The Critic at Rest

When an art critic descends on a local high school art show, two teen girls' lives are about to change. Told from the point of view of Beth Lindley, this astutely comic novel charts the outlandish eccentricities of art critic Neil Barris and his influence on the lives of Beth and her best friend and budding artist, Quincy California, as they come of age in the '60s L.A. art scene and beyond.An irresistible juxtapose of professorial charm, profound self-obsession, genuine belief in young Quincy's career potential (amid ongoing efforts to get her into bed and impose himself into her personal life) and spectacularly unhinged behavior, Neil Barris is the enthralling, confounding muse of The Critic at Rest.About the AuthorDiane Leslie was born in Hollywood and by age nineteen was working as a television researcher and story analyst. After sailing halfway around the world, she married a sailboat rigger. Home in Los Angeles once again, she began writing fiction while raising two sons. For thirty years she hosted author readings and led book groups at Diesel and Dutton's Brentwood Bookstores. She is the author of Fleur de Leigh's Life of Crime and Fleur de Leigh in Exile. This brilliant novel is being published posthumously.