All Is Vanity [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Christina Schwarz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2003

At once darkly comedic and moving, this witty exploration of female friendship, envy, and misguided ambition by the author of the number-one bestseller Drowning Ruth, deliciously satirizes the desire to shine in the world.

In All is Vanity, Margaret and Letty, best friends since childhood and now living on opposite coasts, reach their mid-thirties and begin to chafe at their sense that they are not where they ought to be in life. Margaret, driven and overconfident, decides the best way to rectify this is to quit her job and whip out a literary tour de force. Frustrated almost immediately and humiliated at every turn, Margaret turns to Letty for support. But as Letty, a stay-at-home mother of four, begins to feel pressured to make a good showing in the upper-middle-class Los Angeles society into which her husband’s new job has thrust her, Margaret sees a plot unfolding that’s better than anything she could make up. Desperate to finish her book and against her better nature, she pushes Letty to take greater and greater risks, and secretly steals her friend’s stories as fast as she can live them. Hungry for the world’s regard, Margaret rashly sacrifices one of the things most precious to her, until the novel’s suspenseful conclusion shows her the terrible consequences of her betrayal.

Widely celebrated for her debut novel, Drowning Ruth, Christina Schwarz once again proves herself to be a writer of remarkable depth and

range. Like Drowning Ruth, All is Vanity probes into the mysteries of the human heart and uncovers the passions that drive ordinary

people to break the rules in pursuit of their own desires.


From the Hardcover edition.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Lifelong best friends Margaret and Letty are in their mid-30s. Margaret has just quit her teaching job to write a novel in Manhattan; Letty, her husband, and her four children are enjoying their first taste of worldly success in Los Angeles. Margaret soon discovers that writing is not as easy as it looks, and Letty finds herself financially over her head in the one-upmanship of L.A. living. Reading Letty's hilarious e-mails, Margaret realizes that a great story is unfolding right in front of her, and she begins a new novel based on her friend's travails. Hungry for more drama in her novel, she pushes Letty deeper and deeper into debt. Christina Schwartz's diabolical All Is Vanity sends up so many different things, you need a list to keep track of them all. Taking a drubbing are: the pretensions of would-be writers ("How many people believe they have a novel fully formed in the backs of their brains ... and are convinced if only they could manage to tear themselves away from much more important work, they would just 'write it up'?"); the consumerist frenzy of L.A. (Letty's realtor tells her that her yard "could be 'emotional' with the right landscaping'"); and, of course, the uses and abuses of female friendship. Schwartz, author of the bestseller Drowning Ruth, draws us in with farce, then changes course and gives us a bittersweet indictment of personal ambition. In the process, she shows herself as a writer both compassionate and hilariously cruel--no mean trick. --Claire Dederer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

The die was cast for Margaret and Letty back when they were childhood friends, in Pasadena, Calif. "Even in our games, she was always Robin to my Batman, Watson to my Holmes, Boswell to my Johnson," the grown-up Margaret muses in the East Village, where she now lives with her husband, Ted. Margaret has decided to quit teaching English to rich kids and write a meaningful novel. The trouble is, she doesn't have a plot. She strains to invent a hero, Robert Martin, who interminably makes breakfast while remembering Vietnam. But it is more fun to use her computer to exchange e-mails with Letty, a devoted mom whose world is turned upside down when her husband, Michael, lands a big-deal museum job in L.A. and the couple begin spending beyond their means. A while after the reader has figured out that Margaret would rather script Letty's life than Robert's, Margaret gloms onto the weird equation. The deeper Letty sinks into debt and degradation, the better the chances that Margaret can write a bestseller about her and make enough money to save them both. Exit Robert, enter Lexie, based on the Lettie whom Margaret manipulates electronically while feigning a best friend's concern. Schwarz (Drowning Ruth) has a wicked eye for human foibles. Ted's relentless accountancy (he records the purchase of Tic-Tacs), successful writer Sally Sternforth's insufferable ego, the cavalier ways of literary agent Heather Mendelson Blake, Michael's blind ambition: Schwarz nails them all. As funny as it is cruel, the novel sweeps you along on its fast-track slide to hell. While some readers may cavil at a morality play without redemption, others will respect the no-exit spin on ambition and greed.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 535 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786249331
• ISBN-13: 978-0786249336
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,913,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite Good and Highly Misunderstood, February 18, 2005

By 

E. Harker - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Is Vanity : A Novel (Hardcover)

Many of the reviews claim that one of the book's major faults is that the characters are a far cry from reality. I find the opposite to be true.Perhaps there is some embellishing involved but Margaret and Letty can easily parallel people in my own life who I have known since my own childhood and so I can say with much certainty that the both of them are not such unlikely people as you might think.

The one complaint that I do have about this book is that 2/3's of the book is build up and then the ending comes a bit too quickly, I think. If she could have played up the events in the end I think I would have been more satisfied. Especially with an ending that is tragic, I had a sense that it was a bit abrupt. Otherwise, I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes character studies especially. Fascinating!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes disturbing, always entertaining, January 25, 2005

By 

Jeanette C. (Utah, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Is Vanity : A Novel (Hardcover)

Schwarz has written another solid novel. Her writing is clear and succient and her way of shifting the point of view adds much to the story. Letty's story is sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious and I laughed out loud in several parts. I did think Margaret came on too strong much of the time and I was unable to muster an ounce of sympathy for her. Not as strong as Drowning Ruth, but overall, a good read.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Schwarz makes a strong follow up, December 2, 2002

By 

Theresa W (mi, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Is Vanity: A Novel (Hardcover)

I have a positive review for this book, though I understand it can often be hard to follow up for a book like Drowning Ruth- with so much acclaim. I felt this was a strong second book for Schwarz. I enjoyed reading this book, but let me say that I do understand where a reader can wonder in the first 100 pages or so where this story is going...I mean, if you read the jacket of the book, you know where it's going, but...it takes a bit to get there. After I got further into the book, I understood the strong back ground was to show the reader what it was like to BE Margaret, a writer-want-to-be (at that point). After that brief intro to her & her friend, the book really picks up, and I begin to groan for Letty & her situation, finally taking note where it is headed. I really enjoyed reading this book, thought the ending was worthy as well, and whether I liked the ending or not makes a big difference to me. The only thing I would change is that on the jacket of the book, to not mention where Margaret gets her story idea from. I think more & more things for movies & books aren't left to the reader or viewer to discover, we're given the whole plot in a preview or review. This jacket doesn't give it all away, however, I think it would have been an excellent surprise in reading, if one didn't know where Margaret's big inspiration was going to come from. Other than that, I'm definitely recommend reading this book. It will give you an appreciation for writers.