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    Paint It Black: A Novel
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    Paint It Black: A Novel
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    Paint It Black: A Novel
    Audiobook (abridged)6 hours

    Paint It Black: A Novel

    Written by Janet Fitch

    Narrated by Jennifer Jason Leigh

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Josie Tyrell, art model, teen runaway, and denizen of LA's 1980 punk rock scene, finds a chance at real love with art student Michael Faraday. A Harvard dropout and son of a renowned pianist, Michael introduces her to his spiritual quest and a world of sophistication she had never dreamed existed. But when she receives a call from the Los Angeles County Coroner, asking her to identify her lover?s dead body, her bright dreams all turn to black.


    As Josie searches for the key to understanding his death, she finds herself both repelled and attracted to Michael's pianist mother, Meredith, who holds Josie responsible for her son's torment. Soon, the two women find themselves drawn into a twisted relationship reflecting equal parts distrust and blind need.
    Passionate, wounded, fiercely alive, Josie Tyrell walks the brink of her own destruction as she fights to discover the meaning of Michael's death. With the luxurious prose and emotional intensity that are her hallmarks, Janet Fitch has written a spellbinding new novel about love, betrayal, and the possibility of transcendence.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateSep 18, 2006
    ISBN9781594835698
    Unavailable
    Paint It Black: A Novel
    Author

    Janet Fitch

    Janet Fitch is the author of the novels Paint It Black and White Oleander. She is a third-generation resident of Los Angeles, where she lives in the Silverlake district. Currently, Fitch teaches in the Masters of Professional Writing program at the University of Southern California.

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    Reviews for Paint It Black

