The Magician's Assistant

357 pages

English language

Published Sept. 14, 1998 by Harcourt Brace.

ISBN:
978-0-15-600621-7
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OCLC Number:
39960020

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3 stars (10 reviews)

When Parsifal, a handsome and charming magician, dies suddenly, his widow Sabine—who was also his faithful assistant for twenty years—learns that the family he claimed to have lost in a tragic accident is very much alive and well. Sabine is left to unravel his secrets, and the journey she takes from sunny Los Angeles to the bitter windswept plains of Nebraska will work its own magic on her.

3 editions

Review of "The Magician's Assistant" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Three and a half stars. I enjoyed this imaginative novel, beautifully written by Ann Patchett.

The story is written from the point of view of Sabine, who had been the assistant of Parsifal the Magician for a couple decades. Theirs was a very close, unusual relationship. After Parsifal dies, Sabine's grief is complicated by all that he has deliberately left unsaid during their many years together.

I enjoyed Sabine's dreams, most of which were conversations with Phan, who had been Parsifal's lover before falling ill with AIDS. These nighttime visits are both flashbacks of good memories and soothing comfort for Sabine. So even though Phan has died offstage, before this novel begins, he is still a presence in Sabine's life, as well.

As the novel begins, she is newly alone in a sprawling, majestic home in Los Angeles, when she begins to learn things about Parsifal that he's kept back, …

Review of "The Magician's Assistant" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

3.5 stars.

The main character, Sabine, is very talented. Among her talents: stage magic, performance, fine carpet sales, and architecture. However, she lacks the insight, the confidence, and the ability to reflect on her motivations, behavior, and desires that would be necessary for her to explore and develop her talents -- and her life and independence -- to their fullest. Thus she is a magician's assistant, not a magician; she builds architectural models to others' specifications, but is not an architect; and she has spent 20 years in love with, in a platonic relationship with, and eventually married to a gay man -- the magician she assists -- who is very happy with a long-term partner who is pointedly unlike her in every way. She doesn't know herself at all. (Frankly, I really wanted to pack her off to a therapist who would help her develop a little bit of …

Review of "The Magician's Assistant" on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I've loved Ann Patchett's other books, but I really just did not like the main character, who seemed to be on a never ending quest to lose herself in someone - nearly anyone - else. I found her very pathetic by the end of the book. Also, nothing happens. I read the whole book, expecting something to happen and, really, nothing ever does.

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Subjects

  • Magicians -- Fiction
  • Gay men -- Fiction
  • Family -- Fiction
  • Consolation -- Fiction
  • Bereavement -- Fiction
  • Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Fiction
  • Nebraska -- Fiction