield, dissolute hero and impoverished aristocrat, Donleavy unleashed one of the most charming rogues of twentieth century English literature--suave, jaunty, devilishly...
...this irreverence suggests that Donleavy is himself a sort of Sebastian Dangerfield, and in fact The Ginger Man was written with highly autobiographical intentions. In the 25 years since its publication, however, Donleavy has changed considerably. The dandyish narrator of The Unexpurgated Code is far removed from Donleavy the young novelist...
...Ginger Man, though essentially comic in tone, possesses a real undercurrent of melancholy, a curious gaelic sentimentality, which always qualifies the humor Dangerfield's existence is stifled; all he wants is "ease and comfort and quiet," but that is denied him throughout his rakish wanderings and loveless manipulations of others. As he becomes more and more desirous of this unfettered contentment, he is increasingly desperate and pressed to make ends meet. Ultimately he begins to see the folly and waste of this pursuit, and is saved from financial desperation by the improbable intercession of a wealthy friend...
...philosophical pronouncements of each character, rescuing the production from pomposity or soap-opera sentimentality. David Moore's ultra-modern set is a nice consequence of this update; the usual drawback of a one-room set--visual boredom--is offset by diverse and dramatic lighting by Chris Stone and Ginger Thomson...
...dance, again the odds heavily favor the Russians, who will send three couples to Innsbruck-the 1-2-3 finishers in the European championships. The best are Ludmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorskov, a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers...