Scan barcode
lbb00ks's review
Not sure I bought in to the premise of this one, and could not get a certain radio show host out of my consciousness while I read along.
booksaremysuperpower's review against another edition
Bienvenue and Wilkomen to my "Someday I will finish..." shelf!
This book stares at me with guilt-ridden eyes from my bookshelf. See my other entry on Jane Hamilton for more details, but I feel like I belong in reading shame jail for not even getting a quarter of the way into this one.
Reasons being:
A. Based on my other experience with "A Map of the World", I should have known better.
B. I bought the book when I didn't really have the money to do so, so yeah, I should have know better too.
C. Maybe I don't really like Jane Hamilton as much as I thought?
I'm determined to finish "Laura Rider's Masterpiece" if only to stop it from judging me. Or at the very least, I'll move it to the back of my shelf.
This book stares at me with guilt-ridden eyes from my bookshelf. See my other entry on Jane Hamilton for more details, but I feel like I belong in reading shame jail for not even getting a quarter of the way into this one.
Reasons being:
A. Based on my other experience with "A Map of the World", I should have known better.
B. I bought the book when I didn't really have the money to do so, so yeah, I should have know better too.
C. Maybe I don't really like Jane Hamilton as much as I thought?
I'm determined to finish "Laura Rider's Masterpiece" if only to stop it from judging me. Or at the very least, I'll move it to the back of my shelf.
lisa_mc's review against another edition
4.0
The first few pages of Jane Hamilton’s new novel elicit chuckles, snorts and a couple of laughs loud enough to require explanation to others in the vicinity.
Yes, it’s a sex comedy from the same Jane Hamilton known for her weighty, complex stories of families and relationships, such as “The Book of Ruth,” “A Map of the World” and “When Madeline Was Young.”
But while “Laura Rider’s Masterpiece” is a departure in terms of tone — quick, breezy, funny — from Hamilton’s previous work, it touches on the same themes of relationships and personal identity. It also has the same smart writing and pitch-perfect characterization as Hamilton’s other novels.
The story centers on Laura Rider and her husband, happy-go-lucky Charlie, who own a nursery in rural Wisconsin. They’re close friends and good partners, but — by Laura’s unilateral decision — they’ve ceased and desisted their conjugal relations.
One day Charlie meets, by chance, radio personality Jenna Faroli, who hosts a talk show on NPR that Laura faithfully listens to. Both are a little star-struck when she sends him a brief e-mail afterward, and together they compose a reply, and then another, and soon they’re each writing long, thoughtful messages to Jenna under Charlie’s name.
The correspondence continues electronically for a while, until Charlie, with Laura’s not-so-tacit encouragement, seeks a closer relationship with Jenna, whose judge husband has engrossed himself in the writing of a book on law.
Laura, who is not much of a reader but has decided to write a romance novel, sees the whole affair as an experiment, a way to examine characters and figure out what kind of hero and heroine she would write about, what they would want from each other, what their conflict would be — because every romance novel has to have a conflict — and how it could get resolved.
As one can imagine, misunderstandings and mayhem ensue, but what specifically happens is not at all predictable, which adds to the sense of fun.
However, a darker undercurrent flows through “Laura Rider’s Masterpiece” as well. While Jenna presents a calm, erudite persona on the air, in reality she’s impatient, bored, snarky and idling in a not particularly exciting marriage.
“What had Jenna said to Suzie? Try to find the thrill in sound judgment. What fly-by-night Girl Scout leader had had that come from?”
The need for a thrill makes Jenna toss out her own sound judgment and connect with a person like Charlie; it also makes her vulnerable to Laura’s machinations.
For Laura, writing is quite a selfish pursuit; it’s all about her. So it’s unsurprising that the insights she comes away with fit her own point of view: “Maybe the whole point of love was to break each other so that from those shattered selves you could build a better, a sturdier self, so that you could go forward — not hand in hand but a comfortable arm’s length apart.”
Laura blithely carries on, unaware, or unconcerned, that the players in her experiment have feelings that messily spill outside any predetermined plot formula. Charlie is “constitutionally incapable of being unhappy for too long,” though Jenna’s hurt may stick around a little longer.
But the hurts in “Laura Rider’s Masterpiece” are mainly to pride. No lives are destroyed, no families torn asunder. And there are plenty of funny lines, droll observations and humorous situations along the way.
Readers will quickly devour this light novel, but discover that it’s more filling and satisfying than it appears.
Yes, it’s a sex comedy from the same Jane Hamilton known for her weighty, complex stories of families and relationships, such as “The Book of Ruth,” “A Map of the World” and “When Madeline Was Young.”
