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Reading Sonja Paris' "Make the Cougar Purr"--what a read! Oddly fascinating, it depicts cougar Hannah as a real flesh and blood woman. via web (by Diana Faillace)
pastedGraphicReviewed Sonja Paris' "Make the Cougar Purr." Great tale of a modern woman-
2010-08-03
Diana F. Von Behren’s AMAZON Profile:
pastedGraphic This Kitty Roars, August 3, 2010
By
pastedGraphic (Kenner, LA USA) -
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This review is from: Make The Cougar Purr (Paperback)
In "Make the Cougar Purr" Sonja Paris zip-locks the reader within the stifling zoo of her 40-something heroine where the howling sensations and prowling stimulations of countless unhappy, directionless and love/life questing inmates overwhelms and disturbs yet constitutes a viable underbelly for the 21st century inferno of relationship hell. Paris, the real-life widow of Johnny Paris of Johnny and the Hurricanes bares her own soul (80% of the time) and the soul of her creation, Hannah Bentley, with a rip and a roar that pings at the iceberg of indignation within the most dangerous animal in her social cage: a woman, psychologically scorned and emotionally wounded.
Fully aware that the only thing upon which she can rely with any regularity is her husband Steven's pathological cheating, blonde and slightly overweight Hannah retaliates with a hardening of her emotional veneer and some extra-curriculum bedroom (and countertop) activity of her own. Not that Steven ever made her happy anyway; from the get-go, her marriage to him yielded little in the blissful- contentment department. Was she in love? Did he love her? Was it all words? Just sex? Why the emptiness? Would more sex fill the void? Would more alcohol? Hannah participates in her life (20% of the time) yet rarely engages. Anesthetized by booze, she is there, but not there. Nonetheless discovering after Steven's sudden death that he actually loved his last mistress and was planning a fairytale life with her complete with a house, white picket fence, requisite child and dog, catapults Hannah onto a frenetic expedition for connectivity.
For almost 500 pages, the reader travels with Hannah across Middle America and overseas to her native Germany, voyeuristically and vicariously participating in a fast-track lifestyle of over-indulgence. For Hannah, a sufficient amount of booze means she's passed out-- and as for sex?--she's voracious--up all night and ready the following morning. Like all the other classic literary protagonists seeking change and redemption, when does our Hannah reach that climatic moment and finally decide that enough is enough? When does she realize that in order to be full she must be empty and that the best things in life are free? Where's the good guy that maybe isn't so hot to look at, loves her to death and eventually gets her to enjoy that warm and cuddly feeling growing inside herself? Ha! Refreshingly, she doesn't settle for second best where looking within means not getting what she wants--Paris and her Hannah are still trudging along the road of personal enlightenment and neither are afraid to admit that there are plenty of rocks to stumble upon that keep you from moving forward. On one leg of her journey, she dabbles with New Age modalities seeking the Higher Self, but amusingly persists in the age-old fun of placating her Lower Self (and Half) with healing touch of a different kind.
From a purely structural vantage point, this reviewer would have liked Hannah to come to some conclusion about her life. As with other seekers on a literary coming-of-age, she journeys through different predicaments and comes out stronger and wiser for the experience. However, from an overall standpoint, Hannah really doesn't grow at all. Despite all her adventures, trials and tribulations, she ends where she started with perhaps a little more cynicism added to the mix of disappointment and ennui. Poor Hannah, she epitomizes the concept of Weltschmerz. Her solution? More experiences of a different nature--a creative project--something that speaks to her soul. She's already got the body covered.
On a technical level, "Make the Cougar Purr," begs for chapter divisions. Paris does break different scenes and emotional departures with visual line separators. Nevertheless, I want to know when I was reaching my goal of finishing a chapter and another phase of Hannah's life by hitting that all-important empty page and larger heading font. Otherwise, Paris does an incredible job of allowing her readers to get inside of Hannah's brain space--even if Hannah really isn't in it herself.
Bottom line? Sonja Paris successfully depicts the struggle within the life of her character Hannah Bentley. This approximately 500 page middle-aged adventure takes the reader on a circuitous journey of self-discovery that doesn't always help us discover anything. Never boring or tedious, Paris intrigues with her writing style and perhaps has intuited that the act of writing in itself is therapeutic, creative and perhaps just the craft Hannah should hone. The ending may disappoint some. Adult language and situations. Recommended.