    3.5/5

    395 ratings25 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This is a great moving story. Fitch's prose is breathtaking. Looking forward to more from Fitch....
    • 5/5
      This dark tale of grief, love and loss was so engrossing from start to finish, I stayed up all night to finish it. The main character is Josie, a lost soul in a harsh world who learns in the opening pages that her boyfriend has committed suicide while away, supposedly on a trip to his mother's house. Michael, whom Josie was deeply in love with, was a sensitive, gifted artist, but had begun pulling away from Josie in those last weeks of his life.Josie is devastated and sinks into a deep depression as she tries to understand what happened, what she could have done to make a difference, and how Michael could have abandoned their love to go off and kill himself.As the story goes on, Josie comes face to face (at the funeral) with Michael's equally devastated mother, who immediately lashes out at Josie, whom she considers to be poor white trash, blaming her for the demise of her only son. Thus begins a up and down relationship between the mother, Meredith, who is a world renowned concert pianist and Josie, the waif who is an art model who lives on the fringes of society.The extreme depth of Josie's grief pours out in this dark novel...I felt Josie's confusion, her desperation, her agony of loss. The author conveyed Josie's pain very well. As Josie interacts with Meredith, things begin to come out about the mother's relationship with Michael, a secret that Josie realizes could be the reason for this tragic outcome. Josie accuses Meredith of incest, but never really knows for sure if it indeed did happen. As she recounts Michael's references to his mother in the days before his death, she feels strongly that whatever transpired between Michael and his mother must have played a big part in Michael's decision to end his life.Meredith is a famous pianist who has lived a charmed life, but begins to seek out Josie in order to learn more about this street girl who her son was so enamored by.....she holds Josie in contempt for causing her son to drop out of college in his senior year, even though Michael denied that Josie had anything to do with it.Closer to the end of the book, Josie recounts a specific episode between she and Michael when she verbally attacks him out of frustration over his lack of communication in those last weeks, when he was growing more distraught....Josie did not understand what to do so she lashed out and said some very hurtful things....and as she relives this terrible moment in time, the crushing guilt causes Josie to consider whether she should end her own life as well, due to her inability to come to terms with everything that has transpired in her young life, along with feeling so alone in the world now that Michael has gone.The ending was a bit abrupt and there was alot of foul language, but overall the book was absolutely outstanding. The book was incredibly emotionally powerful and I was absorbed from page one. While not everyone's cup of tea, this one earned a high mark from this reader. I would love to read more by this author.
    • 3/5
      A decent delve into a broken girl following the death of her boyfriend. At times the book itself seems pretty contrite but all and all it was decent enough. I read the entire thing in one night and would most likely read it again.
    • 4/5
      "Paint it Black" is Janet Fitch's powerful and compassionate novel of two women trying to get on with their lives in the wake of young Michael Faraday's suicide. Their shared lives and the ultimate divergence of their approaches to Michael's end make up the story.Josie, the innocent from Bakersfield, is the lover Michael leaves behind, and our main protaganist. Her mix of internal dialog, recollection, and drug-addled guilt and grief make up much of the story. Ms. Fitch's handling of all this shows her great strength. She lets Josie's lament play itself fully out, believably, slowly, doggedly. In someone else's hands, this would not even have been published, but it's sustained and evolving, and true to life in Ms. Fitch's balanced and inevitable-seeming prose.We also meet Meredith, Michael's aggrieved mother, a world-class classical pianist, who is outraged at Michael's leaving Harvard and falling in with Josie in L.A., little more than a runaway punk from Bakersfield. Meredith is at first quiet hostile toward Josie, but she comes to depend on her and to cling to her as a last remnant of her departed son. She opens her home to Josie when she needs it most, and eventually invites Josie to come to Europe with her on her concert tour. Before she consents to first-class travel and five-star accommodation, though, Josie feels the need to travel to the motel on the edge of nowhere where Michael killed himself. She finds answers there, at the motel ironically called "Paradise," and another young woman who knew Michael only long enough to fall in love with him, and who is also deeply afflicted by Michael's death. This difference between Meredith and Josie shows in high relief: Meredith wants to run to Europe, with its adoring crowds and flattering men, while Josie wants to follow Michael's path as far is it goes - she owes him that. And there she finds this other girl, with less Michael-history than her own, and opens up her home and the the opportunities of Los Angeles to her. Meredith runs, wanting to get away; Josie runs too, but toward the calamity, and eventually finds the answers to urgent questions.This is compelling, life-affirming stuff. I admire Ms. Fitch's skill with a tricky subject. I'm very glad I picked this up, and I'm sure you will be, too.
    • 4/5
      I've never read grief so raw, so harsh, and so true. Every fear, every hate, every guilt, every rage...this book takes you through it all. The story itself was inconsequential. What mattered, and what will stick with me, is the emotion. It was dark. It was depressing. It was haunting. And yet at the very end, there was a spark, a chance. The end of zero and the beginning of one. Which is as real as it gets.
    • 4/5
      Set in Los Angeles during the punk rock scene of the 1980s, this novel features Josie Tyrell, a white-trash runaway who makes ends meet by working as an artist's model and occasional actress in student films. She begins dating and living with Michael Faraday, an aspiring artist who turns out to be the son of famous concert pianist Meredith Loewy and writer Calvin Faraday. When Michael commits suicide, Josie and Meredith are drawn together despite their obvious dislike of each other and their very different world views, each attempting to hold onto their version of Michael and to understand what prompted him to take his life. The book is filled with sex and drugs and shows how grief affects people in different ways. Very dark and vivid writing, but difficult going from an emotional standpoint and neither Josie nor Meredith is a particularly likable or sympathetic character.
    • 5/5
      I was a bit confused by some of the "punk" ideas and scene since that wasn't an area that I was ever exposed to or around. Reading more about the book now, after having read the book, certain things start to make a little more sense, knowing that the story is set in the 1980's, some story elements fall into place. However, it's not that I didn't care for the book but quite the opposite. I don't think I have ever read a book that described loss and grief in a way that touched me quite like this one did. I understand that the elements of creativity and death at times are so interwoven that it is difficult to separate the two. Add to the mix a story that is one part emotional thriller and one part psychological fiction and you have this story; while parts of it were difficult for me to stomach not physically but emotionally.
    • 4/5
      This is a great moving story. Fitch's prose is breathtaking. Looking forward to more from Fitch....
    • 4/5
      A beautiful little pill.
    • 4/5
      Fitch's follow-up to White Oleander blew me away. I found the characters complex, yet realistic, and her voice throughout the novel was creatively strong. With some books, White Oleander included, I find myself zoning out through paragraphs or even pages! But with Paint it Black, I was engrossed the entire time.
    • 2/5
      I really started to like this book, as gritty as it was, but for some reason, I read a review on here that complained about there being too much detail and I scoffed. Too much detail?! Yeah right! But sadly, around page 200, I got caught up in the fact that there was too much detail, not enough action, to the point where the words bogged me down from caring to finish the rest of this book! I remember I enjoyed White Oleander but that was a completely different type of book. Oh well..next!
    • 1/5
      thought it would never end. Like sitting picking an infected scab for hours. pass by this one
    • 1/5
      Morose, boring dialogue about nothing. Ironically, hours I will never get back.
    • 2/5
      Long and depressing. I kept waiting for a twist or surprise but it never came.
    • 5/5
      Really good audiobook I love that Jennifer Jason Leigh Reddit I picked it up from the very beginning before I even knew she did it but she was the perfect person to read it I really enjoyed it
    • 4/5
      Beautifully written. This book is about grief in the wake of a suicide. It is powerful, raw and honest.
      Highly recommend.
    • 3/5
      2.5*

