A Bigamist's Daughter (Paperback)

by Alice McDermott (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
'Impressive McDermott writes with assurance and skill, and has created a fascinatingly prismatic story' Anne Tyler, New York Times Book Review 'Beautifully written fiction an Irish-American Anne Tyler' Washington Post 'One of our finest novelists at work today' Los Angeles Times 'There's no one like Alice McDermott her touch is light as a feather, her perceptions purely accurate' Elle --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
“Impressive...McDermott writes with assurance and skill, and has created a fascinatingly prismatic story.”—Anne Tyler, New York Times Book Review

“McDermott is an enormously skilled and assured writer who transforms the ordinary into something resonant and magical.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Alice McDermott’s novels are like family albums, each scene hazy with the yellow light of history, nostalgic as faded Polaroids.”—San Francisco Examiner

“Splendid...this is nothing less than a brilliant first novel.”—Virginia Quarterly Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback (January 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385333293
• ISBN-13: 978-0385333290
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #148,458 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Enough already!, May 27, 1999

By A Customer

I am so sick of this character. How many - single women in their 20's who live on their own in a big city with powerful careers and no life outside of it, who are independent enough to have sex and not care, yet can't focus on anything else except sex and love - do I have to read about? I was this woman for a good number of years, but I had a lot more going on in my life. Please - SOMEBODY give these characters some dimension.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What Was the Point?, October 15, 2000

By	"noznabuk" (Northern MI USA) - See all my reviews

Elizabeth Connelly works for a Manhattan vanity press. When Tupper Daniels, a sure-to-be-published author presents her with the story of a bigamist in his southern hometown, she jokingly kids that her own father had more than one wife.

Tupper's book lacks an ending, and Elizabeth seriously considers whether her father was indeed a bigamist. Together author and editor forge a relationship to search for the end of one story and the truth of another. I reached the end of A BIGAMIST'S DAUGHTER without resolution to either quest. I'm not even sure what becomes of Tupper and Elizabeth, the couple.

As a story that describes itself as "an absolutely contemporary portrait of a new generation's search for--and avoidance of--committment in life and love," it's not a picture I would hang on a wall.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unsatisfying and Pointless, January 18, 2003

By	Stephanie Grubert "steffieagle" (Mountain Top, PA USA) - See all my reviews

I received The Bigamist's Daughter as a gift as "anything written by Alice McDermott" was highly recommended by Anna Quindlen in a USA Today story. Although the writing is precise and flows, the story and the characters are not engaging. Elizabeth the main character seems to be sleep walking through her life, her affair and her job. I kept waiting for the story to click and I had to reread the final chapters to see what I was missing. It just wasn't there. No stars is a more accurate assessment of my review. Skip this book. I am going to try another of her titles since I got two as gifts. I will read another Isabel Alende and an Amy Tan and a Jane Austen in between.