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A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity
In a novel about drifting and reckless youth looking for a more permanent form of happiness, Whitney Otto transports us to San Francisco, a magical, fog-shrouded city suffused with possibility and restless energy. Her characters congregate night after night at a North Beach bar called the Youki Singe Tea Room, their lives conjoined by bonds of friendship and shared experience, and by the poignant realization that true ecstasy may be found only in surrendering oneself to someone or something else. A Collection of Beauties at the Height of Their Popularity explores the intricacies, the pain, and the rapture of human connection.
295 pages, Paperback
First published March 5, 2002
8 people are currently reading
341 people want to read
About the author
Whitney Otto
31 books103 followersWhitney Otto is the bestselling author of How to Make an American Quilt (which was made into a feature film), Now You See Her, and The Passion Dream Book. A native of California, she lives with her husband and son in Portland, Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
May 25, 2013
I liked this novel a lot... Read it ten years ago... Because San Francisco is my favorite American city or because I left my heart there, whatever the reason, I always enjoy very much books with plot set there... :)
January 11, 2021
I love novels about circles of young people, dreamers, would-be artists--books like Kerouac's Subterraneans (Beats, Bay Area), Robert Irwin's Exquisite Corpse (Surrealists, England), Emily Listfield's It was Gonna Be Like Paris (East Village, '70s), Roberto Bolano's The Savage Detectives (poets 1970s). I loved Patti Smith's Just Kids, Jean Stein's Edie--even 9th Street Women, a look at the the Abstract Expressionist women artists in New York in the '50s.
Whitney Otto's novel in stories is such a book--a gentle exploration of a group of young people, not artists in this case, but leading bohemian and barely-anchored lives in the San Francisco of the 199os, which she likens to the 'floating world' of ukiyo-e woodcuts, living for love and pleasure, in the moment of relationship, before their untethered state and the eddying currents of love and need begin to pull them off into other directions, their haunts lost. It's structured on the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, one of my very favorite books.
the novel is full of a richness of self-understanding and gentle irony, love of beauty, a group of young people working jobs so uninteresting they're not even mentioned. I liked so many of the insights into life as a twenty-something it was worth it just to remember things like this:
"She came to house-sitting with the same shrugging accident of fate that she brought to her various temp jobs. She often thought, as she sat in another vacated home that shew as tending, or at her desk (where she didn't need to bother to learn the names of the other employees since, again, she was only taking care of the job for a real employee), that this is houw you end up if you do not see to your own life... It was so easy to live up--or down--to the expectations of those around her. Every time she walked through thdoor of a new company, she was identified as a loser. Someone nit very bright... She knew people saw her asme sort of office machine. A rental of a different variety...
Much of the time she didn't care what they thought of her since it released hr from the treacherous and shifting loyalties of office friendships. She was not expected to be true or to deceive, sh lacked th esubstne for any sort of action. Layoffs did not affect her, or firings or changes of location, transfers, shakeups at the top, buyouts, mergers or anyone's ambitions."
What they care about is love, which often goes around in a round robin, as when Jelly (Jillian), a beauty who is always removed and never in love with anyone, falls for Pirouz, and marries him, because he wants to stay because he is ion love with Raffaela (Raphael), who is in love with Kit, who has always been in love with her best friend Jelly.
The difficulty with the book, which often bedevils books which follow a group, is that in the absence of a central character, we never become deeply attached to anyone in particular, and so aren't as emotionally involved as I wish I could have been. Impermanance is the great theme of the floating world, the cherry blossom which only lasts three days, the beauty and tragedy of these fleeting lives, yet I didn't know these people deeply enough to experience the sharp poignancy of that moment. But wonderfully written--and Otto moves to the big thoughts, her observations are funny and acute, the language deft and precise.
