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1 Hawthorne Literature- A to Z

Trouble

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Trouble Cover

ISBN13: 9780385527309
ISBN10: 0385527306
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
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Awards

The Rooster 2010 Morning News Tournament of Books Nominee

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Review-A-Day

"Christensen's characters are not evil but they are foolish in ways all too familiar to many of us. If they aren't exactly admirable, they are complex and ultimately likeable. And whatever dingbat shenanigans they get up to, Christensen lights them with generous affection." Katherine Dunn, The Oregonian (read the entire Oregonian review)

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

A vibrant story of female friendship and midlife sexual awakening from the acclaimed author of The Great Man

Josie is a Manhattan psychotherapist living a comfortable life with her husband and daughter—until, while suddenly flirting with a man at a party, she is struck with the sudden realization that she must leave her passionless marriage. A thrillingly sordid encounter with a stranger she meets at a bar immediately follows. At the same time, her college friend Raquel, a Los Angeles rock star, is being pilloried in the press for sleeping with a much younger man who happens to have a pregnant girlfriend. This proves to be red meat to the gossip hounds of the Internet. The two friends escape to Mexico City for a Christmas holiday of retreat and rediscovery of their essential selves. Sex has gotten these two bright, complicated women into interesting trouble, and the story of their struggles to get out of that trouble is totally gripping at every turn.

A tragicomedy of marriage and friendship, Trouble is a funny, piercing, and moving examination of the battle between the need for connection and the quest for freedom that every modern woman must fight.

Review:

"Christensen follows The Great Man with this slightly lesser work, a coming-of-middle-age novel that explores the sexual lives of three women in their 40s. Best friends since their college days, trust-funder Indrani, therapist Josie and L.A. rocker Raquel are like three very different but close sisters. After flirting with a man at a New York party, Josie realizes that she is sexually starving and decides to leave her husband, though Indrani thinks it's a terrible move. Meanwhile, on the left coast, the nearly washed-up ex-junkie Raquel becomes embroiled in a scandal when she's smeared as the other woman to a young actor with a pregnant girlfriend. Raquel hightails it to Mexico City and begs a less than-reluctant Josie to join her. From here the novel takes a predictable route as the women drink their way across the city, Raquel spirals further out of control, and Josie's inner vixen is awakened. The novel loses some of its mojo in the location change — Mexico City seems just out of focus — but the characters are marvelously realized, and when Christensen's on a roll, her wit is irresistible. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Synopsis:

A vibrant story of female friendship and midlife sexual awakening from the acclaimed author of The Great Man

Josie is a Manhattan psychotherapist living a comfortable life with her husband and daughter--until, while suddenly flirting with a man at a party, she is struck with the sudden realization that she must leave her passionless marriage. A thrillingly sordid encounter with a stranger she meets at a bar immediately follows. At the same time, her college friend Raquel, a Los Angeles rock star, is being pilloried in the press for sleeping with a much younger man who happens to have a pregnant girlfriend. This proves to be red meat to the gossip hounds of the Internet. The two friends escape to Mexico City for a Christmas holiday of retreat and rediscovery of their essential selves. Sex has gotten these two bright, complicated women into interesting trouble, and the story of their struggles to get out of that trouble is totally gripping at every turn.

A tragicomedy of marriage and friendship, Trouble is a funny, piercing, and moving examination of the battle between the need for connection and the quest for freedom that every modern woman must fight.

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About the Author

Kate Christensen is also the author of the novels In the Drink, Jeremy Thrane, The Epicure's Lament, and The Great Man, winner of the 2008 PEN/Faulker Award. She lives in Brooklyn.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
OneMansView, December 31, 2009 (view all comments by OneMansView)
What trouble?

“Trouble” or “A Fatuous, Vacuous Relationship Guide for the Overly-Educated, the Rich, and the Over-the-Hill Celebrity,” purports to explore how middle-aged lives can crumble and be put back together with minimal effort. Josie, fortyish and a successful, still quite attractive, NYC psychologist, decides while flirting at a gathering that she will immediately end her fifteen-year loveless, stagnate marriage to her college professor husband. To punctuate that, in her new emboldened state, on her way home, she picks up a stranger in a bar for a one-night stand. Simultaneously, her old college roommate Raquel, an aging rock star and sometimes drug addict, is escaping form L.A. to Mexico City from the unflattering publicity of an affair with a man half her age that has gone sour.

