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Cleans Up Nicely
The story of one gifted young woman's path from self-destruction to self-knowledge, set in mid-1970s Manhattan, from addiction to recovery. Set in the l970's in New York City, when it was possible for a young artist to find a cheap apartment. The book is immersed in the dangerous, decadent and creative world of New York City, and one woman's need to do her art, even as drink and drugs are pulling her down. An unexpected ending shows how desperation can lead to hope and sobriety.
228 pages, Paperback
First published July 25, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 2, 2017
This book did not hold my attention and as I kept trying to read it and make sense of it, I just lost interest and did not finish. This is highly unusual, but it does happen. Sorry.
September 22, 2013
Artist Erica Mason moves to New York, after an idyllic time spent in Mexico, exploring that art scene and moving past it.
"Cleans Up Nicely" opens in 1977, with Erica showing us what her life looks like after. Told in her first person narration, we see that she has "cleaned up nicely," but the path is a new one. And she feels the disparity between her life now and the "outsides" of the life of Addie McC, who lives in a luxury building. And who is a member of AA, this new world Erica is navigating.
Flash back to the early 1970s, and the story reverts to a third-person narrative from Erica's perspective, revealing the slow slide down to her "bottom."
The trip down would not be a straight path. There would be many ups and downs, and whenever she almost seems to have an epiphany, the trickery of denial will insert itself, reminding her that she just needs to control her drinking and using. And she does. For a time.
The reader sees the moments of exhilaration, the fun, the conviviality of the drinking culture that is like a euphoric high that keeps Erica going back for more. What Erica wants to ignore, and even push away from consideration, are the occasional blackouts that occur with greater frequency. And how her behavior dramatically changes, turning her into a person she does not recognize.
What will ultimately penetrate Erica's denial? How will she finally accept what is happening to her? And will she find her way to sobriety, while still retaining her creativity?
Before her realization, however, an awareness begins to creep in:
"Lying back on the chaise longue with wine, Erica confirms the truth for herself: the relief of drinking! Then, by the fifth or sixth glass, she remembers another truth, the one she always forgets until it is too late. Which is, oh shit, not again! Because once again, not intending to, she has overdone it; she is captive once more to the bottle. And all she can do is drain the thing dry and wake up with the hangover of her greed, her weak will, her shameful lust for the stuff...here she is again, lost in the desert of drunkenness. Ending in some pointless fall, some crying jag, some late-night phone calls. God help her if she goes out on the streets."
The author has created very true-to-life characters that bring into focus the scenes in this story, reminding me of the times in which they are living. As if I were there with them. Sometimes I feel as though I am those characters, and the slide downward is mine. I almost inhabit their worlds. The bottoming out process is described with such accuracy, revealing much about the author's ability to explore that universe. A compelling and captivating five star read.
"Cleans Up Nicely" opens in 1977, with Erica showing us what her life looks like after. Told in her first person narration, we see that she has "cleaned up nicely," but the path is a new one. And she feels the disparity between her life now and the "outsides" of the life of Addie McC, who lives in a luxury building. And who is a member of AA, this new world Erica is navigating.
Flash back to the early 1970s, and the story reverts to a third-person narrative from Erica's perspective, revealing the slow slide down to her "bottom."
The trip down would not be a straight path. There would be many ups and downs, and whenever she almost seems to have an epiphany, the trickery of denial will insert itself, reminding her that she just needs to control her drinking and using. And she does. For a time.
The reader sees the moments of exhilaration, the fun, the conviviality of the drinking culture that is like a euphoric high that keeps Erica going back for more. What Erica wants to ignore, and even push away from consideration, are the occasional blackouts that occur with greater frequency. And how her behavior dramatically changes, turning her into a person she does not recognize.
What will ultimately penetrate Erica's denial? How will she finally accept what is happening to her? And will she find her way to sobriety, while still retaining her creativity?
Before her realization, however, an awareness begins to creep in:
"Lying back on the chaise longue with wine, Erica confirms the truth for herself: the relief of drinking! Then, by the fifth or sixth glass, she remembers another truth, the one she always forgets until it is too late. Which is, oh shit, not again! Because once again, not intending to, she has overdone it; she is captive once more to the bottle. And all she can do is drain the thing dry and wake up with the hangover of her greed, her weak will, her shameful lust for the stuff...here she is again, lost in the desert of drunkenness. Ending in some pointless fall, some crying jag, some late-night phone calls. God help her if she goes out on the streets."
