Going Public [Mass Market Paperback]

Ira Wood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 23, 1992

The intimate thoughts of each of the three points of a modern-day love triangle--Corey, Angela, and Marla--reveal the linkage of romance and status and portray how hearts are often broken in the name of the American dream. Reprint.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Compulsive achiever Corey Richardson has a problem--he is "hungry for the chaotic stew of family life yet attracted to a leaner and less consuming way to love." In fact, almost everyone wants what he can't have in this sharp novel about the perverse linkage of romance and status. Corey is the head of Camelot, a thriving software firm which he founded. As his fortunes have risen, however, his wife, Angela, "has refused to change, to enjoy." So he leaves her for Marla, a younger executive at Camelot who happens to be "leaner and less consuming." But when Angela regroups and becomes a successful photographer, Corey feels the old attraction again. Likewise, Marla, taking Corey for granted, begins to date a younger man. If this sounds like the stuff of relationship cliche, it is. But Woods ( The Kitchen Man ) keeps it alive by focusing on the paradox wherein the chase is more fun than the supposedly happy-ever-after. He also does a fine send-up of one of the few industries in which the Fortune 500 execs live on candy bars and go to work in high-tops. Woods uses sentiment without sentimentality to show the warts-and-all of modern romance. One hopes that this novel will not become lost in the confusion bound to result from the publication this season of two other books with the same title (from HarperCollins and Birch Lane).
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Wood's first novel The Kitchen Man ( LJ 11/1/85) was a delight. Going Public is not. After some heady excitement in the opening pages--software entrepreneur Corey Richardson, scrambling and scraping to keep his new business afloat, takes big bucks and goes public--the plot turns predictable. Corey, on the rise, leaves wife Angela (whose rump was his "great pumpkin") for younger, skinnier Marla, his human resources officer. Angela slims down, gets her career in high gear, and has affairs of her own. Both business and affair pall, Corey regrets missing daughter Foxie's childhood, etc., etc. Alternating viewpoints (husband, wife, and mistress) impede the narrative flow, and stock characters (in marked contrast to the full-bodied ones of The Kitchen Man ) make this novel's seven-year time span seem interminable. Corey Richardson is no "kitchen man" Gabriel Rose, and this book is a big disappointment.
- Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (September 23, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345376285
• ISBN-13: 978-0345376282
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,279,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A warm and entertaining view of the cycle of ones life., July 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Going Public (Mass Market Paperback)

If you liked the movie "Jerry Maguire", this book should provide considerable enjoyment. The story evolves about a person who builds a software company. As the company grows and evolves so does his personal relationships between family and friends. It is a book which causes the reader to have some introspection and evaluation of one's values and morals. The characters are unique and entertaining. I would highly recommend it. A good "weekend" read.