Reviews
Thirtysomethings meet, don’t quite couple, then retreat into a steamy, increasingly revealing correspondence in this quirky epistolary novel.
It’s a collaboration between short-story writer Almond (My Life in Heavy Metal, 2001, etc.) and chick-lit author Baggott (The Madam, 2003, etc.). Their creations are John and Jane, who meet at a wedding, check each other out, then tumble into a coat closet, unbuttoning and panting, until he backs off, and they subsequently agree to become better acquainted by exchanging detailed “confessions” at a safe distance (she’s in Philadelphia, he’s in New York). The episodic results are sexy, funny and touching. In alternating chapters bridged by combative responses and queries, we learn of John’s high-school romance with Rubenesque Jodi; a summer-camp-counseling fling extended into a lingering affair with an “older woman” (of 24); and gratifying dalliances with a Latina bombshell and a single mom who’s also an accomplished pastry chef. Jane’s confessions is close a teenage relationship with Mohawk-bedecked Michael, a collegiate whirl with a semi-dashing (and clueless) rich guy (“It was like he was a country with his own anthem”), an affair with erotically versatile married swingers and engagement to a virtually perfect gentleman who won’t open up and let her inside his world of guarded family secrets. Acting on the shared conviction that “Every famous case of love boils down to reckless honesty,” they meet (literally) halfway, confront each other’s evasions and hang-ups and seem ready for the closet again, as The Curtain Falls. All’s well that doesn’t end after all, and the contented reader anticipates (what both Jane and John would have wittily, mercilessly mocked) something very like a future for these two bright, screwed-up, engaging oddballs.
Keen insights into sex, love and coming to terms with one’s own unruly imperfections. A winner.
Two thirtysomething wedding guests, John and Jane, recognize a common edginess in each other, a spark of sameness and attraction, that leads them to an almost one-wedding stand on the floor of the coatroom. In the heat of the moment, John realizes that Jane might have something more interesting to offer than just a quick roll in the proverbial hay and proposes that they write each other, after they return to their respective hometowns. These letters would confess the regrets and wrong turns that each of them has made in their love lives so that when and if John and Jane meet again, they'll have wiped the slate clean and gained a complete understanding of each other's relationship patterns and expectations. What ensues is an exchange of letters usually titled by the boyfriend's or girlfriend's name under discussion. Once all is confessed, what is on the horizon for these two slightly broken romantics? The writing is piercing, funny, and emotional. Baggott (Girl Talk) and Almond's (Candyfreak) collaboration makes for a delightful and robust work that readers will not be able to put down as they savor every messy confession. Highly recommended for public libraries.
“Always enjoyable, often hysterical….It’s hard not to be captivated by Almond’s slangy, salty voice and his winning, often openly discombobulated protagonists.”
“For Baggott, cosmic irony is always in the details, the absurd gap between self-knowledge and behavioral excess….[Her] brand of witty psychological observation is dark and corrosive….She has a knack for finding the oxymoronic in any situation.”
“Almond is a brilliant craftsman. But more, he is a writer who knows us as well as we know ourselves.”
"The constant mix of sweet and sour, of heart-swelling romance and smart-ass banter is the official language of Modern Urban Singledom. The best-selling author duo (he of Candyfreak, she of Girl Talk) make fine use of the epistolary form—with a few funny postal mishaps lending a hip meta touch. Their couple's distinct voices and push-pull dynamic are terrifically engaging. A-"
—Entertainment Weekly
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