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But you are not and it doesnt.
Unfortunately for readers, Edna is right.
But Vivian is dull, and, whats worse, there is nothing intriguing about her dullness.
It takes almost 300 pages for Edna to let Vivian know, but we see it from page one.
Then, in 2013, Gilbert swung back to fiction.
(Ever devoted, her fans chose the cover Gilbert had been rooting for.)
All of that is true.
(Italics in this novel do more heavy lifting than Dwayne Johnson on arm day.)
From then on, Vivian explains, Celia and I didnt have sex withallthe men we met that summer.
But we did have sex with most of them.
Promiscuity as defining character trait might work if either the character or the author is self-aware.
Vivian isnt delighted by or infatuated with or even fascinated by her self.
She merely lives, and meets some showgirls, and has sex, and moves on.
This novel is simply an idea walking around pretending to be a fleshed-out character study.
I would plan the heist for months, scouting out the target, looking for unguarded entries.
Then I would break into his deepest vault, steal all his emotional currency and spend it on myself.
Instead, she stays a tight, closed bud.
This sex is as meaningless for the reader as it is for Vivian.
Lurking inside the middle of all this is an analogy too uncanny to resist.
Vivian adores them anyway.
We could say the same thing aboutCity of Girls.
