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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Novel by a Great Novelist, July 21, 2000
This is, of course, the fourth Reinhart novel. That it is out of print is a travesty, an abomination, a devastating commentary on the sick state of humanity as a whole.In this novel, Reinhart has become a cook. Writing a novel is like cooking with memes. It is done for much the same reasons; it is very difficult. But Thos. Berger make it looks easy. I don't know how he does it. It is genius. Thomas Berger must feel that his characters are too interesting and entertaining to not return to, and he is right. Splendor Mainwaring's son is here, representing his father who is in cryogenic suspension, we hope. (It is my theory that *Robert Crews* is a sequel to *Regiment of Women* perhaps the funniest novel ever written, except for *Neighbors*.) In a hundred years, surely it will be seen that Reinhart (not Rabbit) is the essential fictional human of the second half of the 20th Century. I first read *Reinhart's Women* when I was about 34. Then I put it away, knowing--every week that passed in my life--that when I was in my early fifties, I would take it out again, and re-read it. It gave me something to look forward to. After waiting all these years, I have not been disappointed. I wish I could get amnesia so that I could read it again tonight. Wrongly pigeon-holed by some as a "comic" novelist, or even "black humorist", Berger's themes are large, his fiction is true. He writes novels of imagination (*Changing the Past*, *Being Invisible*, *Regiment of Women*, of history (*Arthur Rex*) and of the human condition). That they are excrutiatingly funny does not mean that they are not excrutiatingly true. I have read a lot of novels over the years. *Reinhart's Women* is my favorite novel. No one knows women better than Berger, except other women. If you want to know about women, read about Reinhart's. On the chance that Mr. Berger might read these reviews, I would like to say to him: Hey! How's Reinhart? Was his TV show a success? Did he marry Edie and give Blaine a kid half-brother or -sister? Did he revivify the restaurant? What about Mercer? What happened to her? Did Genevieve fare better in California than she did in Chicago, and did she ever raise her ugly head again in Southern Ohio (presuming that Reinhart remained there)? Or did everyone simply live happily ever after? You brought back Jack Crabb. I love Reinhart more. I reallize that the out-of--print status of *Reinhart's Women* may not seem to be too encouraging, but how about this: Mr. Berger, if you write a fifth Reinhart, I will personally give you $100. I am not kidding. michaelbrown@mail.org
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