      This book was difficult to get through, and I believe a large part of that was how difficult it was to connect with any of the characters. They felt so removed from every day life that I could not identify with any of them. I am also not sure if I missed it, if I should have had the knowledge entering into the book, or if it was in fact never mentioned, but I did not understand why Josie and Michael could not be together.

      I got the sense that the book was set several decades in the past, which is fine, but I do not think that was conveyed well. If that was in fact the case, then the divide between the Tyrell and Loewry families is more believable. Another problem that I had with the book was how little I felt I learned about Michael. From the summary of the novel, I thought it was going to be a book about Meredith and Josie going through a journey of togetherness because of their mutual relationship with Michael. However, that is not what I got at all.

      I really enjoyed White Oleander, and I felt like the two books had a lot of commonalities, however, I would not recommend this book to many people.


      ****spoilers below this line****
      First of all, Meredith and Josie never actually get along. The only highlights of the book were when they were fighting over something that was "just in Josie's imagination." Although, I assure you, she was not imagining anything. Furthermoore, the book ends with Josie finding some semblance of closure over Michael's death, and it has nothing to do with Meredith. This was extremely disappointing because the book is not marketed as such. To me, that is a completely different type of novel than what I thought I was getting into. I also do not think that was done well either.
    • 3/5
      2.5*

      This book was difficult to get through, and I believe a large part of that was how difficult it was to connect with any of the characters. They felt so removed from every day life that I could not identify with any of them. I am also not sure if I missed it, if I should have had the knowledge entering into the book, or if it was in fact never mentioned, but I did not understand why Josie and Michael could not be together.

      I got the sense that the book was set several decades in the past, which is fine, but I do not think that was conveyed well. If that was in fact the case, then the divide between the Tyrell and Loewry families is more believable. Another problem that I had with the book was how little I felt I learned about Michael. From the summary of the novel, I thought it was going to be a book about Meredith and Josie going through a journey of togetherness because of their mutual relationship with Michael. However, that is not what I got at all.

      I really enjoyed White Oleander, and I felt like the two books had a lot of commonalities, however, I would not recommend this book to many people.


