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A Bigamist's Daughter
Elizabeth Connelly sits in a New York office that looks like a real editor's, but isn't quite. Employed at a vanity press, Elizabeth watches the real world--of real struggles, passion, pain, and love--spin around her. Until one day, a young writer comes to her with a novel about a man who loves more than one woman at once. And suddenly Elizabeth will be awakened from her y...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
January 12th 1999
by Dial Press Trade Paperback
(first published 1982)
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I have read many books were I didn't really like it, but was still able to appreciate it and finish it. This was different because I just didn't like it at all. (I did finish it though)
I feel like the whole book should be read with melancholy music in the background...imagine it and that's how the whole book is like...except a thousand times more pretentious. The main character of Elizabeth lives her whole life with herself as the tortured female lead in her own mental drama. She man...more
I feel like the whole book should be read with melancholy music in the background...imagine it and that's how the whole book is like...except a thousand times more pretentious. The main character of Elizabeth lives her whole life with herself as the tortured female lead in her own mental drama. She man...more
In a novel that dissects, deconstructs and recreates the fabric of life, love and literature, the author spotlights the world of publishing; the mythology of love, the elusiveness of the love object – all as the centerpiece of this work – formulate the basis for this story.
We begin with Elizabeth Connelly, a single woman living in New York – some time in the twentieth century, before computers or the current Internet generation – and discover her real life as an “editor-in-chief” at ...more
We begin with Elizabeth Connelly, a single woman living in New York – some time in the twentieth century, before computers or the current Internet generation – and discover her real life as an “editor-in-chief” at ...more
A well-done novel--particularly impressive that it was McDermott's first. I'm not very familiar with her work. I read That Night several years ago after watching its film adaptation on TV (back when C. Thomas Howell still had a career), but it didn't inspire me to seek out her other books. And then a few years ago she was the keynote speaker at a writers' conference I attended, and she was awful. I can't even remember why exactly; I think she just read a speech she had already presented somewher...more
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This book is a striking look at the choices we all must make when deciding day to day who we are. It explores the nature of love and what we really want from each other. It offers a unique and significant perspective on the way in which our pasts influence us. It dispels myths about the essential natures of women and men. In short, yes, I recommend it.
YUCK! Why oh why do I keep reading a book that I don't like. I read this book during my lunch hour at work & felt like I was crawling out of my skin. I couldn't wait to finish it. Next time I don't like a book, I hope someone pulls it out of my hands before I waste my time.
Alice McDermott's books all have the same sense of emptiness running throughout. The main character in this one is missing something/a lot of things in her life, and she doesn't really find it in the book. I wish she'd learned a little more about her father.
Eh. I didn't hate this book, but I didn't really like it either. It certainly wasn't the writing style that didn't hold my interest...I just couldn't ever really get into the story.
Man this book was hard to follow... I think there might've been an awesome story in there somewhere...if only I could've found it.
I liked this book the least of all her books. All the others were really good!!!
Why so boring? It's like the story just fizzled out along the way. Blah.
She really can write but I must admit that I preferred Charming Billy.
The plot seemed contrived. Did not get the MO of the main character --
This was a very interesting tale, as all of Alice McDermott's books seem to be. You've got some Roman Catholic issues, and some interesting young woman identity issues, plus some issues of different ways of telling stories. Haven't thought about that, but all of these people are story tellers in one way or the other. A lot of her books seem to have something about the lies we tell each other and ourselves, and this one leaves you wondering if she'll change before the end of the book. I won't...more
Unimpressed.
novel
This was another book I found on my 2011 book-a-day calendar. I have read other books by Alice McDermott so I expected a melancholy vibe. In addition to this, however, I found the book moved slowly, the characters remained largely undeveloped and the plot lines were simply depressing. I do think Ms. McDermott is a good writer but find that this (and most of her other books that I've read) are just not enjoyable to read. I would not recommend it!
Mona
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Recommends it for:
anyone with a bad case of insomnia.
Shelves:
pop-airport-best-sellers
I put down this book once because it was so boring. The second time I picked it up, I was determined to finish it...and it was still boring.
I kept forgetting who the protagonist was and why she started a relationship with the writer. The plot made no sense and got interesting around page 200 for about 50 pages then petered right back out.
This book was really disappointing considering her premise is interesting.
I kept forgetting who the protagonist was and why she started a relationship with the writer. The plot made no sense and got interesting around page 200 for about 50 pages then petered right back out.
This book was really disappointing considering her premise is interesting.
It was seriously difficult to believe that the same author wrote this book as well as Charming Billy. While Charming Billy was not the most enthralling book I read this year, the writing was so much better. This novel had an interesting premise, but the descriptive language was often trashy at the beginning and cost the author and story credibility for me. It was an easy read, but not nearly as well written as Charming Billy.
The mian character is "executive editor" at a vanity publisher. She is also the daughter of a marriage that not exclusive on her father's part. What's real, what purpose to our delusions serve? Not McDermott's best (i loved "Charming Billy" and enjoyed "Child of My Heart"), but worth reading.
Read half; odd story. Couldn't finish it.
I didn't finish this book. It was one of her early ones and as a writer, McDermott just gets better and better. I didn't think this was nearly as good as "Child of my Heart" or "After This" both of which have fuller characters and more inventive use of language.
Hmmm... It was good but definitely not the author's best. It was one of her early works though...
Okay, I hated this book.
Yikes.
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Alice McDermott (born June 27, 1953) is Johns Hopkins University's Writer-in-Residence. Born in Brooklyn, New York, McDermott attended St. Boniface School in Elmont, Long Island, NY [1967], Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead NY [1971], the State University of New York at Oswego, receiving her BA in 1975, and later received her MA from the University of New Hampshire in 1978.
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