The author has created very true-to-life characters that bring into focus the scenes in this story, reminding me of the times in which they are living. As if I were there with them. Sometimes I feel as though I am those characters, and the slide downward is mine. I almost inhabit their worlds. The bottoming out process is described with such accuracy, revealing much about the author's ability to explore that universe. A compelling and captivating five star read.
October 4, 2013
In this new century's second decade, a growing fascination with the Manhattan low-life of the 1970s is emerging, judging from the recent publication of memoirs by James Wolcott, Edmund White and other diarists of the island's seemy Fun City era.
A significant new contribution to this genre is Linda Dahl's Cleans Up Nicely, sequel to the author's 2010 novel Gringa in a Strange Land. Readers will recall Dahl's protag, Erica Mason, as the self-centred midwestern college kid who seemed to absorb a few lessons in living and art -- but only a few -- while dispensing her random kvetching and passive-aggressive confrontations in an ex-pat Mexican hippie colony.
This installment finds a marginally more mature Ms. Mason attempting to flog her portfolio in a far more primitive environment than rural Guanajuato. That would be the City That Never Sleeps, as it then was, being the early dawn of the punk and disco cavalcade. Little Old New York, under economic, racial and cultural duress, still offers up enticements to newcomers, such as barely affordable rooms, the potential of attaining a low-paying job, and a colorful crowd not necessarily attached to the financial services sector -- not to mention the quantities of alcohol, dope and casual sex that sustain the scene and its denizens, and would become emblematic of the time and place.
Our picaresca, Erica, crosses 110th Street with sketchbook in purse, doodling others and herself in a shifting series of group portraits. Dahl's present-tense writing matches the tempo of the time, to an implied soundtrack of the previous generation of Manhattan jazzmen and jazzwomen. Her prose is no less confident than in her previous novel, but sharper and offered with greater immediacy. It is a rewarding continuation of Erica's tale, a completely satisfying and recommendable companion to the books by Wolcott, White, and cohort.
A significant new contribution to this genre is Linda Dahl's Cleans Up Nicely, sequel to the author's 2010 novel Gringa in a Strange Land. Readers will recall Dahl's protag, Erica Mason, as the self-centred midwestern college kid who seemed to absorb a few lessons in living and art -- but only a few -- while dispensing her random kvetching and passive-aggressive confrontations in an ex-pat Mexican hippie colony.
This installment finds a marginally more mature Ms. Mason attempting to flog her portfolio in a far more primitive environment than rural Guanajuato. That would be the City That Never Sleeps, as it then was, being the early dawn of the punk and disco cavalcade. Little Old New York, under economic, racial and cultural duress, still offers up enticements to newcomers, such as barely affordable rooms, the potential of attaining a low-paying job, and a colorful crowd not necessarily attached to the financial services sector -- not to mention the quantities of alcohol, dope and casual sex that sustain the scene and its denizens, and would become emblematic of the time and place.
Our picaresca, Erica, crosses 110th Street with sketchbook in purse, doodling others and herself in a shifting series of group portraits. Dahl's present-tense writing matches the tempo of the time, to an implied soundtrack of the previous generation of Manhattan jazzmen and jazzwomen. Her prose is no less confident than in her previous novel, but sharper and offered with greater immediacy. It is a rewarding continuation of Erica's tale, a completely satisfying and recommendable companion to the books by Wolcott, White, and cohort.
October 19, 2013
"She feels like she's in some sort of slow free fall, a bird whose wings can barely flap, a parachute with frayed cord."
This quote seems to exemplify the writing and feel of "Cleans Up Nicely." The novel pulled me into Erica's slow fall to the bottom, kept me with her through each lover, each interlude with cocaine, each drink, and of course, every painting. Linda Dahl does a fantastic job of writing the paintings; the characters come alive and the art finds a way to be seen through the words. The way the book portrays Erica's alcoholism is spot-on, resulting in her becoming an entirely believable character.
This quote seems to exemplify the writing and feel of "Cleans Up Nicely." The novel pulled me into Erica's slow fall to the bottom, kept me with her through each lover, each interlude with cocaine, each drink, and of course, every painting. Linda Dahl does a fantastic job of writing the paintings; the characters come alive and the art finds a way to be seen through the words. The way the book portrays Erica's alcoholism is spot-on, resulting in her becoming an entirely believable character.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews