Dirty Love
In these linked novellas in which characters walk out the back door of one story and into the next, love is "dirty"--tangled up with need, power, boredom, ego, fear, and fantasy. On the Massachusetts coast north of Boston, a controlling manager, Mark, discovers his wife's infidelity after twenty-five years of marriage. An overweight young woman, Marla, gains a romantic partner but loses her innocence. A philandering bartender/aspiring poet, Robert, betrays his pregnant wife. And in the stunning title novella, a teenage girl named Devon, fleeing a dirty image of her posted online, seeks respect in the eyes of her widowed great-uncle Francis and of an Iraq vet she's met surfing the Web.
Slivered by happiness and discontent, aging and death, but also persistent hope and forgiveness, these beautifully wrought narratives express extraordinary tenderness toward human beings, our vulnerable hearts and bodies, our fulfilling and unfulfilling lives alone and with others.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
Hello there! Oh, you say you are easily offended and close minded? The only genre you live and breathe is chick-lit? You get book recommendations from your uterus?
I suggest you read something else.
Luckily I was prepared to deal with the way my buddy, Andre, would probably leave me feeling. Honestly, I kind of like heartbreak with no happy ending. And I guess while I am being honest, Andre and I are not actually buddies (although I wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating crackers if you know what I mean - eh? eh?).
Oh. Where were we? That's right - reviewing a book.
I actually read this last November. I'm not sure why I didn't get around to reviewing it until now; it certainly has nothing to do with how I felt about it. I do, however, remember quite a bit of it, which is downright astonishing with the way my memory has been slipping more and more. That says something for what this man('s writing) does to me.
There are four separate (yet a bit connected) stories.
1. Listen Carefully As Our Options Have Changed
Husband (Mark) and wife (Laura). Affairs. Detachment. There is this sad sense of when things have gone beyond repair, which is usually when the other party finally understands. While not identical situations, this one really struck me with parallels to the divorce of my parents well over a decade ago.
2. Marla
Marla is our MC (obviously?). Dennis is a man she begins a relationship with. Marla is (if I recall) in her late twenties, overweight, lonely and afraid of "missing the train." You know...becoming the crazy cat lady. The idea that "someone" is better than "no one." Settling.
3. The Bartender
Robert the bartender/aspiring poet. Althea the bartender's (pregnant-Greek-image of fertility and virtue) wife. Jackie the "other woman" because even sweet, strong, beautiful Althea can't keep Casanova faithful.
4. Dirty Love
Devon (young adult). Francis (Devon's uncle). Rumors. Perceptions. Alcohol. Sex versus love.
Each is entwined not in a "fate" way but a "hey, I know that name!" way. There are characters who play a very small role (co-worker, husband of co-worker, etc.) in another story. What was really interesting about this was that you were provided glimpses of what others thought. For example, Robert (the bartender) sees himself as an attractive and desirable aspiring poet that has a way with women. Devon (the young woman in the last story) is eighteen and sees him as a creep who can't stop looking at her ass.
Other common threads include alcohol, betrayals (emotional and physical), and skewed perceptions (of others and of ourselves). There is so much to think about. What we put up with. What we resent. Good moments vs bad - will one outweigh the other?
I called my sister several times while reading this. She has/had a habit of nagging at her fiance, and I felt it very important to call her and tell her about the reoccurring idea of nagging in this book. Mark to Laura. Dennis to Marla. Beth to Francis. Does the one doing the nagging know the damage being done? Sure, they probably feel a little guilty, but it isn't enough to cause a huge blowup. Instead, it is this very slow chipping away that may not be noticed until that moment of "Shit. Too late."
Oh!
Hello there person I was talking to at the beginning of this review. Thinking that this doesn't sound too bad and that surely there are silver linings there? I don't want to mislead you with my simplistic story summaries. If you trust anything I say at all, just trust that your heart will feel damaged and there will be no soothing words that follow to repair it.
5 stars for all the wonderful stabbing pain you have caused me.
----------------------------------------
New book by Andre Dubus number 3?
YA-ESSSS!
I have to be upbeat now because I just know that once I read this, he's going to rip my heart out and then whip it right at my face.
I suggest you read something else.
Luckily I was prepared to deal with the way my buddy, Andre, would probably leave me feeling. Honestly, I kind of like heartbreak with no happy ending. And I guess while I am being honest, Andre and I are not actually buddies (although I wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating crackers if you know what I mean - eh? eh?).
Oh. Where were we? That's right - reviewing a book.
I actually read this last November. I'm not sure why I didn't get around to reviewing it until now; it certainly has nothing to do with how I felt about it. I do, however, remember quite a bit of it, which is downright astonishing with the way my memory has been slipping more and more. That says something for what this man('s writing) does to me.
There are four separate (yet a bit connected) stories.
1. Listen Carefully As Our Options Have Changed
Husband (Mark) and wife (Laura). Affairs. Detachment. There is this sad sense of when things have gone beyond repair, which is usually when the other party finally understands. While not identical situations, this one really struck me with parallels to the divorce of my parents well over a decade ago.
2. Marla
Marla is our MC (obviously?). Dennis is a man she begins a relationship with. Marla is (if I recall) in her late twenties, overweight, lonely and afraid of "missing the train." You know...becoming the crazy cat lady. The idea that "someone" is better than "no one." Settling.
3. The Bartender
Robert the bartender/aspiring poet. Althea the bartender's (pregnant-Greek-image of fertility and virtue) wife. Jackie the "other woman" because even sweet, strong, beautiful Althea can't keep Casanova faithful.
4. Dirty Love
Devon (young adult). Francis (Devon's uncle). Rumors. Perceptions. Alcohol. Sex versus love.
Each is entwined not in a "fate" way but a "hey, I know that name!" way. There are characters who play a very small role (co-worker, husband of co-worker, etc.) in another story. What was really interesting about this was that you were provided glimpses of what others thought. For example, Robert (the bartender) sees himself as an attractive and desirable aspiring poet that has a way with women. Devon (the young woman in the last story) is eighteen and sees him as a creep who can't stop looking at her ass.
Other common threads include alcohol, betrayals (emotional and physical), and skewed perceptions (of others and of ourselves). There is so much to think about. What we put up with. What we resent. Good moments vs bad - will one outweigh the other?
I called my sister several times while reading this. She has/had a habit of nagging at her fiance, and I felt it very important to call her and tell her about the reoccurring idea of nagging in this book. Mark to Laura. Dennis to Marla. Beth to Francis. Does the one doing the nagging know the damage being done? Sure, they probably feel a little guilty, but it isn't enough to cause a huge blowup. Instead, it is this very slow chipping away that may not be noticed until that moment of "Shit. Too late."
Oh!
Hello there person I was talking to at the beginning of this review. Thinking that this doesn't sound too bad and that surely there are silver linings there? I don't want to mislead you with my simplistic story summaries. If you trust anything I say at all, just trust that your heart will feel damaged and there will be no soothing words that follow to repair it.
5 stars for all the wonderful stabbing pain you have caused me.
----------------------------------------
New book by Andre Dubus number 3?
YA-ESSSS!
I have to be upbeat now because I just know that once I read this, he's going to rip my heart out and then whip it right at my face.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.