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120th out of 228 books
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123 voters
Trouble
A vibrant story of female friendship and midlife sexual awakening from the acclaimed author of The Great Man
Josie is a Manhattan psychotherapist living a comfortable life with her husband and daughter—until, while suddenly flirting with a man at a party, she is struck with the sudden realization that she must leave her passionless marriage. A thrillingly sordid encounter w...more
Josie is a Manhattan psychotherapist living a comfortable life with her husband and daughter—until, while suddenly flirting with a man at a party, she is struck with the sudden realization that she must leave her passionless marriage. A thrillingly sordid encounter w...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
June 16th 2009
by Doubleday
(first published May 29th 2009)
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I really wanted to like this book, because I have heard great things about Kate Christensen's work in the past. But from the first chapter, I knew I was in "trouble." The characters are literary constructs rather than characters, totally unsympathetic and unrealistic in just about every way. From the moment Josie describes herself by looking at her reflection (a tired cliche and a surprisingly lazy gimmick for a PEN/Faulkner award winner to employ), and decided to dump her husband as a result, t...more
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From everydayebook: http://www.everydayebook.com/2012/07/...
Trouble opens at a party (as it often does). Josie, a Manhattan psychotherapist in her forties, catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror as she flirts with someone and realizes to her surprise that, well, she's still got it. "If that reflection had belonged to a stranger," author Kate Christensen writes, "I would have been intimidated by her. I had no idea."
In this instant, Josie knows her marriage is over. She must leave. This realiz...more
Trouble opens at a party (as it often does). Josie, a Manhattan psychotherapist in her forties, catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror as she flirts with someone and realizes to her surprise that, well, she's still got it. "If that reflection had belonged to a stranger," author Kate Christensen writes, "I would have been intimidated by her. I had no idea."
In this instant, Josie knows her marriage is over. She must leave. This realiz...more
Trouble opens at a party (as it often does). Josie, a Manhattan psychotherapist in her forties, catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror as she flirts with someone and realizes to her surprise that, well, she's still got it. "If that reflection had belonged to a stranger," author Kate Christensen writes, "I would have been intimidated by her. I had no idea."
In this instant, Josie knows her marriage is over. She must leave. This realization has been building up inside of her for years, but some...more
In this instant, Josie knows her marriage is over. She must leave. This realization has been building up inside of her for years, but some...more
I read this because Kate Christensen has been on my list to check out for quite some time and because I was going to review her newest book, The Astral.
I was underwhelmed at first, feeling like I was reading Anita Shreve, whom I liked when I read her early books but lost interest in after a while. The story in Trouble is about female friendship, a subject usually found in very light "women's" fiction. But the writing was smooth and pulled me along. Josie, a New York City psychotherapist, decides...more
I picked this book up randomly. It is an ok book. I liked her writing style enough that I put an earlier award winning book of hers on hold at the library (The Great Man). "Trouble" is the story of Josie. Josie is a psychotherapist in New York. She realizes after flirting with a man at a party that she needs to leave her marriage. The marriage is stale. She finds her adopted young teenage daughter distant from her. Very much a part of the story are Josie's two best friends since college years. T...more
This was a good and bad book. The story attracted me--about friendship, sex, marriage, and psychotherapy.
The author writes well ... so good writing and interesting subject. I was moved. The sex made me want some. The eating and drinking was inspiring. The bullfight in Mexico, I thought I was there. The same for the Mexico City "scene." I liked the contrast the author painted between Mexican and North American psychological and emotional health. I was also moved to tears at the ending. All that i...more
The author writes well ... so good writing and interesting subject. I was moved. The sex made me want some. The eating and drinking was inspiring. The bullfight in Mexico, I thought I was there. The same for the Mexico City "scene." I liked the contrast the author painted between Mexican and North American psychological and emotional health. I was also moved to tears at the ending. All that i...more
Ok, I now forget where I found this book on a recommended reading list. It is truly a forgettable novel. Author Kate Christensen also wrote The Great Man for which she won the 2008 PEN/Faulker Award. Though the writing interested me, I found the story insipid and the characters troubling.
Doubleday writes, "A tragicomedy of marriage and friendship, Trouble is a funny, piercing, and moving examination of the battle between the need for connection and the quest for freedom that every modern woman m...more
Doubleday writes, "A tragicomedy of marriage and friendship, Trouble is a funny, piercing, and moving examination of the battle between the need for connection and the quest for freedom that every modern woman m...more
I bolted through this novel and found it hard to put down. I love Christensen's writing. I remember when the book came out a year or two ago reading on Maud Newton's blog about how she too had discovered Christensen late but fell in love immediately. I know what she means. I could identify with C's three middle-aged female characters, best friends since their college days two plus decades ago, in search of career success, love, longing, and recognition, and their respective crises. Having recent...more
There must've been a great review of this book somewhere, otherwise I would not have picked it up. Too bad I can't find the review: am curious to what, exactly, the reviewer found so riveting. Story revolves around a fortysomething (female) shrink in NYC who "suddenlY" decides her marriage is stifling, and jets off to Mexico City w/her bff -- a (female) rock star in LA running from some icky TMZ-type press.
