Life and Love, Such As They Are [Hardcover]

Anna Shapiro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1994

Ella Vaporsky, a graphic artist traveling through the bold and flamboyant world of downtown New York, copes with chaotic affairs of the heart in the midst of philandering husbands and assorted free spirits. 15,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"The triangle may be the most stable form in geometry, but in the geometry of human relations it is notoriously precarious," writes Shapiro ( The Right Bitch ) in her cynical and cleverly phrased novel. For all its machinations, and despite some insightful takes on lust, deception and discontent, the story covers very little ground as it ruminates over and over on unwinnable situations that lead to despair. In Manhattan, ad designer Ella two-times true-blue but dull Stephen with a married photographer, while neurotic conductor Burton, who's romancing an even more neurotic violinist, proves too kind to abandon his other, narcissistic lover. The unfortunate Stephen, a pianist, is composing a drag version of Othello called Otella --"If you were reading a novel about a woman having an affair and her husband were working on a musical based on Othello , you would groan at the improbability of the coincidence, the bad taste of it," the text glibly acknowledges. For sharp characterization and wry, generally acerbic comments on relationships, Shapiro outclasses most of her peers. She employs her talents so deftly, in fact, that readers may be willing to accept her tale's partial open-endedness; it is, after all, an approximation of life.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Artists are supposed to be eccentric, but this group takes the cake. Steven (a composer) and Ella (a painter) live together, but Ella is having an affair with Frank (a photographer). Ave (a professional mooch) moves in with Burton (a conductor), even though Burton is interested in Cynthia (a violinist). All these characters know or know of each other, leading to a hair-trigger tension that builds throughout the book. Will Ella leave Steven? Will Cynthia stop drinking if she wins Burton from Ave? Who will run off together? Shapiro ( So There , Grove, 1992) writes with flair, making vivid each scene, from sex to symphony, and creating a memorable, if not happy, novel. Recommended.
- Joanna M. Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Coll. of Continuing Education Lib., Providence
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First edition. edition (January 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671871145
• ISBN-13: 978-0671871147
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,244,468 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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