      ****spoilers below this line****
      First of all, Meredith and Josie never actually get along. The only highlights of the book were when they were fighting over something that was "just in Josie's imagination." Although, I assure you, she was not imagining anything. Furthermoore, the book ends with Josie finding some semblance of closure over Michael's death, and it has nothing to do with Meredith. This was extremely disappointing because the book is not marketed as such. To me, that is a completely different type of novel than what I thought I was getting into. I also do not think that was done well either.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Jennifer Jason Leigh is the perfect reader to bring this story to life. There are great lines in this spare portrait of a book. It's d finitely worth the time to listen.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      (unabridged audiobook read by Jen Taylor): The story opens with Josie Tyrell waiting for her artist boyfriend Michael, who left a week before to hole up in his mother's empty house and work on a painting. Just as she is beginning to wonder if he'd run off with another woman, the coroner calls. Michael was not at his mother's house, not working on a painting at all. In reality, he had driven to a motel and shot himself. From then on out it is nonstop grief. This is a book I'm not sure I would have enjoyed on paper, but Taylor's narration is absolutely brilliant. She captures the confusion, anger, and despair of Josie and Michael's mother Meredith, as well as the mystery of Michael himself (in flashbacks), without ever sounding melodramatic or tiresome. Without her touch, I'm not sure I would have been able to stand such endless misery. But it's only the subject matter that would be difficult to read. Fitch, as always, uses language like a paintbrush. The writing is simply beautiful, even when describing ugly things. Her unabashed love for poetry and art is present again here, as it was in White Oleander; likewise with the independent daughter/powerful mother dynamic. But the story is far from a repeat. And while I enjoyed it, I would have appreciated a little more plot - this was more of a slice-of-life story about Josie going through the stages of grief than a series of interelated events. I also wish the ending had been a touch more conclusive, but in a way the openness gave it more of a feeling of real life, where nothing ever ends. Quibbles aside, I was really touched by this book. Josie and Michael and Meredith and everyone were like real people whose lives I wanted to know more about. I will definitely be on the lookout for more books by Fitch.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      This book is so very intense. Ms. Fitch does an eerlily incredible job at pulling you so far into the character's pain that it causes you to become depressed. I am not even done reading this novel but the way it's written, it can't possibly go wrong. Al though I do questin where this is all going. This haunting novel is beautifully written.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I wish I could wholeheartedly recommend Paint it Black. Janet Fitch has a lot of insight into human nature, and particularly human relationships. This is why you came to hear music. To stop being yourself, to let that thing you supposedly were go, and just be part of a mob, synchronized by the heavy beat, mesmerized by a singer with big smeary red lips, her spooky chant. Michael hated this, it was the worst thing he could imagine, disappearing into the mass – he didn't know how to submerge himself, he was the puzzle piece that fit nowhere. And she has a flair for details: "the flamelike Hebrew", "those eyes the color of aquarium glass seen sideways". But unfortunately, this quality of writing is representative only of the first third of the book. As other reviewers have pointed out, Fitch loses steam after page 150 or so, and continued reading becomes increasingly a slog to the finish.
    • 2/5
       Felt like it took me forever to read! Looonnngg, overwritten, & confusing.I didn't know how to tell memories from fantasies from nightmares to present. Had to re-read a few times. There were many inside jokes and saying's often repeated throughout the book. Like Ming I don't know what that is? LOL Did I miss something?And..did Josie really kill that dog?Ehh, strange.
    • 3/5
      Janet Fitch is an excellent author in a specialized arena. Part of her gift is in regaling, darker emotions and impetuosity. I've yet to decide whether it is by a scary coincidence or direct complement that her other writing forté is on female relationships and the feminine psyche involved.Her characters primarily consist of two women characters. One is a young flower that will spiral out of control due to unrelenting misfortune. The air is bitter and there is another woman, a maternal character interacting as a major source of conflict. In "Paint it Black," the young woman is a white trash nobody turned poor model who finds Mr. Perfect. Unfortunately, her rich, handsome, genius boyfriend kills himself. Alone and in despair, she has nothing to cling to except for his deranged mother. The result is an interesting dynamic where they spitefully realize that they keep each other afloat. My major dilemma with Janet Fitch is that after reading both "Paint it Black" and "White Oleander," I cannot tell them apart. The plots are the same. The characters are the same. My personal suggestion would to read one or the other aforementioned novels.Nonetheless, Janet Fitch reinvented the satanic maternal figure with poignant clarity. This is not a story that takes you simply from Point A to Point B. Instead, you experience a myriad of emotion and landscapes alongside the characters. Pick one title and do read a Janet Fitch novel.
    • 4/5
      fitch's second effort is almost as good as her first, shaky on the history of the 80's in spots but good.