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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another marvelous read..., April 21, 2009
This review is from: The Family Man (Hardcover)
Elinor Lipman's latest is another in a long line of great comedy-of-manner novels she's written. Maybe not quite as good as Lake Divine and Dearly Departed, but almost at that level.
There's something unique in Lipman's writing that I've tried to figure out in all ten of her novels. Her secondary characters are written as brilliantly as her main characters. I don't know how she does it - I guess that's why I'm a reader and not a writer - but maybe it's her wonderful dialogue. I'm left after reading her novels with the - unacted on, of course - urge to call her and ask her to write another novel, using the same characters, taking the storyline further. As all her novels are "stand-alones", it's clear she considers each one finished at the end.
She is a worthy successor to the late Laurie Colwin.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A charming book overall-but so very different from the Lipman I know and love, December 23, 2009
This review is from: The Family Man (Hardcover)
Ever since my days of only reading books with pastel covers and subsequent introduction to Isabel's Bed I have been a die hard Elinor Lipman fan. I've read everything she's published, own them all and love them all. I can very safely say she's never written a book-much less a chapter-that I didn't like.
When I started "The Family Man" though I thought that was all about to change. Lipman's normal writing style is very descriptive-lots of explained body language written into the text and historical background on characters and tons of detail about clothing, food and architecture. When you add in her slightly soap opera-ish plots with all of their melodrama and black humor you get these perfect, fun books with fast paced plots that aren't too serious and oodles of characters to fall in love with.
But Lipman's latest book is different. For one thing, "The Family Man" is about ninety percent witty dialog (all well written) with very sparse descriptions of anything-including the characters emotions. And then there's the plot-the reuniting of retired gay lawyer Henry Archer with his once upon a time adopted daughter Thalia after her second adopted father's death 24 years after he gave up a custody battle that had him painted as unfit because of his sexuality-and the subsequent changes in his love life and general happiness and interest level afterward. I know it sounds complicated but it's really, really not. This is a very simple book. The writing style is simple, the plot (which is barely even there, it's more of a gradual progression of events with a total lack of conflict) is simple and while the book does come off as rather charming it's almost a compete 180 from Lipman's other books. The whole thing kind of has the feel of a novella too it (think "Shopgirl" with less emotional depth and poignancy) including the length. Despite its deceptive 300 page total this is a very small book with large text and huge margins.
There's nothing really bad about this novel, but it really was not what I expected from Lipman. It's true that I've always enjoyed her books written in first person better than those written in third (and this one is in third) but that's not even really the issue. This book just reads like a different author altogether wrote it. As it stands on its own it's a cute, charming little book with a lot of snappy talk too it that I did enjoy but it doesn't really compare to Isabel's Bed, The Inn at Lake Devine or The Pursuit of Alice Thrift.
If I'd never read anything else by Lipman I'd say four stars, but with my experience of her other novels I have to admit to being disappointed by this one with its lack of detail and emotional characterization.
Three stars. I'd wait for the paperback version folks, or get this one from the library before committing to buy.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"If possible, let bygones be bygones.", May 7, 2009
This review is from: The Family Man (Hardcover)
In Elinor Lipman's "The Family Man," Henry Archer is a recently retired and unattached attorney who happens to be gay. Henry has a shallow, self-centered, and grating ex-wife, Denise, whose third husband, Glenn Krouch, recently passed away at the age of seventy. All of a sudden, Denise tries to weasel her way back into Henry's good graces. She seeks free legal advice, since Krouch's two sons from a former marriage have inherited pretty much everything from their late father. Denise gets a monthly allowance, monitored by the older son and executor, Glenn Junior. It seems that her stepsons are holding her to a prenuptial agreement, "a hideously airtight legal document," that may even force her to leave her ten room apartment on Park Avenue in New York City.
Henry has no desire to become his ex-wife's buddy or knight in shining armor. When he visits Denise, however, he notices photos of Thalia, his stepdaughter whom he hasn't seen since she was a little girl. Much to his shock, he realizes that Thalia works in the salon where he has his hair cut. Henry decides to reacquaint himself with this now lovely twenty-nine year old woman, who is an aspiring actress and a delightful human being. They soon become fast friends, and Henry does his utmost to make up for the decades during which he and Thalia were separated.
Elinor Lipman is the undisputed queen of the contemporary comedy of manners, and once again, she serves up a frothy and witty soufflé with farcical overtones, a somewhat silly and lightweight plot, romantic entanglements, and amusing banter. The author never takes her subject matter too seriously. Instead, she has fun getting her offbeat cast of characters into and out of outlandish situations. Her theme is the importance of relationships between parents and children, husbands and wives, and any other configuration that works. During the course of this warm and witty novel, Henry finally lets go of the past and embraces the future with renewed optimism and joy. He finally experiences the great satisfaction of loving someone special and being loved in return.
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