Tuesday Nights in 1980

By: Molly Prentiss

Narrated by: George Newbern

“An intoxicating Manhattan fairy tale…As affecting as it is absorbing. A thrilling debut.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A vital, sensuous, edgy, and suspenseful tale of longing, rage, fear, compulsion, and love.” —Booklist (starred review)

A transcendent debut novel that follows a critic, an artist, and a desirous, determined young woman as they find their way—and ultimately collide—amid the ever-evolving New York City art scene of the 1980s.

Welcome to SoHo at the onset of the eighties: a gritty, not-yet-gentrified playground for artists and writers looking to make it in the big city. Among them: James Bennett, a synesthetic art critic for the New York Times whose unlikely condition enables him to describe art in profound, magical ways, and Raul Engales, an exiled Argentinian painter running from his past and the Dirty War that has enveloped his country. As the two men ascend in the downtown arts scene, dual tragedies strike, and each is faced with a loss that acutely affects his relationship to life and to art. It is not until they are inadvertently brought together by Lucy Olliason—a small town beauty and Raul’s muse—and a young orphan boy sent mysteriously from Buenos Aires, that James and Raul are able to rediscover some semblance of what they’ve lost.

As inventive as Jennifer Egan's A Visit From The Goon Squad and as sweeping as Meg Wolitzer's The Interestings, Tuesday Nights in 1980 boldly renders a complex moment when the meaning and nature of art is being all but upended, and New York City as a whole is reinventing itself. In risk-taking prose that is as powerful as it is playful, Molly Prentiss deftly explores the need for beauty, community, creation, and love in an ever-changing urban landscape.

Quirky charming funny & ultimately beautiful

Prose that blossoms inside a story that's unique yet resonates. And the reader 'gets' it - everything about it - including what it means to love art & how that works to create love & make everyone more human. Lovely

Exercise in metaphor

Prentiss is fluent in figures of speech but many are stretched and call attention to themselves rather than advancing the story. If a reader is interested in parodies of the modern art market in NYC, the book might interest . I found the plot and characters predictable. Even the reader had satire in his voice making it a challenge to take the story seriously

Full of stuff I wanted to know

Would you consider the audio edition of Tuesday Nights in 1980 to be better than the print version?

First of all, kudos to Molly Prentiss for putting together an enormously interesting book. However, in some cases it was so overwrought, it seemed like a soap opera that tries to make the slightest bit of drama and one well written line last for 30 minutes. Too much of that. Still, the story was engaging and I learned a little about a fascinating art world.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character was the art world. As I said, some of the relationship stuff dragged on way, way, way too long because the particpants were reduced to excessively self-absorbed idiots who couldn't put a sentence together. Maybe Prentiss intended to reveal their overwhelming narcissistic fantasies but listening forever to someone's immature interiority is hard work for the reader/listener.

What does George Newbern bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He was a great narrator. I didn't read the book so I don't know if he added nuance I might have otherwise missed.

Who was the most memorable character of Tuesday Nights in 1980 and why?

Did you already ask me that?

Any additional comments?

I really recommend this book.

Brilliant

I think it is an amazing story. It got me into it the whole time. I learned several new words and it actually helped me with some thoughts I had to figure out. The narrative was delightful