A Celibate Season [Mass Market Paperback]

Carol Shields (Author), Blanche Howard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1999

Faced with a job-related ten-month separation, Jocelyn and Charles choose to maintain contact through letters--an economic decision that paves the way for two very entertaining sides of the same story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Friends for three decades, the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of The Stone Diaries and Canadian novelist Howard (The Manipulator) collaborated on this touching, if facile, epistolary novel. First published in Canada in 1991, the work follows 10 months in the life of Canadians Jocelyn and Charles (Jock and Chas) Selby, who vow a season of celibacy when Jock takes a temporary government job on the other side of the continent. Opting against e-mail and expensive phone calls, they decide to communicate through the old-fashioned medium of letters, hoping as well to rekindle the romance in their 20-year-old marriage. The letters evolve into revealing, diarylike entries about architect Chass lack of employment, Jocks new life in Ottawa, their two teenaged children, and, ultimately, the state of their marriage. Many of these entries are intimate and searching, musing ruefully and honestly about the mysteries of the connubial tie. Some possess that combination of philosophical sincerity and earnest clumsiness that is often more charming in a good letter than in literature. Chas writes, sometimes it seems to me that men and women advance through time along parallel lines that obey the laws of geometry and never truly intersect. As Jock and Chass separation wears on, both struggle with the temptation to stray from celibacy. For a story so deep on emotion, the ending may strike readers as too quick and rather blas. But Shields, who wrote the Chas letters, and Howard, who penned the letters from Jock, are skillful writers, and the epistolary form adds dimension to their thoughtful novel of love, marriage and forgiveness. Howards foreword sheds light on the inspiration for and particulars of their collaborating process.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

An unexpectedly appealing epistolary novel by Canadian novelist Shields (Larrys Party, 1997, etc.) and playwright Howard. The first problem with a contemporary epistolary novel is one of credibility: Apart from e-mail, who nowadays writes enough letters to form a book? The explanation offered here (that a husband and wife agree in advance to communicate only through the mail for one year) isnt very plausible, but it suffices for the sake of the story. Jocelyn, or Jock (whose sections are written by Howard), starts things off with a letter to her husband Charles, or Chas (authored by Shields). Jock is a lawyer from Vancouver who has just accepted a one-year post on a government commission (to study the feminization of poverty) in Ottawa, leaving Chas behind to look after their teenaged children Greg and Mia. Chas is an unemployed architect whos happy to play Mr. Mom while looking for work and writing an occasional poem on the side. In Ottawa, Jock quickly learns how to deal with the assorted policy wonks and egomaniacs who populate the political world, while Chas refines his skills at groveling in cover letters and feigning enthusiasm for projects that make his blood run cold. Naturally, the two miss each other, yet a strain quickly creeps into their relations after the first few weeks apart. Chas is hard-pressed to juggle his work and family at once, and both of his kids (especially Mia) are at an age when a mothers hand is greatly needed. Jock, meanwhile, cant even remember what home life is like, subsisting as she does in a succession of hotel rooms and tiny apartments. When she returns briefly for Christmas, she doesnt even recognize her own homeliterally so, since Chas has renovated it. Eventually, she has to decide whether to accept an extension of her appointment. What would you do? A totally lackluster story, yet narrated with enough charm to draw any reader in. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140275118
• ISBN-13: 978-0140275117
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,595,076 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very amusing and insightful for age 35-40 marrieds with kids, August 9, 1999

By 

skoobagirl (Doylestown, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Celibate Season (Mass Market Paperback)

This was one of the most insightful, comic and well-written books I've read in a long time. Perhaps it is the life stage I'm at but no, I think the brand of wry humor intermingled with thought-provoking observations about marriage, middle age, career, sex, and children would be engaging to anyone. I love the idea these two authors corresponded with each other as their characters such that the evolution of the story took place almost in real time with an element of fluidity and spontaneity that only this format could achieve. Many of the characters' observations made me laugh out loud while others left me waxing on a thought for days. Excellent, excellent, excellent, don't miss this one.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I Loved This Book, August 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Celibate Season (Mass Market Paperback)

I did love this book--just finished and was curious to see what others thought. I think the two-author "letters" format worked well, and in some humorous cases, it almost seemed as if the authors were each trying to outdo each other in character. At the same time I found great depth and truth in the letters and the insights they provide into marriage, growth, change, separation, and general observations about gender differences.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must for summer reading!, June 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Celibate Season (Mass Market Paperback)

a unique and fun read! cleverly written in the form of a seperated husband and wife, this book moves the plot along quickly. i loved it! it is a shame it wasn't longer, as it was a private peek into a marriage that showed 'warts and all'. read it this summer...you'll pass it on!