Whitney Otto's novel in stories is such a book--a gentle exploration of a group of young people, not artists in this case, but leading bohemian and barely-anchored lives in the San Francisco of the 199os, which she likens to the 'floating world' of ukiyo-e woodcuts, living for love and pleasure, in the moment of relationship, before their untethered state and the eddying currents of love and need begin to pull them off into other directions, their haunts lost. It's structured on the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, one of my very favorite books.
the novel is full of a richness of self-understanding and gentle irony, love of beauty, a group of young people working jobs so uninteresting they're not even mentioned. I liked so many of the insights into life as a twenty-something it was worth it just to remember things like this:
"She came to house-sitting with the same shrugging accident of fate that she brought to her various temp jobs. She often thought, as she sat in another vacated home that shew as tending, or at her desk (where she didn't need to bother to learn the names of the other employees since, again, she was only taking care of the job for a real employee), that this is houw you end up if you do not see to your own life... It was so easy to live up--or down--to the expectations of those around her. Every time she walked through thdoor of a new company, she was identified as a loser. Someone nit very bright... She knew people saw her asme sort of office machine. A rental of a different variety...
Much of the time she didn't care what they thought of her since it released hr from the treacherous and shifting loyalties of office friendships. She was not expected to be true or to deceive, sh lacked th esubstne for any sort of action. Layoffs did not affect her, or firings or changes of location, transfers, shakeups at the top, buyouts, mergers or anyone's ambitions."
What they care about is love, which often goes around in a round robin, as when Jelly (Jillian), a beauty who is always removed and never in love with anyone, falls for Pirouz, and marries him, because he wants to stay because he is ion love with Raffaela (Raphael), who is in love with Kit, who has always been in love with her best friend Jelly.
The difficulty with the book, which often bedevils books which follow a group, is that in the absence of a central character, we never become deeply attached to anyone in particular, and so aren't as emotionally involved as I wish I could have been. Impermanance is the great theme of the floating world, the cherry blossom which only lasts three days, the beauty and tragedy of these fleeting lives, yet I didn't know these people deeply enough to experience the sharp poignancy of that moment. But wonderfully written--and Otto moves to the big thoughts, her observations are funny and acute, the language deft and precise.
April 16, 2025
Part of my delight with this book stems from the fact that a few years back I started thinking about it (I read it around the time it was published), and couldn't, couldn't for the life of me recall the title. Found it, finally, through one of the Goodreads groups devoted to helping people with similar title amnesia (thank you!).
On the whole: it is a very *pretty* book. The characters, mostly kids in their late twenties, are pretty and more or less artistic; if not creating art, they turn themselves or their lives into art; they think beautiful thoughts, and sometimes live in poverty, but never in squalor. Don't get me wrong, it is a lovely thing to read if you're in your twenties and in love with certain lifestyle.
2025 update: I have, sadly, outgrew this book completely, but stills it reads as an idealised, not documentary, account of its time.
On the whole: it is a very *pretty* book. The characters, mostly kids in their late twenties, are pretty and more or less artistic; if not creating art, they turn themselves or their lives into art; they think beautiful thoughts, and sometimes live in poverty, but never in squalor. Don't get me wrong, it is a lovely thing to read if you're in your twenties and in love with certain lifestyle.
2025 update: I have, sadly, outgrew this book completely, but stills it reads as an idealised, not documentary, account of its time.
February 15, 2016
This is an interesting piece of "Modern Literature"..... poetic, waxing melancholia, & romantically depressing. The author earned rave reviews for "How to Make an American Quilt", which I did not read.
The beginning of each chapter offers us a B&W copy of a Ukiyo-e wood block prints and a brief explanation of the print the chapter that follows is likened to the story taking place in the print.
That being said; the book takes place in San Francisco with an odd group of friends 3-4 young women and one young man. One of the young woman is having a relationship w/ the young man and it all seems very casual..... Parties, drugs, and lethargic living.... people seemingly lost in a narcissistic culture.
I didn't like the characters, they had nothing to offer anyone..... they were shallow and uncaring people.
I would say that this book was a waste of my time, but as it filled the challenge requirement, it redeemed itself.
