Yvette
in America, by John Goulet
About the Book:
Yvette Pleven, the protagonist of John Goulet's stunning new novel, is a kind
of whacked-out contemporary Tocqueville in search of a new world who finds
only paradox in her search for happiness and freedom. The six connected episodes
in Yvette in America carry Yvette across the United States, from Boston to
Colorado and California and finally to Milwaukee, in the often cold heart
of her adopted country.
By turns outrageous, funny,
poignant, and sad, Yvette in America charts
the spiritual journey of thousands who came
to America expecting the promised land and
found instead hustlers, con men, and worse,
eager to make profits from their dreams.
Yet in the end Yvette not only makes peace
but triumphs in a small way, which may be
the only way one ever triumphs at all.
 With
Yvette, John Goulet has created an absolute
original, an ironic contemporary pioneer
who, whether speaking her native French or
fractured English, gives voice to our deepest
hopes and fears.
About the Author:
John Goulet, author of Yvette in America, grew up in Colorado and was educated
at St. John’s University, San Francisco State, and the University of
Iowa Writers’ Workshop. After serving in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia,
he returned to take a position at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,
where he is currently professor of English. The author of the highly praised
novel, Oh’s Profit, Goulet’s short stories, articles, and reviews
have appeared in Colorado Review, Denver Quarterly, Folio, Kansas Quarterly,
Sonora Review, and elsewhere. Currently he lives in Milwaukee with his wife,
Susan. |
