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Review
“Susan Minot’s writing is like a diamond knife on ice. Always has been.” —Elizabeth Strout, author of Olive Kitteridge
“Minot exquisitely explores desire and denial, intimacy and illusion in aravishing, haunting, and insightful tale of sexual ecstasy and emotional torment, integrity andcreativity, self and motherhood.” —Booklist (starred review)
“Spare and polished. . . . Minot is an elegant writer, her sentences and paragraphs stylishly cropped, her dialogue quotation mark–free, her epigraphs chosen from classic sources: Rilke, Emerson, Lao Tzu, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, Rumi. In pellucid prose she captures each of the emotional states Ivy cycles through on the roller coaster of erotic fascination, delusion, bliss, mania, devastation—while also buffeted by the emotions and responsibilities of motherhood and of a career as a writer.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Minot exquisitely explores desire and denial, intimacy and illusion in aravishing, haunting, and insightful tale of sexual ecstasy and emotional torment, integrity andcreativity, self and motherhood.” —Booklist (starred review)
“Spare and polished. . . . Minot is an elegant writer, her sentences and paragraphs stylishly cropped, her dialogue quotation mark–free, her epigraphs chosen from classic sources: Rilke, Emerson, Lao Tzu, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, Rumi. In pellucid prose she captures each of the emotional states Ivy cycles through on the roller coaster of erotic fascination, delusion, bliss, mania, devastation—while also buffeted by the emotions and responsibilities of motherhood and of a career as a writer.” —Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
SUSAN MINOT is an award-winning novelist, short-story writer, poet, and screenwriter. Her first novel, Monkeys, was published in a dozen countries and won the Prix Femina Étranger in France. Her novel Evening was a worldwide best seller and became a major motion picture. She lives with her daughter in New York City and on an island off the coast of Maine.
Review:
3.8 out of 5
75.00% of customers are satisfied
3.0 out of 5 stars Older woman's obsession with younger musician
3.5 StarsThis was an interesting character study of a woman in her early fifties with a grammar school-aged son, a divorcee living in New York City. She had not been with a man in years, since leaving her ex-husband- until she was set up with a brooding musician almost twenty years younger. This ignites an obsession with this man that accounts for a major struggle in the book. There are sudden, random meetups for sexual gratification that account for the meat of the relationship. Ivy's common sense is compromised as she juggles trying her best to be a good mom, maintaining her writing career, while wanting more of this mysterious and self-contained man.I was riveted by Ivy's encounters with Ansel, for the fervent intensity of their carnal appetites, while Ivy struggled to draw out Ansel's feelings and perceptions. I grew impatient watching Ivy's tortured psyche dealing with this man as he kept her at a close tether physically, but distant from any measurable depth of human feeling. It was kind of like a circular argument without end, and it made me nervous and angry that this was drawing energy from attention to her son- her priority. There were intermittent passages of prose as she navigated this whirlwind of emotions, a trope which I do not appreciate in writing as I enjoy more of a literal approach. The book could have been edited down more as a lot of the relationship felt repetitive.Thank you to the publisher Knopf for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
4.0 out of 5 stars 50 year olds also get laid
This book is exceptionally well written. I enjoy reading about older main characters who portrayal aging as normal and fun. Ivy is 53 years old, recently divorced living with his 9 year old son in New York. She's a writer who tries to keep a healthy social life and through one of her closest friends meets Ansel, a 35 year old musician with who she starts a tumultuous sexual relationship. Ansel is very clear since the start that he's not looking for commitment and Ivy accepts to keep seeing him, and eventually these encounters consume her life and thoughts becoming very close to obsession. It's a bit sad yet relatable to read how Ivy gets rejected all the time, I think it's a situation most women have lived. I took off 1 star because I found the ending to be a bit confusing, not much closure to speak of. I still recommend it just for the writing itself.Thank you netgalley and the publishers for the eARC.
5.0 out of 5 stars You will be swept away!
Don't Be a Stranger is a deeply moving book as we follow Ivy struggle, hurt, and try to make sense of life and all the curveballs thrown. Thoughtful and rich in description of feelings and the world Ivy inhabits, it is easy to be caught up in her life and see what she sees and feel what she is feeling. The author evokes brilliant images and the book is so easy to dive into. HIghly recommended. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.
3.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Written -- Acutely Literary Novel
Susan Minot's DON'T BE A STRANGER was a non finisher for me. I truly wished I enjoyed it more, being enchanted with Minot's deft touch with characterization such as Maira's entrance as the person at the center of an overgrowing abundance of friends and moments such as Ivy's realizations about a beloved that they have put down an anchor and it's to her how she responds. However, the remote perspective kept me plodding through, hoping for connection, for relating to a person in other than the intellectual, safe distance of third person many times removed. I deeply admire Minot's potential, deeply mourn that it was not apparent to me in this artfully crafted piece. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.
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Don't Be a Stranger: A Novel
BHD19713
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Product origin: United States
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