January 4, 2022
This book rocked my world when I was a junior in high school. It's interesting reading it so many years later; it almost became an examination of who I was (i.e., what was it that spoke so deeply to me?)
November 2, 2022
This book was, in and of itself, a floating world. I can best describe the imagery as… “tasteful?” This book reminded me, in the absolute best way possible, of red ink and bubblegum. A thick cloud of pink fog settles over San Francisco, and dare I call it bubbly? Whitney Otto’s work is airy and light and fun- sometimes a little too sweet. But even when it lost its flavor, it was still quite an enjoyable read. The inserts between each section of the Edo period artwork and beautiful descriptions made this story flow smoothly and added a unique twist, and the perspective was fascinating- unlike anything I’ve ever read. It’s delightful to read the tales of an artful circle of friends, for better or for worse, and each of their adventures left me with a great taste in my mouth. The story was rich, for lack of a better word. You come out of each chapter feeling full of knowledge and delight. I found myself so excited to pick it back up whenever I had a free moment. There is something truly relaxing about reading a story like this one, something I can’t completely describe but I hope you are able to try yourself. This book was quite a rollercoaster, but you come out of it feeling as if you could write your own novel on each the characters and the innerworkings of their thoughts. Additionally, it feels as if you understand just about everything there can be between a connection of the minds. Intriguing, delicious, and wonderfully descriptive- Whitney Otto crafts a world that is truly a beauty at the height of its popularity.
April 1, 2017
Whitney Otto writes this story as if it were a Japanese pillow book. She takes a modern story of a group of young people and relates it as if they are living in the Edo period in Japan, living in the Ukiyo, the Floating World.
This story does float. It has a dreamy, sleepy quality that draws you in and lingers in your mind. As I was reading this book, I thought it was just ok. But with some distance, I've never forgotten the mood and tone she sets and the stories she tells. I've come to realize this is really a wonderful book. The melancholy ending perfectly draws the story to a close. One cannot stay in the Floating World forever, as her characters come to realize, even if they are not ready to go.
This is a really lovely book. I've read it three times now.
This story does float. It has a dreamy, sleepy quality that draws you in and lingers in your mind. As I was reading this book, I thought it was just ok. But with some distance, I've never forgotten the mood and tone she sets and the stories she tells. I've come to realize this is really a wonderful book. The melancholy ending perfectly draws the story to a close. One cannot stay in the Floating World forever, as her characters come to realize, even if they are not ready to go.
This is a really lovely book. I've read it three times now.
May 10, 2011
Since I loved The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, I couldn't help but be interested in the idea of a book in which a character, Elodie, writes her own pillow book based on the ancient Japanese manuscript. The book gives snapshots of the character's lives, separated under title sections (some taken from Sei Shonagon). Elodie's notes revolve around her friends and acquaintances and their relationships. It makes for an interesting read.
September 2, 2018
A beautiful book showing a microcosm of life in San Francisco. It loosely links people and places and weaves beautiful Japanese history in the story.
August 22, 2020
Beautifully written. Garbage story.
August 11, 2023
It got better by the end when things started to connect. But what a chore to get to that point
December 5, 2023
Dreamy & transportive. A fun read.
October 15, 2014
I found this an odd book. Not just the format- vignettes loosely bound together, styled after a Japanese courtesan’s ‘pillow book’ from the Edo period , each vignette featuring a different member of a group of friends. Set in 1980s San Francisco, these friends are late 20 somethings, all well educated but none working in the field that they are educated for. They float through life; drinking, smoking pot and sometimes doing coke, attending art openings and going to restaurants but mainly meeting at the Youki Singe Tea Room, a North Beach dive where pot smoking is allowed- but only in a small room.
Elodie is the woman who sets the tales down. She writes only when in the Tea Room, leaving her notebooks there. The characters- the collection of beauties- seem to have no ambition, content to simply live like butterflies, pushed by the winds of life. Connections between them turn to love, break up, and realign. There is no real plot; it’s just events happening in the vignettes.
