The Queen of Tuesday by Darin Strauss

The Queen of Tuesday by Darin Strauss

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

1.5 Stars rounded up.

I realize that this book is fiction, and most l likely, I am not of the age group that this book is recommended to. I am 63, so I practically grew up with Lucy and Ricky. The re-runs at least! So I was genuinely thrilled to be allowed to preview this book and voice my opinion.

Unfortunately, my opinion is that if you 'grew up' with Lucy stay away from this book or at least learn about what you are getting into first.

This book is mainly about sex -obsessing about it, talking about it, thinking about it, performing it. It is gritty, and in this book, unpleasant, at least for me.

So much artistic license was taken with this book, the mistakes in Mr. Strauss's research, having the main story about an affair that Mr. Strauss's grandfather had (this was most of the fictional part) and the coarseness of the writing, language, and the stalker/obsessor theme. The fact that Mr. Strauss tried to make this a literary masterpiece and, in my opinion, that he has woefully fallen short of the mark adds to my dissatisfaction with this novel.



I might suggest that you try taking this out from your local library if you choose to read The Queen of Tuesday.

*ARC supplied by the publisher and author.


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SYNOPSIS: From the award-winning, bestselling author of Chang & Eng and Half a Life, a new novel about Lucille Ball, a thrilling love story starring Hollywood’s first true media mogul, and an epic multi-layered look at America’s most fascinating era.
This indelible romance begins with a daring conceit—that the author’s grandfather may have had an affair with Lucille Ball. Strauss offers a fresh view of a celebrity America loved more than any other.
Lucille Ball—the most powerful woman in the history of Hollywood—starred in America’s first big-time interracial marriage. She owned more movie sets than did any movie studio. And she more or less single-handedly created the modern TV business. And yet Lucille’s off-camera life was in disarray. While acting out a happy marriage for millions, in private she suffered. Her partner couldn’t stay faithful. She struggled to manage her fame with the demands of being a mother, a creative genius, an entrepreneur, and, most of all, a symbol.
The Queen of Tuesday—Strauss’s follow-up to the National Book Critics Circle Award winner Half a Life—mixes fact and fiction, memoir and novel, to imagine the provocative story of a woman we thought we knew.