Their journeys/insights/decisions are awfully predictable, but that's not why I quibble....more
Their journeys/insights/decisions are awfully predictable, but that's not why I quibble....more
One thing I like about all Christensen's books is her ability to present characters that are often unlikable, selfish, deeply flawed, self deluded; put them in situations in which they are certain not to be at their best and keep you really interested in them. You don't necessarily like them, or maybe you end up liking them more at the end, but they are always wonderfully human - not charicatures (I can't spell).
The other thing I've found is that her books are very readable, well constructed, q...more
The other thing I've found is that her books are very readable, well constructed, q...more
I really wanted to like this book. The Epicure's Lament is one of my favorite books of all time, and so I really want to be a Kate Christensen fan. However, In the Drink: A Novel and now Trouble were less than stellar examples of her work.
The idea of middle aged female friends grappling with the loss of a marriage and changes in their lives was really appealling, but it just wasn't executed. Josie (the main character) is one-dimensional and I never really cared about her working out her mid-lif...more
The idea of middle aged female friends grappling with the loss of a marriage and changes in their lives was really appealling, but it just wasn't executed. Josie (the main character) is one-dimensional and I never really cared about her working out her mid-lif...more
I'll confess, for the first few pages, I didn't know if I would be able to sink into this novel, but I persevered and was amply rewarded for my efforts. This forthright look at three professionally sucessful middle age women re-assessing their life choices made for a wonderful and fairly quick read once I was fully engaged. Though I didn't much like Josie in the opening pages of the book, her character and motivations became more understandable as the story unfolded and I found myself warming to...more
I love Kate Christensen's writing. I think she's establishing a niche with putting some zing into older female characters.(So glad she's moved on from *The Epicure's Lament* phase.)
I wish I could have given her a 3 1/2 for this one. I gobbled it up in three days. It was fun to read--she always does a great job of describing the sensual life of sex and food, and I think a sex scene is the climax (apropos) of the novel. Yet I couldn't help feeling once I finished, "What's this book about?" I'm all...more
I wish I could have given her a 3 1/2 for this one. I gobbled it up in three days. It was fun to read--she always does a great job of describing the sensual life of sex and food, and I think a sex scene is the climax (apropos) of the novel. Yet I couldn't help feeling once I finished, "What's this book about?" I'm all...more
This is written by the same author of the book The Great Man, which I really liked. The interesting thing is that she is a really good writer. Her writing is descriptive, smart, colorful and nicely paced. The problem is that I ended up not really liking or believing in the main character. The story is about friendship, relationships, escaping, and indulging. Josie the main character is a successful New York Psychologist, yet she joins her depressed best friend who has been in rehab 3 times and i...more
At a party at her best friend's apartment, Josie, a Manhattan psychologist, finds herself flirting with a stranger and in that moment realizes that her marriage is over. After a torrid night, she informs her husband and teenage daughter that she is moving out, then heads to Mexico City to be with her college friend Raquel, a famous rock singer who is weathering a tabloid scandal and fighting her own demons. In Mexico City, Josie easily falls into the rhythm of Raquel's life of the artist in exil...more
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I enjoyed Trouble on some levels. Josie’s discontent in her marriage and her life combined with the invitation from her rock star friend Raquel to spend the week in Mexico set up a really promising scenario. The author provides a great travelogue and historical reference to Mexico City while she details Josie and Raquel’s adventures, but I found that it sometimes competed too much with the plot. Josie talked much about the importance of her long time friendships with Indrani and Raquel but that...more
The Great Man by Christensen is one of my favorite books--the characters are so well etched, nuanced and you loved spending time with each one of them. The Epicure's Lament was an odd ride entertaining nonetheless but this book was nothing special, rather mundane. A Manhattan woman realizes at a party while flirting with another that her marriage is over. She prepares to leave her husband, has a fling in Mexico City, best friend OD's and in the end, she has a new Mexican lover and oh, her daught...more
"Although a few reviewers found Trouble quite compelling, many felt that it doesn't quite measure up to Christensen's previous novels. A sensitive story about friendship between middle-aged women, it contains the author's trademark wit, sharp dialogue, and local color. However, a few critics cited Josie as a relatively simple creature when compared with some of Christensen's past women -- an unsympathetic narrator who, lacking insight into her own heart, is fascinating in only a voyeuristic way....more
I think I like Kate Christensen's books in theory more than in practice. Like many of her other stories, the main character (who seems largely unsympathetic) makes a huge life change and it works out fantastically and everyone comes around except for the haters, who are naturally just going to hate. It's fantasy, pure and simple: go ahead, do what you want! It's the right choice! See how it all works out?
