In Honor Of Valentine’s Day
For a different kind of Valentine’s Day book…
Controversy seems to find author Ayelet Waldman. Frankly, I think she courts it, but whatever works for her. I’ve written about her before here. Yeah, she’s an author. Yeah, she’s married to Michael Chabon. Yeah, she caused a brouhaha awhile back when she talked about how she could live without her kids but not without her husband. Yeah, she had a mental breakdown of sorts and her hubby only found out when he checked in on her website. But, in good news, she has a new book out.
Both the Washington Post and the NYT reviewed the book - Love and Other Impossible Pursuits - this weekend. Both liked it. The Post describes it as: “…the story of a woman forced by loss to re-evaluate her past and choices, even her desires.” The review emphasizes the journey of heroine Emilia and talks only briefly about Emilia purposely breaking up a marriage and family, and then not being able to bond with her new husband’s son from the previous destroyed marriage.
The NYT review went a different way. The title of the review is Atom Bomb Of Desire. This comes from a part of the book where Emilia says:
“I pushed away the idea of the devastation I wrought on his wife and child,” Emilia explains. “I was the atom bomb of desire, and they were Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I could not spare time for mercy. I had a war to win.”
The NYT review sums the book up like this:
“Love and Other Impossible Pursuits” is clearly out to irritate some Mommy groups. It may also be the first chick-lit novel (it features, after all, a young career woman who falls in love with her boss, shops and worries about her relationships) that in addition to being a romantic, shocking and sometimes painful page-turner does the unthinkable: it actually says something new and interesting about women, families and love.
I’m not convinced this qualifies as chick lit, but I’m oddly intrigued.
February 14th, 2006 at 10:32 am
LOL - well, if that’s all the main character does, it sounds like chick-lit to me! I must say though…I’m oddly intrigued, too.
February 14th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
Ah, this is the review that inspired chick lit author Lauren Baratz Logsted to post in her Amazon blog an open letter to the NYT saying:
“Really? In the multitude of chick-lit novels published, no other book has said something new and interesting about women, families and love? The mind reels.”
(Look, ma! No links!)
February 14th, 2006 at 8:58 pm
We have overcome the odd Diana-comment-blocker problem. Looks as if Wordpress no longer views you as spam
Yeah!
Something about this book appeals to me. Now I have to go see what Lauren says.