While reading the book, I didn’t much care for most of the characters. Which makes it odd that I later found myself thinking about them, and going back and rereading sections of the book. The prose is beautiful.The vignettes are like little jewels. The book is physically beautiful, too, illustrated mostly with old Japanese woodblock prints but with a couple of 20th century works. To read this book is enjoyable, even if I didn’t connect with most of the characters.
Elodie is the woman who sets the tales down. She writes only when in the Tea Room, leaving her notebooks there. The characters- the collection of beauties- seem to have no ambition, content to simply live like butterflies, pushed by the winds of life. Connections between them turn to love, break up, and realign. There is no real plot; it’s just events happening in the vignettes.
While reading the book, I didn’t much care for most of the characters. Which makes it odd that I later found myself thinking about them, and going back and rereading sections of the book. The prose is beautiful.The vignettes are like little jewels. The book is physically beautiful, too, illustrated mostly with old Japanese woodblock prints but with a couple of 20th century works. To read this book is enjoyable, even if I didn’t connect with most of the characters.
November 8, 2014
The author was trying way too hard to be clever. 'Oh I know about these obscure books, and these artists! Look at me look at me'
I could not differentiate between most of the characters, and spent way too much time flipping back to remind myself who was who. They were all so much the same, it bored me. They were one big character and that one big character was insubstantial. Which may have been one of the points she was making, but because she introduce too many characters, it all became annoying instead of being insightful.
(Also, It seemed like the author stuck in the characters of Max and James (was that their names? I am NOT going back to the book and flip through it to make sure) because she had to check off the HIV/AIDS box. 'Oh yeah, that was also going on then, too').
Just to be clear, I was in my 20s in the 80s. Perhaps I am being more critical because of this fact.
I could not differentiate between most of the characters, and spent way too much time flipping back to remind myself who was who. They were all so much the same, it bored me. They were one big character and that one big character was insubstantial. Which may have been one of the points she was making, but because she introduce too many characters, it all became annoying instead of being insightful.
(Also, It seemed like the author stuck in the characters of Max and James (was that their names? I am NOT going back to the book and flip through it to make sure) because she had to check off the HIV/AIDS box. 'Oh yeah, that was also going on then, too').
Just to be clear, I was in my 20s in the 80s. Perhaps I am being more critical because of this fact.
May 25, 2017
If I could paint this book's contents and frame it in my living room I would. It's that aesthetically pleasing. The world of these 20-something, 30-something friends in San Francisco, cloaked in ancient Edo culture, is minimalist chic.
The thing that they're all juxtaposed around, in opposition to, or headed for... is the concept of rooted permanence. But there's so much beauty in the empty room and the moving boxes- as well as the age old rooted cherry tree- isn't there?
A Collection of Beauties puts the pictures out there for us to look at.. turn around, from this perspective, and now that one- every one brilliant in its own way.
The thing that they're all juxtaposed around, in opposition to, or headed for... is the concept of rooted permanence. But there's so much beauty in the empty room and the moving boxes- as well as the age old rooted cherry tree- isn't there?
A Collection of Beauties puts the pictures out there for us to look at.. turn around, from this perspective, and now that one- every one brilliant in its own way.
November 9, 2015
I read this book the year I turned 30. It spoke to me as a single woman searching for my place in the world.
Really a collection of beautiful stories of 20 something people searching for love in whatever form they can get it in San Francisco in the 1980s. It talks of wanderlust and longing for things others have while projecting an image of disinterest in those same items. The characters are,for the most part, physically interconnected somehow, but all mentally connected.
Really a collection of beautiful stories of 20 something people searching for love in whatever form they can get it in San Francisco in the 1980s. It talks of wanderlust and longing for things others have while projecting an image of disinterest in those same items. The characters are,for the most part, physically interconnected somehow, but all mentally connected.
