Group Sex [Hardcover]

Ann Arensberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 1986

Frances Girard is a young editor at a publishing house--attractive, respected . . . and undeniably bored. Tired of hearing everyone else's fascinating story, Frances longs to star in her own. So when she meets the brazen, renegade avant-garde theater director Paul Treat, Frances unwittingly jumps at the chance to break away from the cozy decorum of her class and career.

Life with Paul is different from anything Frances has ever experienced. Unlike the civilized literati that comprise her circle, Paul is all action--unpredictable and wildly brilliant. Suddenly her humdrum life is swept away by the bohemian whirlwind of Paul's world. But how long can Frances sustain this vicarious connection? The answer becomes shockingly clear one hilarious evening when the topic of conversation turns to group sex. For after that night, this unlikely pair embark upon an uproarious ride that will change their lives forever.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

To be blonde and beautiful and stupendously bright, to be carefree and in love, is every woman's dream; to be kind and giving into the bargain, may be her undoing. Young editor Frances Girard lives in an elegant apartment at the top of a handsome Manhattan brownstone, whose owner Madeline demands, besides the rent, backrubs and tea and sympathy, especially now when she is in thrall to Paul Treat, the director whose play she is financing. After he meets Frances, Paul very soon is making journeys upstairs, a situation that Frances can't stand and Madeline won't stand for. Frances moves out of the brownstone and into Paul's loft, where she serves as handmaiden, fall-girl and brunt-bearer to Paul and his hypochondria and mercurial moods, and eventually breadwinner until his latest play finds a backer. Frances rebels and the lovers part, but a reconciliation ends this sparkling romantic comedy. Comparable to Laurie Colwin's best work, this is a provocative mood change from Arensberg's stunning first novel, Sister Wolf.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Arensberg, whose Sister Wolf ( LJ 9/15/80) won the American Book Award for Best First Novel in 1981, has written a second novela "romantic comedy"part of which first appeared as a short story in the O. Henry Prize Collection of 1980. Her heroine, Frances Girard, is unqualifiedly a downtrodden doormat. Everyone takes advantage of Frances, not least her lover, Paul Treat, avant-garde theater director. Arensberg details their affair with humor and insight, but they remain essentially types: the unfailingly giving woman, the blindly taking man. It is not Paul's violation of her personality that finally makes Frances rebel but his sexual infidelity. Like all romantic comedies this one ends happily. For all its sophisticated wit and telling detail, the novel remains only clever, and like a conversation that drones on long after the point is made, becomes slightly boring. Marcia Tager, Tenafly, N.J.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 175 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (August 12, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394553101
• ISBN-13: 978-0394553108
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,795,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Needs new title...., October 11, 2000

By 

EasyReader Jr. "EasyReader Jr." (Pleasanton, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Group Sex (Paperback)

I have to agree with the previous reader's review. This was book was somewhat disappointing for several reasons. One, this book was not about "Group Sex" at all. Group sex was only part of a group conversation that took place on one evening of the entire book! I can't help but to wonder if the author used the title to attract 'would-be' readers... Second, most of the secondary characters in the book were extremely bland and boring, but I believe that may have been the author's intention to emphasize the life of the main character, Frances. Third, the reader may or may not understand why Frances would stay in a topsy-turvy relationship with Paul Treat, a theatre playwright, and the reader may grasp this in the very ending of the book where Frances finally voices her desires.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Uncomfortable, September 12, 2000

By 

Molly M. Wolf (Havertown PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Group Sex (Paperback)

Having been introduced to Arensburg's work through the magnificent "Incubus," I was a little disappointed with "Group Sex." A truly disturbing tale of a young editor and her love (?) affair with a theatre director.

Although I finished the book in the matter or two days, it was an uncomfortable read. The main character allows her lover to completely reform her, pulling her in and out of distorted shapes. The main character is uncomfortable with her lover through most of the novel, and the reader senses this.

Because I think Arensburg is a gifted and talented writer, I cannot completely malign the book. "Group Sex" is a quick read, and an engaging one, although a bit disturbing for this reader.