It is as much a legal decision (as a first offender Robin will not be treated harshly if he pleads guilty) as anything, but the ramifications of her decision, which Robin will take as a sign that she has lost faith in him, are far greater than expected. His lawyer reads one of his stories, and she - herself another lost soul, in a marriage that is falling apart - is ultimately convinced that Robin should change his plea from not guilty to one of guilty. Robin does not appear in the second section, a few months later, but we find out that he has been accused of an improper act. In this, the longest section of the book, Coe carefully builds up the background for the rest. They used to be friends but now lead very different lives, and Coe adeptly shows how they have grown apart. Robin seems to be have become more depressed as the novel opens, and an old classmate from university - Ted, who married Katharine, the woman Robin believes he might have been meant for - drops by for a visit. The stories themselves are fine as well, not nearly as artificial as such an authorial trick usually winds up being.īoth in them and in the rest of the narrative Coe's own authorial command is always convincing, only rarely slipping to where it might seem contrived. There are four parts to the novel (and a postscript), covering a time frame from April to December of 1986.Įach part includes a story written by Robin, short fictions read by the other characters in the hope or illusion of the stories shedding some light on Robin. The artful construction of the novel - intricate without being irritatingly complex - is one of the pleasures of the novel, Coe's writing another. General information | our review | links | about the authorī+ : well thought through, poignant, and funnyĪ Touch of Love is an unpredictable and interesting little book.Ĭentered around long-time graduate student Robin Grant who can't seem to get his thesis done, Coe circles obliquely around his subject. And all of them do their part to make Just a Touch of Love one of Slave's finest albums.Trying to meet all your book preview and review needs. Arrington, Young, and Jones weren't original members of Slave, but all of them proved valuable when Slave opted to embrace a smoother style of funk. Arrington, who first recorded with Slave on 1978's The Concept, played a major role in its evolution - and two other lead vocalists who make important contributions to this LP are Starleana Young and Curt Jones (both of who went on to form Aurra, the group that hit big with "Are You Single" in 1981). This excellent album left no doubt that Slave was still a funk band, although it wasn't as in-your-face as the Slave that gave listeners "Slide" and "Screw Your Wig on Tite" in 1977. "Funky Lady (Foxy Lady)," "Roots," and the hit title song (all of which boast Steve Arrington on lead vocals) are definitely the work of a smoother, sleeker Slave - and yet, the band still had plenty of grit. But when Slave provided its fourth album, Just a Touch of Love, in 1979, it was clear that the Midwesterners were determined to soften their approach. In 1977, Slave's self-titled debut album (which boasted the number one R&B smash "Slide") earned the Dayton outfit a reputation for playing sweaty, aggressive, in-your-face funk.
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