The Girls of Cincinnati begins with a zinger of a one liner. “Anyway, I hired her.” I actually thought for a moment that I had missed something that came before. When I realized that it was what came after, I was hooked. The “I” in question is Eli Brilliant, and the “her” is Sonja Frick, a psychic, and possibly psychotic, telemarketer. Eli, the manager of the telemarketers in a carpet store, hires Sonja despite the fact that she threatens his would-be girlfriend, Stephanie Eaton. Eli and Stephanie broke up eight months earlier, after she proposed marriage, which Eli declined for fear that his acting career would be sublimated to working in the Eaton family business. He realizes his mistake, especially after he spends several months in New York City, trying unsuccessfully to be an actor, and possibly murdering a man who was beating his son on the street. Eli has returned to Cincinnati with his tail between his legs. Stephanie, who went to California during that time, has returned having had “experiences” outside her sheltered rich-girl life.
Cincinnati is enhanced by the secondary characters, notably Fat Jack, a salesman at the carpet store who continually berates Eli about work, while also trying to play matchmaker with Stephanie. He, along with Eli, provides a jaded view of the business world, one in which business is always failing. At one point, Eli comes into work and finds Going Out of Business signs in the window. He is both sad and relieved, perhaps because he would at that point be forced into change, but Fat Jack explains that this is just another way to sell, and the business is fine.
The story is part character sketch and part social commentary, all written with a tongue-in-cheek flair. The story has a less modern feel to it, as if the characters are living in the 1950’s rather than today. Eli chases women, or rather, they chase him, but he doesn’t seem to mind. Quite a few different women wind up in his bed “by accident” or at least after Eli tries to tell them they can’t come home with him. Of course for most women, as soon as a man professes his disinterest for them, that whets their appetites, making them want him all the more. Perhaps this is the strategy Eli uses, albeit unconsciously.
Eli is an interesting mixture. He is a modern man, not unwilling to sleep with pretty much any woman around, but he professes disdain for most of these women, especially those from Kentucky, who are, in his mind, low class. Eli finds most women “moody” but seems almost fascinated by their moodiness. Marie, one of his telemarketers, doesn’t speak to him for weeks, and he is intrigued as to the reasons behind this. Sonja is genuinely crazy, and yet Eli hesitates to fire her, for fear of what she might do, especially to Stephanie. Eli is very passive, allowing life to happen around him, but unwilling to do anything to choose his path. This is frustrating to the other characters of the story, all of whom want Eli to make a choice; a career choice, a marriage choice, any choice at all.
On the whole, I found this story to be a fascinating one. It is written without frills, in a rhythm that is smooth and lacking in melodrama. The big events of the story are told without overstating the obvious, and without any sappy emotional scenes. It is refreshing to read a story that is boiled down, one that doesn’t get itself mired in extraneous information or analysis. I would recommend this book to all readers.
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