NORRIS CHURCH MAILER

Norris Church fue a Nueva York por primera vez para ver a Norman Mailer, con quien vivía una tórrida relación amorosa. Quien se convertiría en su sexta y última esposa presenta a un Norman Mailer muy distinto al "enfant terrible" desquiciado y agresivo que evocó su segunda mujer.

Norris Church Mailer triumphantly returns to the page with this breezy, hilarious novel of discovery and destiny. Set against the backdrop of 1970s New York City, Cheap Diamonds follows a sweet young girl from the South who risks it all to fulfill her hearts desire. Cherry Marshall seeks a life beyond the confines of her Arkansas world. Sweet Valley was not the place for a girl with stars in her eyes, and I had stars big enough to blind me. Leaving behind all the comforts-and problems-of home, she sets out to enter the New York modeling world at the advanced age of twenty-two. At five-twelve, with unusually white eyebrows, the platinum-blond beauty may be a little too unique to fit in with the latest crop of all-American girls dominating the magazines of the era. Yet aided by her Southern smarts, her drive, and a touch of country naivete, Cherry finds herself in the right place at the right time-and with all the right people. Theres makeup artist Salvador, who moonlights as Miss Sally ; Suzan Hartman, a model turned agency head and fellow Arkansan; Mrs. Digby, Cherrys eccentric landlady, a former Ziegfeld girl; Aurelius, a saxophonist and neighbor who piques Cherrys romantic interests; and Lale, a hunk from back home who skipped out on his fiancee, Cherrys friend Cassie, to become an underwear model.It all unfolds like a dream-this new world where men have boyfriends, and paintings of soup cans pass for art. As Cherrys star begins to rise, she finds herself at Maxs Kansas City among Andy Warhols glamorous crowd, dining at Elaines, and drawing the attention of high society. But their sophisticated, sometimes shallow ways are often at odds with Cherrys homegrown values. The line between right and wrong blurs, and the ingenue will discover how far shes willing to go to stay on top.Mailer vividly captures a thrilling era when New York City was the burgeoning center of art and fashion, when being young and beautiful was the only currency one needed for survival. Smartly written, full of humor and hope, Cheap Diamonds reminds us that no matter where we travel in life, we are never very far from home.From the Hardcover edition.

A CAPTIVATING READ . . . WINDCHILL SUMMER HAS ALL THE ELEMENTS. . . . A LITTLE MYSTERY, SOME HUMOR,[AND] A DASH OF CHARM.The Denver PostWONDERFULLY SATISFYING AND APPEALING . . . Its the summer of 1969 in a place called Sweet Valley, Arkansas. Cherry and Baby [are] soon to be college seniors at the dinky university just a few miles away. . . . It all looks like a pleasant, predictable American life, but a long second look reveals that things arent exactly what they seem to be. . . . [Mailer] loves her characters, and we fall in love with them, too.The Washington Post Book WorldIN GENTLY ROLLING SOUTHERN CADENCES, MAILER CAPTURES THE HORMONAL UPS AND DOWNS OF YOUNG WOMEN TEETERING ON THE VERGE OF ADULTHOOD.Entertainment WeeklyTHIS WINSOME COMING-OF-AGE NOVEL OFFERS MUCH TO MANY. Cherry, the narrator, is my kind of woman: good-looking, straight-talking, and able to describe what its like to get amorous when youre wearing ten thousand petticoats. Most important, shes willing to decide for herself whats true.ELIZABETH BERGSMOOTHLY WRITTEN, SWEETLY SENTIMENTAL.The New York Times Book Review

Norris Church Mailer triumphantly returns to the page with this breezy, hilarious novel of discovery and destiny. Set against the backdrop of 1970s New York City, Cheap Diamonds follows a sweet young girl from the South who risks it all to fulfill her hearts desire. Cherry Marshall seeks a life beyond the confines of her Arkansas world. Sweet Valley was not the place for a girl with stars in her eyes, and I had stars big enough to blind me. Leaving behind all the comfortsand problemsof home, she sets out to enter the New York modeling world at the advanced age of twenty-two. At five-twelve, with unusually white eyebrows, the platinum-blond beauty may be a little too unique to fit in with the latest crop of all-American girls dominating the magazines of the era. Yet aided by her Southern smarts, her drive, and a touch of country naivete, Cherry finds herself in the right place at the right timeand with all the right people. Theres makeup artist Salvador, who moonlights as Miss Sally; Suzan Hartman, a model turned agency head and fellow Arkansan; Mrs. Digby, Cherrys eccentric landlady, a former Ziegfeld girl; Aurelius, a saxophonist and neighbor who piques Cherrys romantic interests; and Lale, a hunk from back home who skipped out on his fiancee, Cherrys friend Cassie, to become an underwear model.It all unfolds like a dreamthis new world where men have boyfriends, and paintings of soup cans pass for art. As Cherrys star begins to rise, she finds herself at Maxs Kansas City among Andy Warhols glamorous crowd, dining at Elaines, and drawing the attention of high society. But their sophisticated, sometimes shallow ways are often at odds with Cherrys homegrown values. The line between right and wrong blurs, and the ingenue will discover how far shes willing to go to stay on top.Mailer vividly captures a thrilling era when New York City was the burgeoning center of art and fashion, when being young and beautiful was the only currency one needed for survival. Smartly written, full of humor and hope, Cheap Diamonds reminds us that no matter where we travel in life, we are never very far from home.

BONUS: This edition contains an A Ticket to the Circus discussion guide.In this revealing memoir, told with southern charm and wit, Norris Church Mailer depicts the full evolution of her colorful lifefrom her childhood in a small Arkansas town all the way through her intense thirty-three-year marriage with Norman Mailer and his heartbreaking death. She met Norman by chance while in her early twenties and they fell in love in one night. Theirs was a marriage full of friendship, betrayal, doubts, understanding, challenges, and deep, complicated, lifelong passion. The couples New York parties were legendary, and their social circle included such luminaries as Jacqueline Kennedy, Truman Capote, and Gore Vidal. Complete with the couples intimate letters, this candid and unforgettable memoir is a great American love story.