Rebeck's engaging tale of the Heller sisters, three young women whose quick rise to superstardom after a New Yorker photo shoot, is a witty, insider look at the world of celebrity. However, narrators Cassandra Campbell and David Drummond butcher the novel with absolutely brutal performances that are at once over-the-top and completely uninspired. Campbell, reading predominantly female roles, is drier than happy hour at the Betty Ford Center. Her characters are flat, one-dimensional, and downright boring; her awful attempt at a British dialect is laughable at best. Drummond's reading is equally as tired and over pronounced; his characters are unbelievable and his voice grates. A disappointment and disservice to Rebeck's dazzling novel. A Shaye Areheart hardcover (Reviews, Dec. 24).
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This novel by playwright and Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebeck is a surreal tale of adolescent celebrity in modern New York City. Three teenage sisters-Amelia, Daria, and Polly-become the darlings of the fashion model industry. Their already dysfunctional family falls further apart, leaving the listener to ponder the value of celebrity status. Superfluous use of profanity throughout the narrative distracts from the story line. The portrayal of the siblings is effectively divided between Audie Award-winning actor David Drummond, who provides the voice of the brother, Philip, and actress Cassandra Campbell, who characterizes the sisters. The duality of their voices compels the listener through the story; Campbell's vocal work particularly captures the pathos of Amelia, the youngest. This fictionalized account of split-second stardom may be popular in libraries where celebrity gossip magazines are in high demand. An optional purchase for larger public libraries. [Rebeck's play Mauritius won Boston's prestigious Irene and Elliot Norton Award and premiered on Broadway in 2007; Three Girls is also available as downloadable audio from Audible.com.-Ed.]
—Lisa Powell Williams
Adult/High School- This debut novel by a Peabody award-winning playwright has its finger on the pulse of what's current and happening. It is also a very old story of exploitation, greed, and over-the-top drama done in four first-person voices: the eponymous Heller siblings-three beautiful red-haired teenage girls-and, oh yes, their brother. The tale begins with a classy picture in Vanity Fair by a noted photographer and ends, semi-tragically, in the way that all celebrity stories seem to end-in tabloid headlines and with paparazzi shots and court proceedings. Reading this book is like eating too much candy; it tastes good and you want to wolf it all down, but by the time you're done, it will make you feel sick. The three sisters, although different, become so manipulated by others that if the sections weren't labeled, it would be difficult to tell the point of view had changed from voice alone. Their rabid vanity becomes grating, while the nonexistence of any parental responsibility bodes ill for their futures and that of the only sympathetic character, their brother. Still, teens who like Cecily von Ziegesar's "Gossip Girl" or Zoey Dean's "A-List" series (both Little, Brown) will devour this with no indigestion.-Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI
Four teenage siblings, suddenly spotlit by fame, are forced to take responsibility when the grownups in their lives offer inadequate guidance. Playwright Rebeck's first novel is a wickedly enjoyable expose of modern celebrity; the cruel power wielded by fashionistas, PR minders, agents, paparazzi, Hollywood stars and entourages; and above all the perils of becoming an overexposed young star. It's the Heller sisters' red hair (and their famous grandfather's reputation) that first gets them noticed. After "insanely beautiful" Daria, Polly and Amelia (18, 17 and 14 respectively) are photographed for the New Yorker, they are dubbed the next big thing. Soon the snowball of fame is gathering speed, but Amelia nearly derails it when she bites an aging, lecherous movie action hero who gropes her at the W bar. An apology on Regis and Kelly smoothes things over, and the show is back on the road, with modeling shoots for Elle, Vogue and Glamour. Then Amelia is invited to appear in an off-Broadway play, which renders her more famous and more vulnerable than her sisters. The fourth sibling is Philip, whose protectiveness toward Amelia gets him expelled from their Brooklyn home and sent to live with their divorced father. The siblings take turns narrating the story, and Rebeck's dramatic skills are evident in the youthful, often profane voices. A farcical shootout of a conclusion in a chic hotel, with the brother and sisters trying to save Amelia's virtue, drives home the book's message: The desire to be famous is a contagious disease of infinite proportions. A timely and entertaining modern morality tale. Agent: Loretta Barrett/Loretta Barrett Books
A deliciously wicked satire.”
