The Wife: A Novel Paperback – April 13, 2004

Description

From The New Yorker On the way to a big literary-award ceremony, the wife of a famous New York Jewish novelist—sick of his philandering, his self-importance, and his limited talent—decides on divorce. Her stingingly comic story of their marriage shows why. They met in 1956, when she was his writing student at Smith and he was the author of one very bad published story. Only after running off with his talented and self-effacing pupil does he burst into literary stardom. Although they have three (variously unhappy) children, he has always been the real child in the family, dragging her along to the fêtes at which he is flattered and flirted with while she drinks her jealousy away. Wolitzer never really develops her characters and savvy readers will guess her surprise ending quite early on, but she has great fun satirizing an all too recognizable stratum of literary life. Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker Read more Review Los Angeles Times A rollicking, perfectly pitched triumph...Wolitzer's talent for comedy of manners reaches a heady high.Entertainment Weekly Acerbically funny...Wolitzer keeps us guessing right up until the gut-wrenching twist of a finale.The Washington Post To say that The Wife is Wolitzer's most ambitious novel to date is an understatement. This important book introduces another side of a writer we thought we knew: Never before has she written so feverishly, so courageously.The New York Times Book Review Deploys a calm, seamless humor...Rage might be the signature emotion of the powerless, but in Wolitzer's hands, rage is also very funny. Read more See all Editorial Reviews