Book 15 Feb 2007 08:15 am
Love and Other Impossible Pursuits
My oh my, I loved this book. I first heard about it in Pages in an article about the author and her husband. We got the advance at the store, and one September afternoon, I sat on the grass in the sun and ABSORBED THIS BOOK.
Written by Ayelet Waldman (married to author Michael Chabon), Love and Other Impossible Pursuits is about a mother who has to deal with the death of her infant daughter, her five year old step-son, and her consuming self-pity. A review from Publisher’s Weekly,
“How a five-year-old manages to make the adults in his life hew to the love he holds for them is the sweet treat in this honest, brutal, bitterly funny slice of life. When Emelia’s day-old daughter, Isabel, succumbs to SIDS, her own life stalls. She can’t work; she can’t sleep; Central Park, once her personal secret garden, now is a minefield of happy mother-child dyads. Since Isabel’s death, husband Jack’s only solace for the guilt of breaking up his sexless marriage with Carolyn for Emelia’s (now-absent) passion and love is joint custody of William, now five. What Emelia cannot bear most are Wednesdays, when she must cross the park to collect William at the 92nd Street Y preschool and take another shot at step-motherhood. Carolyn, William’s furious mother and a renowned Upper East Side OB/GYN, lives to nab Emelia for mistakes in handling him. Carolyn’s indicting phone calls raise the already sky-high tension in Jack and Emelia’s home, but they don’t compare with Carolyn’s announcement that, at age 42, she is pregnant. The news pushes Emelia to confess to Jack two things she shouldn’t. William is charmingly realized, and Waldman (Daughter’s Keeper) has upper bourgeois New York down cold. The result is a terrific adult story. (Feb. 21)”
– Publishers Weekly
More personal praise from authors you might enjoy,
“Love and Other Impossible Pursuits is a beautiful novel…If you are not moved to tears, then your heart is carved from wood.”
– Andrew Sean Greer, author of The Confessions of Max Tivoli“I had a great time reading Love and Other Impossible Pursuits…The heroine was a great accomplishment…and William (her stepson) is a triumph.”
– Diane Johnson, author of Le Divorce“I read this book in one sitting…Ayelet Waldman is that good.”
– Sherman Alexie, author of Ten Little Indians“One of the sweetest and smartest and most poignant novels I’ve read in a long time. It’s also very funny.”
– Chris Bohjalian, author of Midwives and Before You Know Kindness
Side note, I agree with Sherman Alexie!!! And here are two covers for you to recognize the book in the stores!
It was released in paperback on January 9th, 2007 (though oddly, I don’t remember seeing it yet), and is an amazing read! Please stop by your local independent library and check it out!
Tags: Andrew Sean Greer, ayelet waldman, Book, books, chabon, chris bohjalian, Diane johnson, embargo, fiction, hardcover, infant, infants, laydown date, love and other impossible pursuits, michael chabon, paperback, publishers weekly, Sherman Alexie, SIDS, waldman