—People (4 out of 4 stars)
“Hilarious first novel…Rebeck shines when Amelia gets cast in a ridiculous off-Broadway play…her insider’s look at the theatre world is spot on and uproarious.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A wickedly enjoyable exposé of modern celebrity.”
—Kirkus (starred review)
“Playwright Theresa Rebeck is known for black comedy and hyper-intelligent heroines, and both figure in her first novel, Three Girls and Their Brother — a fizzy satire of celeb-obsessed NYC about flame-haired teenage sisters who get photographed for The New Yorker and soon become megastars.”
—Entertainment Weekly (A-)
“Drawing on her rich understanding of the Darwinist…Rebeck delivers a crackling expose so dead-on it’s arguably closer to social realism than satire.”
—Vogue
“This snappy, scathing novel from the acclaimed playwright follows the trio of gorgeous Heller sisters who get famous and become darlings of the fashionista set - until their youthful world hilariously implodes.”
—More Magazine
“In her first novel, playwright Theresa Rebeck satirizes the publicity-driven world of instant celebrity. Three Girls and Their Brother is pointed and funny, an entertaining, cautionary story about the powerful and the preyed upon.”
—Boston Globe
“I was charmed – and I won’t be the last.”
—The New York Observer
“With wry humor and sharply observant prose, Rebeck lands one roundhouse punch after another in this supremely gratifying takedown of show-biz politics.”
—Booklist
“In her funny and well-observed first novel, award-winning Broadway playwright Rebeck (Omnium Gatherum; Mauritius) weighs in on the peculiarity and absurdity of fame in modern America.”
—Library Journal
“Given her background as a playwright, it is not surprising that she is able to create convincing, distinctive voices for teenagers…Rebeck undercuts the fun with darker points about celebrity culture – particularly the damage caused by the media’s sexualization of young girls.”
—Associated Press
“An experienced playwright who has also toiled in the television industry, Ms. Rebeck has intimate knowledge of the pathologies bred in smart, seemingly well-adjusted men and women by the surreal polarities of success and failure.”
—New York Times
“Three Girls and Their Brother is a brilliant fiction debut. Rebeck weaves such an atmosphere of excitement and turmoil. I felt genuinely close to these characters–all three sisters and their brother. The insider’s look at the life of young models and the way instant success can upend everything resonates in hilarious and heartbreaking ways. I found it impossible to put this book down.”
—Carol Goodman, author of The Lake of Dead Languages
“What a group portrait! Theresa Rebeck shows the picture vividly, proofs and final print alike. And boy does she broadcast the music–chorus and arias–of Three Girls and Their Brother. The brother, Philip, begins the story and I was rooting for him from his first words, the sound of a kid with whom Holden Caulfield would like to pal around. So when Amelia, the youngest of the three gorgeous sisters, took over the narrative, I was bummed. Needn’t have been: She does her own daring riff and it’s right on the money. And on the money are her two older sisters, Polly and Daria having had their perspectives and styles enriched by all that comes before. I loved reading this novel! I’ve decided, having read it, that I’d rather not be a celebrity after all. Spread the word.”
—Geoffrey Wolff, acclaimed author and Professor Emeritus of English at the University of California—Irvine
“I love this novel. It is smart and funny and impossible to put down. From the fantasy world of models to the agents, the managers, the press and the predators who sell these girls through the media, Rebeck creates a moving story of three gorgeous sisters and what happens when fame, unexpectedly, comes to call. This dazzling novel lets us eavesdrop on these beauties who find a way to stay alive in the limelight. You will never look at a fashion photo in the same way again.”
—Marsha Norman, author of the Pulitzer Prize—winning play ’Night, Mother
Rebeck's story relates the ups and downs of the lucky Heller sisters, three women who enjoy an uncanny rise to fame after being the focus of a photo shoot for THE NEW YORKER. With a variety of characters, both male and female, popping up throughout the story, the choice of dual narrators makes sense, but only one truly seems enthusiastic. David Drummond delivers a solid, well-rounded performance as the brother, but Cassandra Campbell seems bored with the material. She speaks without the slightest ounce of passion in her voice. Her characters are flat and one-dimensional, and not all that different from one another. Listeners will be hard pressed to enjoy the story with this unbalanced pair of narrators at the helm. L.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
