The dark side of poetry

It is a storyline growing rapidly in popularity -- woman A is young, single and sophisticated but an inexperienced woman who lands a prime job -- as an assistant to the older Woman B, who is the top dog at her craft: a magazine editor, multi-millionaire businesswoman, world-renowned artist and so on. If Woman A does a competent job as assistant to Woman B, her lofty career goals may be realized.\nAs the book progresses, however, Woman A finds Woman B is incredibly hard to please, and she is being asked to do things that go above and beyond her job description. Finally, Woman A reaches a breaking point and tells Woman B to screw herself. The story broaches the question, "What is more important, self-dignity or career advancement opportunities?"\n"Apprentice to the Flower Poet Z" by Debra Weinstein uses this basic plot. The protagonist, Annabelle, is going to school in the 1980s to study poetry. Her university is never named, but anyone familiar with the modern poetry world soon realizes upon reading the novel that it is based at NYU. She soon lands a job as a research assistant to the famous (or infamous) poet named, simply, "Z." Z's claim to fame is a series of poetry about flowers, (for example, "O buried ovary in the body of the flower … O buried flower!"), and she entrusts Annabelle to gather research for her new book of flower poetry.\nIt is a well-known fact that the literary world is fiercely competitive, and its forerunners are perfectionistic and very hard to please. Z is no exception. She presses Annabelle to a breaking point, asking her to research more and more obscure topics ("Annabelle, research all women poets names 'Jane.'") and assigning her to do more things not in Annabelle's job description, such as advising her daughter, Claire.\nSave for the characters and setting, this plot is virtually identical to Lauren Wiesburger's 2002 book, "The Devil Wears Prada," where Annabelle's character was named Andrea, and Z was the editor of a glamorous fashion magazine, Miranda. In fact, Publishers Weekly did a review of "Flower Poet Z," telling the reader "the devil wears tweed" in this novel.\nDespite a possible lack of originality, Weinstein's novel was indeed funny. Anyone who is familiar with the literary community can appreciate the backstabbing and conniving that go on in the English department of so many universities. And any reader of James Joyce will love Annabelle's neurotic boyfriend, Harry, who in order to gain inspiration for his novel, wants her to reenact kinky love letters Joyce wrote to his wife, Nora.\nAt one point, he bought her a pair of gloves and asked her to walk around wearing nothing but the gloves and heels, saying over and over, "Dear Mr. Joyce, how can I thank you for your kindness the box of gloves which you sent me are lovely and a splendid fit." This, coincidentally, is the text of the letter Nora Joyce wrote back to her husband. \nThe most redeeming factor of "Flower Poet Z" is the cast of characters. The reader learns much about the poetry world, and the characters are interesting studies in academic egotism and are often extremely eccentric. They are writers, after all. Every character in the novel is fascinating. From Z's husband who is trying to upstage her by writing an epic poem to Annabelle's therapist who believes poetry is Annabelle's way to hide her emotions, not release them, Weinstein makes them all come to life. \nOne flaw of the novel lies in the setup of villianizing Z. Throughout the first three-fourths of the novel, Annabelle and Z get along great, in a mother/daughterlike relationship. Z is constantly complimenting Annabelle on her floral descriptions, and Annabelle's efficiency in being Z's assistant earns her a higher standing in the English department. It is not until more than halfway through the novel their relationship starts to deterioriate, and by that time, the reader has grown attached to Z. Instead of being sympathetic to Annabelle, the reader is sympathetic to Z, as well. Perhaps this is the way Weinstein intended it to be, but it doesn't flow right.\nOverall, the novel provides good entertainment, if only for light reading. It is feasible to finish this 256-page novel in a couple of sittings. And at the $23.95 cover price, it would be more economically responsible to wait until the paperback is released.\n"Apprentice to the Flower Poet Z: a Novel" by Debra Weinstein is available in hardback at Border's, Barnes and Noble and Book Corner for $23.95. www.Amazon.com sells it for 30 percent off the cover price at $16.77.