Playing With Fire [Mass Market Paperback]

Dani Shapiro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1992

Two women--Lucy, daughter of a traditional Jewish family, and Carolyn, wealthy and reckless--come to share a rare love together, until Lucy succumbs to the charms of Carolyn's stepfather. Reprint. NYT.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A first novel with strong autobiographical overtones, this fledgling effort needed more capable editing to achieve its potential. Although Shapiro shows promise as a writer, too often she falls victim to overwrought, self-indulgent prose and a myriad of cliches. Narrator Lucy Greenburg, the blond, blue-eyed offspring of an Orthodox Jewish family that boasts a long line of revered rabbis, immediately falls under the spell of her Smith College roommate, a quintessential WASP. Carolyn Ward is beautiful, enigmatic and controlling; Lucy idolizes her finishing-school poise and perpetual tan, which Carolyn maintains by mysteriously disappearing from Smith for weeks at a time. She also awakens in Lucy a feverish sexual longing, which Lucy sublimates with a passion equally as strong--an affair with Carolyn's stepfather, construction tycoon Ben Broadhurst. Ben's influence gets Lucy a screen test, a career as a TV commercial model and her first movie. But the end of her dissolute life as Ben's mistress, a dramatic announcement by Carolyn (the ostensible plot bombshell has been telegraphed to the reader early on) and a family tragedy leave Lucy bereft of dreams, sadder but wiser at 22. Flashes of talent enliven Shapiro's often bathetic prose, especially when Lucy evokes the members of her religious family. This novel will probably fare well commercially, but one expects Shapiro to write a better book next time.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

With situations that modernize some classic themes, this first novel is a moving, heartfelt tale of family, friendship, love, and maturity. Reminiscent in some ways of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited , the novel takes Lucy Greenberg from naive adolescence to disillusioned adulthood, and leaves her in control of her life--although that life isn't exactly picture perfect. Lucy breaks from family traditions when she leaves for college, and her friendship with well-to-do Carolyn Ward throws her into a tempestuous relationship with Carolyn's stepfather, Ben. Lucy's life spirals out of control until her family is touched by tragedy; then she is forced to take control of her destiny for the first time. Just shy of being melodramatic, the novel uses powerful language and intelligent imagery to communicate Lucy's evolution. The book seems somewhat autobiographical and is very effective, although there are a few loose ends--perhaps another comment on how life can be.
- Heidi Schwartz, "Business Interiors," Red Bank, N . J .
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Warner Books (February 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446361879
• ISBN-13: 978-0446361873
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,633,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dani Shapiro's most recent books include the novels Black & White and Family History and the bestselling memoir Slow Motion. Her short stories and essays have appeared in the New Yorker, Granta, Tin House, Elle, Vogue, Ploughshares, and O, The Oprah Magazine, among other publications. She lives with her husband and son in Litchfield County, Connecticut.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mesmerizing and soul encompassing, October 5, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Lakeland, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Playing With Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

I fell for this author with her very first work. I read about this novel in the local paper and the excerpt was compelling enough for me to go buy the book, and every book since that Dani Shapiro has written. I was caught up in her dance with Carolyn and moved to the point that I wrote to the writer trying to connect with this astonishing woman. She did write back, and I have that letter with all of her novels. A must read!!

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This is the fictionalized version of "Slow Motion", December 13, 2006

By 

Mary (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Playing With Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

I first read "Family History" by Dani Shapiro and really enjoyed it, so I picked this one up at the library. It is about a college girl who has an affair with her best friend's stepfather and is spiraling out of control until her parents' tragic car accident forces her to grow up.

After reading it, I came to find out that Ms Shapiro wrote a memoir several years after this book was published. It's called "Slow Motion" and it's about -- drumroll, please -- a college girl who has an affair with her best friend's stepfather and is spiraling out of control until her parents' tragic car accident forces her to grow up. Sound familiar? I suppose it merely proves the old advice to composition students: Write what you know. But did she have to do it twice?

This book wasn't terrible, but it wasn't very interesting either. I found myself not caring one bit about Lucy, Carolyn, Ben or anyone in the book except Lucy's father. I never got any insight into why Lucy changed so much when she entered college, why she pursued acting, why she fell in love with the repugnant Ben. I think the author was a little too young at the time (20s) to tackle this subject matter. So my advice is to skip this one and read the memoir instead (I'm assuming it's better, but who knows?).

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Playing with Fire is a cold read, March 15, 2000

By 

Christy (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Playing With Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

I got this book from the library expecting to read an non-traditional romance, instead all I got was a cliche-ridden, faux literary piece of work. First of all, why do young, attractive women always get involved with rich, older men? I found it totally implausible that Lucy would be in involved with Ben just because he can buy her expensive clothes and keep her up at bicoastal apartments. Plus his stalker-like tendencies before they started dating, should have been a big turn-off to the semi-intelligent Lucy. Lucy, by the way, seems to be a literary realization of the author, who according to the back cover flap was a former model and actress, all female college grad, and jewish rich girl. Next, Shapiro's habit of interjecting flashbacks was so annoying I stopped reading them half way through the book. And the style of addressing the character of Carolyn was extremely bothersome as well. Save your time and read something else.