She allows herself to be picked up by strange men in bars, is generally passive and occasionally reckless, and reserves her expressions of affection and deep emotion for her tragic, sexless, literary friend, Birdmann (Ewen Leslie).
It's tragic to see ordinarily lovely women battling for the affections of the man who put them in that position in the first place.
In The New York Times Book Review, Nathaniel Rich wrote that "it is an impressive achievement that Manny's misplaced affection for Red Lobster is not risible, but tragic".
O'Nan's empathy for his characters is one of his great gifts as a novelist, and it is an impressive achievement that Manny's misplaced affection for Red Lobster is not risible, but tragic.
The avalanche of tributes and accolades that have flooded in since the tragic and premature death of David Bennett [figure 1] demonstrates the intense warmth and affection in which he was held.
Riders such as Pantani and Tom Simpson retain the affection of cycling fans because they are seen as the sport's ultimate tragic victims, fatalities of the battle between fragile physicality and the demands of the road.
She was eager to see the Modigliani exhibition there, as much because of allegiance to her Jewish heritage as out of affection for the paintings themselves, which she discussed as if they were ideas for tragic songs.
But unless there's a tie, the edge goes to Mr. Washington, whose Troy Maxson is the central tragic figure in his play, and who, several voters said, nightly overcomes the audience's built-in affection for him as a movie star to bring a flawed character to life.
Momentarily, he becomes a tragic figure, a man defeated not by his desire in itself – like all of us, he yearns for affection and stability – but by his headstrong way of achieving it.