November 10, 2007
This book, much like her previous work, dealt with a group of people. This was a larger group, telling back-stories and side bits about a clique of party-people in San Francisco. Excellent in some parts, blah in others, it built up into a very interesting story and then.....finished with a whimper. The kind of ending where you re-read the last chapter, thinking that you *must* have missed something. Worth reading, but don't expect too much.
April 3, 2008
I bought this on the force of Otto's novel, "How To Make An American Quilt." I found it a less rosy tale, but along the same lines. The book covers the lives of several young women in their mid-twenties to thirties and the paths they take, sometimes brushing against each other as they wait for life to happen. It's an interesting and thought-provoking read, less beautifully written than Quilt, but still a strong offering.
April 22, 2009
Vignettes of underemployed twenty somethings who do not want to or can not grow up. I enjoyed that they did not bemoan their fate, though they sometimes questioned it. The central focus is a tea house in which they all gather before and after their nightly adventures. The setting is 1980s San Francisco. The whole Peter Pan / Lost Boys theme put this book close to my heart. Each chapter is introduced by a Japanese woodcut. Very well done, this book really clicked with me!
July 25, 2011
2003- It is impossible not to be transported back to the early 1980's in San Francisco while reading this book. The cast is huge, and we get to see only a small sliver of their lives...which is a bit annoying. We also don't have any or very little background on most of the characters as well. However, the book still is a good read, for it intertwines art and poetry into the daily events of the not yet ready to become full-fledged adults' lives.
November 25, 2011
This is without a doubt one of the best books I have ever read! It is lyrical, descriptive, and beautifully written. I would go so far as to say it was pure magic! This was an engaging read that now when I look back at my journal review I see that I had plans to purchase and I in fact have it on my bookshelf. As a writer it is inspirational to me! In fact I wrote that I needed to read it again. Amazing!
August 3, 2007
Maybe it's not fair for me to write a review for a book I haven't finished, but this is one I just had to put out to pasture. Right away when I began reading it, I thought to myself, "Well someone most certainly owns a word-a-day calendar.". It just felt like Otto was trying too hard or something. I don't know, something about the book was off kilter, and it just kept me from getting in to it.
July 10, 2010
This is one of my top 10 books. I read this when I was a new mother and I loved reading about the lives of hedonistic 20 somethings, with very few cares in the world. I liked Otto's narrative style which I thought very well represented the lives of her subjects, not linear but crazy. I would like to read this again and see how I feel about it.
March 22, 2007
Wonderful book--what I read of it. I love how Otto uses ancient Japanese paintings and lifestyles to shed light on a group of young San Franciscans--a great cross-fertilization.
Alas, the evil, evil New York library took it back before I could finish.
Alas, the evil, evil New York library took it back before I could finish.
June 27, 2008
Admittedly, this book is mostly atmosphere than substance, but it's beautiful atmosphere, thoughtfully written. I liked this novel far better than "How to make an American quilt"... but perhaps it was more my ability to empathize with the characters and their lives.
March 20, 2009
A book that makes some interesting contrasts. I found all the characters and all the history fascinating and very different--hard to explain but people and times that I would not have linked together.
June 2, 2009
I thought all the different vignettes in the book really created a taste for the culture in the story. I loved how all the characters had their little history, and how everybody's overlapped somwhere, somehow.
December 23, 2010
A good friend gave me this book and I was completely entranced. I've never encountered writing like this, and Otto's ability to weave a beautiful visual story with abstract thoughts is completely mindblowing.
February 7, 2012
I'd probably stop short of "amazing" -- but this is the best book I have read in quite some time. Beautiful prose, and some poignant insights into relationships. The Japanese woodblock prints did not seem to be tightly coupled with the story line, but maybe that is just my cultural ignorance.
September 4, 2012
Wonderfully written prose. Characters are all educated, struggling to affluent, drifting in their late 20s/ early 30s. Instead of doing something, many of them are merely content to see and be seen on the fringes of San Francisco's art scene.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews