Coast to Coast

by Frederic Raphael

Marion and Barnaby Pierce are a New England couple in their sixties who are selling their house and driving to Los Angeles to attend their son’s wedding, give him Barnaby’s vintage Jaguar, and then go their separate ways. On their journey, they pick at each other’s weaknesses and betrayals with an edgy mixture of humor and cruelty. This is a bittersweet study of chagrin in which love, hatred, and self-loathing fuel rapid-fire dialogue and wit.

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Writer, critic and broadcaster, Frederic Raphael was educated at Charterhouse School and at St John's College, Cambridge. He has written several screenplays and fifteen novels. His The Glittering Prizes was one of the major British and American television successes of the 1970s.

Reviews

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The dissection of a failing marriage, told in witty and brutal dialog, a heady mix of Peter DeVries and Edward Albee.

[Debbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not sure why I continued and finished this, not at all what I was expecting.

A book of conversation mostly between a married couple as the traveled across country to theirs sons wedding. no scenic descriptions. very disappointing and very odd end that really gave no conclusion to the book.

Spoiler: he died

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biting and acerbic satirical take on the situation of a warring husband and wife on the brink of divorce due to both their philandering ways.
About to sell the marital home Barnaby and Marion are going to embark on a road trip across the USA to take their family Jaguar to their son Benjamin as a wedding present.
But before the eve of the wedding both of them have to make it to the venue without killing each other, recriminations, truth and also lies are exposed along the way and Marion and Barnaby learn a lot about each other as people.
Things are at a sort of truce stage just before Benjamin's wedding but a shocking revelation just after the ceremony turns the tables and what was just marital bitterness turns into something darker and more sinister.
A great idea for a story but to me the climactic ending was a little rushed and a little too ambiguous for me as I like a black and white ending and for me as a reader I think there were still too many questions left unanswered, things were more implied than resolved.
Overall a good read in general though.

[The Final Chapter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Low 3. This unveiling of the acerbic conflict within a marriage undoubtedly reveals the author's skill at fashioning dialogue. The reader is plunged into the death throes of the relationship between Barnaby and Marion, a mature couple on their last road trip from the east coat to LA to attend their son's wedding. As their in-fighting escalates, the reader learns of infidelities and a family tragedy which form the backdrop to their mutual distaste for one another. Discovering that the author is a screenplay writer explains why the novel flounders due to a greater depth of character analysis below the surface dialogue.

[Paul Duggan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing read...a screenplay even...struggling to get out and to be made into a film. After I finish it I discover that it has been, by Paul Mazursky.

While reading it I thought it was actually a screenplay that failed to be produced. Raphael is a gifted screenwriter, "Eyes Wide Shut" being the exception proving the rule. His "Darling" and "Two For the Road" are two of my favorites.

Anyway, read this book, enjoy it, and do as I am - get the film from Netflix and enjoy it.

[Jeffrey Stalk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Raphael at his most wordy telling the story of a mature couple going through a divorce and visiting their children from coast to coast. Enjoyable at times but mostly you were wondering why these two people would even travel in the same car.

[Michele · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't remember this one.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

Randomly chosen to be my 18th read for 2012.