A Ship Made of Paper: A Novel [Paperback]

Scott Spencer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 2009

Daniel Emerson lives with Kate Ellis, and he is like a father to her daughter, Ruby. But he cannot control his desire for Iris Davenport, the African-American woman whose son is Ruby's best friend. During a freak October blizzard, Daniel is stranded at Iris's house, and they begin a sexual liaison that eventually imperils all their relationships, Daniel's profession, their children's well-being, their own race-blindness, and their view of themselves as essentially good people.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Spencer's latest novel should cement his reputation as the contemporary American master of the love story. Daniel Emerson is a New York City lawyer who has returned to his hometown of Leyden, N.Y., a picturesque Hudson Valley village, with his girlfriend Kate, a novelist, and her daughter, Ruby. Kate drinks and obsesses about the O.J. Simpson trial instead of writing fiction. Daniel finds himself falling in love with Iris Davenport, an African-American grad student at the local university. Iris is married to Hampton Welles, an investment adviser. The book records Iris and Daniel's affair from both perspectives and poses the question, is their fleeting happiness really worth so much ruin? For ruin there is a-plenty: Daniel thoroughly humiliates Kate, destroys his financial status, becomes a subject of gossip in the village and inadvertently mauls Hampton in an accident with a roman candle, making it almost impossible for Iris to leave him. Spencer is an unerring writer. He describes the two couples at a local concert: "From time to time, Kate must glance at Daniel. His eyes are closed, but she's sure he's awake. Hampton takes Iris's hand, brings it to his lips, while she stares intently ahead. And then, Kate sees Daniel glancing at Iris. Their eyes meet for a moment, but it has the impact of cymbals crashing. It is a shocking, agitating thing to see. It's like being in a store with someone and watching them steal something." Kate's violated sense of order is captured in perfectly chosen metaphors. This book, in which matters of sex and race are treated with unusual frankness, could well be both the critical and commercial surprise of this spring season.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

A violent incident sends Daniel Emory, a successful white New York lawyer, back to his Hudson River hometown, where he is ensconced in edgy domesticity with his girlfriend, Kate Ellis, and her daughter, Ruby. His daily routine of taking Ruby to day care introduces him to Iris Davenport, a black woman whose son is Ruby's best friend. Daniel develops an obsessive attraction to Iris, who embodies for him the possibility of release from an emotional distance he has felt all his life. Iris tentatively returns the affection, yearning for her own respite from a frosty marriage to Hampton Welles, an investment banker, resident only on the weekends. A freak snowstorm affords the opportunity to begin an affair that sets in motion fierce jealousy--tinged with racial animus--in Kate and Hampton. This is an engaging novel of passion, romantic longing, race, class, family responsibilities, and the riveting anxieties of a couple embroiled in a relationship that cannot end well. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (February 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061367443
• ISBN-13: 978-0061367441
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,026,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Scott Spencer was born in Washington, D.C., raised in Chicago, and now lives in upstate New York. He is the author of nine novels, including Endless Love, Waking the Dead, A Ship Made of Paper, and Willing. He has taught at the University of Iowa, Williams College, and Columbia University. His nonfiction has appeared in Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, O, Harper's, and The New York Times.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Endless Lust?, June 5, 2003

By 

H. F. Corbin "Foster Corbin" (ATLANTA, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Ship Made of Paper: A Novel (Hardcover)

I read several years ago ENDLESS LOVE, a novel I liked immensely and was therefore eager to start this one. The novel is certainly an easy read. You can race right through it. It's all about Daniel Emerson's obsession with Iris Davenport and his pursuit of her come hell or high water as he rides out his passion in a fragile "paper boat," if you want to mix your metaphors. The characters for the most part are well developed although I thought Iris's husband may have been almost a stereotype. Spencer tackles head-on the dicey subject of an affair between a black woman and white man, certainly an area not every writer is willing to explore.

Having finished the novel, I was troubled by the character Daniel, however. Although his lover Kate continuously describes him as a good man, I'm not at all sure he is. I believe the moral question is this: does anyone have a right to insist on getting whatever he thinks he wants, no matter who gets hurt or destroyed along the way, in order that he can have an all consuming affair? There are of course similarities in Daniel and the young man in ENDLESS LOVE who, as I recall, in a fit of passionate love, burns down the home the young girl he's crazy about lives in. We may be able to forgive youth their folly. I'm not sure we can overlook as easily the sins of people entering middle age.

Having said that, if you accept the premise that everyone here gets hurt or destroyed, you'll find this compelling reading.

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I totally disagree with some of the other reviewers., June 4, 2003

By 

M. J Leonard "MikeonAlpha" (Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Ship Made of Paper: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is a fabulous read, and a gorgeous, sexy, lusty and insightful story. A Ship Made of Paper is an important book, not just for its comments about race in modern day America, but also for its sly depiction of modern day love. I've never read any Scott Spencer before A Ship Made of Paper, but I can assure you that I was just "blown away" by this story. This story doesn't have any pretensions, but it can't help being an absolutely sensational melodrama. I thought the characterizations of all four characters - Iris, Daniel, Hampton, and Kate were spot on. He is such an honest writer in the way he exemplifies all their insecurities on sex, race, family, and infidelity.

Spencer shows that is affairs of the heart there are no easy answers, which is why I think the book ended as it did. Iris and Daniel just couldn't stop loving each other. But of course, the real irony of the story was the totally innocent relationship between the two children, Ruby and Nelson - one black, one white. This is a haunting and intelligent love story, that is sly, cynical and yet at the same time an incredibly astute character study of middle class American life. I also thought the story provided an interesting depiction of small town American life, and it was somewhat debunking the myth that "safety" lies in small towns. Of course, the title "A Ship Made of Paper" is totally symbolic of the fragility of human relationships, and how they can so easily be destroyed by the pursuit reckless romantic love.

Wickedly insightful and passionate - this is a must read.

Michael

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful read, September 29, 2006

By 

Book lover in NYC (NY, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Ship Made of Paper : A Novel (Hardcover)

This is my first Scott Spencer book, and I will definitely seek out his previous works. I loved this book, and could identify with many of the characters. Mr. Spencer writes beautifully, his decriptions of people, places and situations are unconventional and startling. The book's main theme is obsession, and how it can destroy the lives of many. It doens't have the happiest of endings, but it was extremely well-written and enjoyable.