Goodbye Without Leaving [Hardcover]

Laurie Colwin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1990

An insightful domestic comedy, at once hilarious and extremely moving, Goodbye Without Leaving is the story of a woman's attempt to remain true to herself in a world of diminishing returns. As a bored graduate student, Geraldine Colshares is plucked from her too-tame existence when she is invited to tour as the only white backup singer for Vernon and Ruby Shakely and the Shakettes. The years she spends as a Shakette are a mixed blessing, however, for while they provide her with purpose and excitement, she ultimately submits to a conventional life of marriage, children, and bittersweet memories of what comes to seem a glorious past. With her usual dry wit and candor, Laurie Colwin follows Geraldine as she tries to reconcile her past with her future, to be an adult and still boogie in her soul.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of this year's funniest and most charming heroines." -- --Self

"[Colwin's] eloquence is zany and startling at the same time...Exhilarating and very funny." -- --Los Angeles Times Book Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Laurie Colwin is the author of five novels: Happy All the Time, Family Happiness, Goodbye Without Leaving, Shine On, Bright and Dangerous Object, and A Big Storm Knocked It Over; three collections of short stories: Passion and Affect, Another Marvelous Thing, and The Lone Pilgrim; and two collections of essays: Home Cooking and More Home Cooking. She died in 1992. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 253 pages
• Publisher: Poseidon Pr; 1st ed edition (May 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067170706X
• ISBN-13: 978-0671707064
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,935,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Real life, February 14, 2001

By 

Carol Copeland (Cambridge MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Goodbye Without Leaving (Paperback)

I read this book the first time 10 years ago. It is neither the best-written nor most important novel I have read during that time but it sticks with me more than any other and I return to it again and again. I think this is because it speaks about how to learn that you are a grown-up when you perceive yourself as the younger, perhaps more adventurous and brave soul you were in the past. As a parent, wife, teacher one often feels consumed by roles that are not our "essence". Colwin has shown me that those parts of us can grow together and let us be as brave and as open as our past selves. The added plus is that all of us who imagined (?imagine) a life as a back-up singer for any musician can feel a little less crazy.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally: witty yet realistic portrayal of a modern woman., January 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Goodbye Without Leaving (Paperback)

A wonderful telling of the ambiguity common to many young women in the 1990s: to be strong but perhaps lonely, or give in to love? Is it possible to be committed to another person and still be independent? How does one find her way to a happy medium? A terrific antidote to the Ally McBeal/Sex & the City portrayal of women as desperate for a man, or obsessed by relationship anxiety. It is horribly sad that we won't have more from Colwin.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hope for the marginal!, June 13, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Goodbye Without Leaving (Paperback)

Say you want to live a marginal life. What better than to be the only white chick in an otherwise all-black girl band, Ruby Shakely and the Shakettes?

But imagine this: you eventually find yourself married and pregnant, resisting your family's all-out attempts to pull you into the mainstream where they feel you should be. Now that you've taken on such grown-up responsibilities, how do you keep your marginal dreams alive?

Volunteer to research black music and make friends with the only mother you can find who isn't wearing a sweatshirt with puffy sheep on it! In fact, you may not believe it, but you can love parenting and still wear leopard-skin tights.

This book rekindled my hope that getting older doesn't mean giving in. Somebody's got to support those makers of pink sweatshirts, but it ain't gonna be me! <P