Diana Faillace Von Behren
"reneofc"
Make the Cougar Purr - Sonja Paris (2010)
After 45-year-old Hannah learns her husband has fallen in love with his latest fling, she decides there is no better way to cure a broken heart than by having sex with any young man that comes her way. However, many of these men already have wives and families back home but that doesn't seem to stop Hannah. It seems that to truly get back at her husband, sleeping with married men might just make her feel better about herself, since their relationships will get torn apart just like hers did. Hannah lets the town's remarks of her being trash slide, as she weaves in and out of sexual encounters with men who range from carnies to the maintenance crew. When it comes to men, Hannah is not at all particular, except for the fact they need to be from a younger generation. She normally picks up her prey at the local bar, One Eyed Dog, and finds herself always coming home sloppy drunk and hardly ever alone. Between the vulgar language and the constant drunken stupor, this woman is surely a sad case of no self-esteem and a whole lot of desperation. Will these meaningless entanglements with men who want nothing more than sex help this woman grow or will they merely make her feel worse about herself and the way her life is going? At about 500 pages, this dragged out way longer than it should but overall it was a somewhat entertaining story. (CC) 5/10
pastedGraphic Great book very easy to read, but very hard to put down., August 1, 2010
This review is from: Make The Cougar Purr (Paperback)
If you like books a little on the dirty side, with real life events you have to read this book.
Smooth reading, draws you in, intriguing and mature subject matter
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Posted June 18, 2010, 2:10 PM EST: The story of one mature woman's search for contentment. If books had movie ratings, this one would be R for detailed sexual escapades. Well written, quick read, characters are easy to identify with and the imagery really takes you through Hannah's life with her. Highly recommended!
Sexy, sassy, funny and not for the weak-at-heart
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Posted June 17, 2010, 8:38 AM EST: I love this book, it's characters and the writing style. Just a warning: A lot of use of the F word and detailed description of erotic scenes. Definitely R rated. A good book for women, and those who want to understand women.
WOW
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Posted June 27, 2010, 12:15 AM EST: Sounds like alot of my mature friends alittle lost and looking but fun and funny a little sad but Wow who is this author and why havent we heard from her before The F word is used alot but I guess thats life. I sure hope to hear from her again Is there going to be another book soon?
Very interesting the writing just flows, easy to understand and visualize what it happening leaves you wanting more...
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Posted June 29, 2010, 4:15 PM EST: This book is so good you won't want to put it down until you finish it and then you will want more. The writing is so good you can visualize it very easily. This book has it all, betrayal,love, loss, and sex. This book deals with the "real" middle aged women of today.
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June 25, 2010
The author has a real talent for drawing the reader into the story. You find yourself wondering what Hannah (the main character) is up to when you aren't reading. This is an adult novel--make no mistake, the subject matter is mature, but the use of adult language makes the characters seem like real people and not fictional creations. A very believable and enjoyable read.
pastedGraphic Could not put it down until I finished it!!!!, June 14, 2010
This review is from: Make The Cougar Purr (Paperback)
I started reading this book and Sonja is such a good writer I couldn't put it down until I finished it.
She gives very good descriptions of what is going on and what the characters look like you feel you know them and can relate to what is happening.
great book
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Posted September 17, 2010, 12:09 PM EST: This book is really amazing. Never read a book with such natural Characters. I feel understood as a women. Hanna’s problems are very realistic to the problems of all women. She becomes a real friend while you’re reading the book. Such a book was necessary and it will help men to understand us. But there are not just problems described. Sonja Paris did a great job, made me cry, love, feel sorry, and often couldn’t stop laughing. You must read it.
Make The Cougar Purr Love it!
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Posted July 29, 2010, 11:12 AM EST: Sonja does a good job in bringing the reader into the book. You know how Hannah is feeling and what is going on. It is a book you can not put down. Easy reading!
This book was recommended as a book to bookmark
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Posted August 6, 2010, 10:50 AM EST: Tired of romance novels that just portray young women with bodies to die for, novelist Sonja Paris tried a new approach in her first novel "Make The Cougar Purr" (ISBN: 978-1452824543; 494 pages; paperback; CreateSpace). This book is about betrayal, loss and sexual identification, and even though Paris put her work into a fictional "skeleton" its "vital organs" are in part based on autobiographic reflection of her own very turbulent life (she's the widow of Johnny and the Hurricanes® saxophone legend Johnny Paris®). "Cougar" depicts the life of Hannah, a middle-aged woman in a small Ohio town. Constantly betrayed by her husband, she drowns her sorrow in booze and spends his money freely, until he reveals to her that his last affair with a much younger woman is based on true love and not on pure lust. Driven by rage and desperate to find a new identity for herself, Hannah turns into a prancing cougar on the hunt and stumbles from one sexual escapade into another on her search for true love. Paris' writing style combines all the five senses with raw sex and deep-felt emotions, described so vividly, as if watching a screenplay. This book is recommended by Publishers NewswireT as one of nine books "worth a look" for media and booksellers, as well as avid readers of new and unique literary content on its latest semi-annual "Books to Bookmark" list. To learn more about these and other books in detail, visit: Definitely unique and exciting from start to finish. Didn't care much for the ending. But maybe there will be a sequel with a better ending for Hannah (the main character). I felt like: This cannot be it. There ought to be more pages!
Written by: Sonja Paris
Illustration by: Ute Lahann-Reuter
Edited: by Tahlia Day
Available now!
This work is registered with the Library of Congress.
Registration# : TXu 1-666-784
Copyright© Sonja Paris 2009. All rights reserved!
ISBN-10: 1452824541
ISBN-13: 978-1452824543
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