But while “Laura Rider’s Masterpiece” is a departure in terms of tone — quick, breezy, funny — from Hamilton’s previous work, it touches on the same themes of relationships and personal identity. It also has the same smart writing and pitch-perfect characterization as Hamilton’s other novels.
The story centers on Laura Rider and her husband, happy-go-lucky Charlie, who own a nursery in rural Wisconsin. They’re close friends and good partners, but — by Laura’s unilateral decision — they’ve ceased and desisted their conjugal relations.
One day Charlie meets, by chance, radio personality Jenna Faroli, who hosts a talk show on NPR that Laura faithfully listens to. Both are a little star-struck when she sends him a brief e-mail afterward, and together they compose a reply, and then another, and soon they’re each writing long, thoughtful messages to Jenna under Charlie’s name.
The correspondence continues electronically for a while, until Charlie, with Laura’s not-so-tacit encouragement, seeks a closer relationship with Jenna, whose judge husband has engrossed himself in the writing of a book on law.
Laura, who is not much of a reader but has decided to write a romance novel, sees the whole affair as an experiment, a way to examine characters and figure out what kind of hero and heroine she would write about, what they would want from each other, what their conflict would be — because every romance novel has to have a conflict — and how it could get resolved.
As one can imagine, misunderstandings and mayhem ensue, but what specifically happens is not at all predictable, which adds to the sense of fun.
However, a darker undercurrent flows through “Laura Rider’s Masterpiece” as well. While Jenna presents a calm, erudite persona on the air, in reality she’s impatient, bored, snarky and idling in a not particularly exciting marriage.
“What had Jenna said to Suzie? Try to find the thrill in sound judgment. What fly-by-night Girl Scout leader had had that come from?”
The need for a thrill makes Jenna toss out her own sound judgment and connect with a person like Charlie; it also makes her vulnerable to Laura’s machinations.
For Laura, writing is quite a selfish pursuit; it’s all about her. So it’s unsurprising that the insights she comes away with fit her own point of view: “Maybe the whole point of love was to break each other so that from those shattered selves you could build a better, a sturdier self, so that you could go forward — not hand in hand but a comfortable arm’s length apart.”
Laura blithely carries on, unaware, or unconcerned, that the players in her experiment have feelings that messily spill outside any predetermined plot formula. Charlie is “constitutionally incapable of being unhappy for too long,” though Jenna’s hurt may stick around a little longer.
But the hurts in “Laura Rider’s Masterpiece” are mainly to pride. No lives are destroyed, no families torn asunder. And there are plenty of funny lines, droll observations and humorous situations along the way.
Readers will quickly devour this light novel, but discover that it’s more filling and satisfying than it appears.
lizjane's review
2.0
I've got no problem with Hamilton's writing style and I love that she's a famous Wisconsin author who lives down the road from me. This book is lighter and smaller than her previous ones, but I found it unbelievable and I didn't care much about the wacky characters. 2.75 stars
heather_g's review
2.0
Well-written but had quite a few lovey-dovey parts that made me want to puke. It was an interesting story of a woman who subtly encouraged her husband to take a lover by helping him compose emails to the female radio personality. Coincidentally, adultery is one of my least favorite topics, so that immediately turned me off to the book. And all three individuals were completely clueless middle-aged persons. Perhaps it's the Gen Xer in me but all I can say is "Really? You really what to go there? Really?"
kerry_connors's review
2.0
This wasn't my favorite of Jane Hamilton's book - interesting concept for a story, but it's hard to envision duty carried to this level of dedication.
momadvice's review
2.0
I am a huge fan of Jane Hamilton's work and was so looking forward to reading this. I will admit that the cover and immediately laugh-out-loud opening chapter are what sucked me in.
From that point on, the novel went downhill for me. What I thought was going to be a funny book soon turned into a very strange world complete with talk of aliens, knee families, and other made-up stories.
The ending didn't really draw any conclusions and the plot did not seem to go anywhere.
I would recommend this as a quick beach read, but not to be surprised if the opening chapter is the best part about this book. I have not given up on Jane Hamilton though and am hoping that her next book will be as great as that first chapter of this one!
From that point on, the novel went downhill for me. What I thought was going to be a funny book soon turned into a very strange world complete with talk of aliens, knee families, and other made-up stories.
The ending didn't really draw any conclusions and the plot did not seem to go anywhere.
I would recommend this as a quick beach read, but not to be surprised if the opening chapter is the best part about this book. I have not given up on Jane Hamilton though and am hoping that her next book will be as great as that first chapter of this one!
anarag's review against another edition
4.0
This book is quite a departure from Jane Hamilton's other novels, which are harrowing and strike to the heart. (I love them but I can only read one about every five years as they haunt me thereafter. Thankfully, she is not prolific in her output.) Here, she allows her detailed observations of human frailties, foibles, ego and love to emerge in humorous, satirical ways.