Darling Clementine

by Andrew Klavan

Darling Clementine is the story of Samantha, a poetess determined to transform her sex life into a a pathway to enlightenment. Along for the ride is her brand new husband, Arthur Clementine, a wealthy, calm, but crypto-zany assistant district attorney for New York County. The novel begins with their meeting and works its way backward and forward. In the past, a series of darkening love affairs lead Sam to a suicide attempt and a breakdown. Now, Samantha works on a suicide hotline and uses her marriage in a search for radical sanity, a sort of road show of Love’s Body. Along the way, she reconciles polymorphous perversity with housework; tries to talk one of William Blake’s deities out of killing himself—or someone else; and watches, with everyone else, as the world moves toward the ever popular brink of destruction. Darling Clementine is an effervescent combination of Henry Miller and P. G. Woodhouse, in a character as daffy and enchanting as Truman Capote’s Holly Golightly was in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

159 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Reference for now:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_K...

Reviews

[Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved every book I have read by Andrew Klavan. They are mostly mysteries/thrillers that are extremely well written. This novel does not fit into that genre. It is one of his early works (1988) and is a beautiful story told by the main character, Samantha Clementine. It is incredibly well written with subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) literary references. It can be heartbreaking in part and laugh out loud funny at times. The only warning I would give is that is is very sexually explicit (you can tell from the first sentence), so if that bothers you, be forewarned. If not, enjoy this great and unusual novel.