Attachments | Techniques

Attachments Techniques

Attachments begins with a chatty tone that some critics have found annoyingly close. The language in the opening pages is clever and witty, as when Nadine calls the East, "The Yeast . . . thus conveying, quite unconsciously, both my awe of it as a mysterious place of feverishly fermenting intellects and my fear that I would not readily find a place in this mass." Soon, however, Rossner's persona runs out of verbal energy, and the narrative settles into a calmer but far less interesting flow of words. Critics have faulted the book for too much heavy underlining and an unattractive self-consciousness, which are probably valid complaints. As in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Rossner uses dreams to convey inner feelings and desires, though the device is less necessary here since, as the narrator, Nadine can tell the reader directly what she is thinking.