Trouble wasn't bad, and it wasn't badly written, but I was left feeling like I wouldn't be s...more
Trouble wasn't bad, and it wasn't badly written, but I was left feeling like I wouldn't be s...more
This is an "OK" book. You turn the pages quickly, Christensen can write, etc. But if she was going for anything deeper than a good New York Times travel article (you’ll want to go to Mexico City after reading this book) she misses it. Spoiler alert: main character leaves her husband because, you know, she suddenly realizes that “it” isn’t working anymore…no sense of her background except she’s white, educated, and Manhattan privileged. Goes to Mexico City with her BF- the guacamole is great (rea...more
I suppose I'm part of the demographic for this book--middle-aged, married--so I should love this book about friendship in a time of crisis, but I found the story left me stone cold. I wasn't convinced by the narrator, a Manhattan psychologist who decides to leave her husband during a friend's party. Nor did I find the rock star best friend--upset by vicious cyber gossip and in hiding--particularly compelling. The two of them meet up in Mexico City for five days of fun and female bonding. I kept...more
I picked this book up on the strength of the "winner of the Pen/Faulkner award for her novel 'The Great Man'" on the cover. After just thirty pages I had to stop and look at the list of previous Pen/Faulkner award winners to verify the claim. It is true; Christensen is listed there among authors I read and admire. So I started to read again. Five pages later I put the book down. Cool-whip has more substance than the characters in this book. So far there is no plot. The characters are barely one-...more
Josie is bored. Her marriage has soured and, compelled by her boredom and a sense that she is entitled to something better, Josie is ready for change. Then there's anxious Raquel, a rock-star whose heyday was fifteen years ago, and a recovering addict whose relationship with a man exactly half her age has exploded all over the blogosphere. Fragile and devastated, Raquel convinces Josie to escape to Mexico City with her for a week of relaxation and tequila. The freedom the two middle-aged friends...more
Jan 12, 2011
Kris
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Women readers who enjoy contemporary fiction rooted in solid character development
Kate Christensen is a master of character development, in a way that might not be immediately evident but sneaks up on you as a book progresses. At the beginning of Trouble, I thought the scaffolding for the story was kind of creaky, and I almost didn't continue after the first chapter. But then...once the setting shifted to Mexico City and the story lasered in on the two female protagonists, Christensen hooked me. Although a very different kind of story from her widely heralded The Great Man, t...more
I couldn't even finish this book because of the stupidity of the main characters. The main character seemed to be a total bimbo who let one moment completely change her life. She has no regard towards the feelings of the rest of her friends or family, all she ever thinks about is herself. I was too bogged down in this useless description and dialogue that sounded more like a seventh grader talking rather than a 40 year old woman. I honestly did not enjoy this book. I got it from People magazine,...more
One star ... I guess you can tell I didn't like this book. It's the story of middle age women, best friends, in crisis. One is a therapist bored with her marriage; the other is an ex-drug addict, fading/aging rock star. They go away to Mexico and party like they're teenagers. (I didn't quite understand how a therapist wouldn't see the dangers of supporting and participating in drinking binges with her friend who had addiction problems!) I didn't care about either character one way or the other....more
This was a great summer read and probably a good read for any time. I really would have liked to give it a 3.5. It moves along quickly and the writing is delightful. The author, as she has done in her previous books, evokes an honest rendition of the characters she creates. She makes her characters interesting and flawed, thus easy to read about and relate to. Her ability to give her female characters some depth is what keeps me coming back to her. Her descriptions really make the story come ali...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I must admit that I had preconceived notions about this book when I glanced at the reviews and ranking, but Kate Christensen is one of my favorite authors and deep down I knew that this was a special book no matter what anyone else thought of it. Trouble is different than her other works, for a change the main character is a woman, so the writing felt much softer, it was properly rounded and followed female insecurities and cravings , making this feel like a completely different work than one wo...more
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KATE CHRISTENSEN is the author of six previous novels, most recently The Astral. The Great Man won the 2008 PEN/Faulkner Award. She has published reviews and essays in numerous publications, most recently the New York Times Book Review, Bookforum, O, Elle, and Gilt Taste. She writes an occasional drinks column for The Wall Street Journal called "With a Twist." Her blog can be accessed at: http://k...more
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