Josie’s husband and adopted daughter accept her departure with hard-to-believe calmness, and then she’s off to Mexico to lend moral support to her friend. Most of the book follows Josie and Raquel around Mexico City on the subways and bumpy taxi rides as they meet really cool artists, visit the sites, eat a lot of greasy ethnic food, drink copious amounts of tequila and sangria, come and go at odd hours, attend a bullfight, etc. Of course, there is the obligatory reflecting and agonizing over the past and future. Josie continues her path to self-awakening with an instant attraction to an artist, while Raquel fits the role of the neurotic celebrity who has seen better days.

Given the situations, the book has a feel of superficiality – distanced from reality. In that too-easy vein, when the paparazzi discover Raquel, their pictures are splashed all over the tabloids. Josie’s frozen relationship with her teenage daughter seems to suddenly thaw by her becoming a mini-celebrity. Their Mexican journey has an unfortunate end, but is handled with upper-middle class efficiency, barely stirring an emotion.

The book is an easy, pleasant read and is not without its interests, especially given the author’s obvious knowledge of Mexico City and its culture. However, the characters and their actions don’t seem particularly realistic. Of course, money is no object. Want to buy expensive native art and pay for special shipping to the US? Just do it. The subtitle above sums up the book.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780385527309
Subtitle:
A Novel
Author:
Christensen, Kate
Publisher:
Doubleday
Subject:
Female friendship
Subject:
Mexico city (mexico)
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Middle aged women
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Copyright:
2009
Publication Date:
20090616
Binding:
Hardback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
320
Dimensions:
8.56 x 5.82 x 1.15 in 1 lb
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Related Subjects

» Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
» History and Social Science » American Studies » Popular Culture

Trouble Used Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$12.50 In Stock
Product details 320 pages Doubleday Books - English 9780385527309 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "Christensen follows The Great Man with this slightly lesser work, a coming-of-middle-age novel that explores the sexual lives of three women in their 40s. Best friends since their college days, trust-funder Indrani, therapist Josie and L.A. rocker Raquel are like three very different but close sisters. After flirting with a man at a New York party, Josie realizes that she is sexually starving and decides to leave her husband, though Indrani thinks it's a terrible move. Meanwhile, on the left coast, the nearly washed-up ex-junkie Raquel becomes embroiled in a scandal when she's smeared as the other woman to a young actor with a pregnant girlfriend. Raquel hightails it to Mexico City and begs a less than-reluctant Josie to join her. From here the novel takes a predictable route as the women drink their way across the city, Raquel spirals further out of control, and Josie's inner vixen is awakened. The novel loses some of its mojo in the location change — Mexico City seems just out of focus — but the characters are marvelously realized, and when Christensen's on a roll, her wit is irresistible. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Review A Day" by , "Christensen's characters are not evil but they are foolish in ways all too familiar to many of us. If they aren't exactly admirable, they are complex and ultimately likeable. And whatever dingbat shenanigans they get up to, Christensen lights them with generous affection." (read the entire Oregonian review)
"Synopsis" by , A vibrant story of female friendship and midlife sexual awakening from the acclaimed author of The Great Man

Josie is a Manhattan psychotherapist living a comfortable life with her husband and daughter--until, while suddenly flirting with a man at a party, she is struck with the sudden realization that she must leave her passionless marriage. A thrillingly sordid encounter with a stranger she meets at a bar immediately follows. At the same time, her college friend Raquel, a Los Angeles rock star, is being pilloried in the press for sleeping with a much younger man who happens to have a pregnant girlfriend. This proves to be red meat to the gossip hounds of the Internet. The two friends escape to Mexico City for a Christmas holiday of retreat and rediscovery of their essential selves. Sex has gotten these two bright, complicated women into interesting trouble, and the story of their struggles to get out of that trouble is totally gripping at every turn.

A tragicomedy of marriage and friendship, Trouble is a funny, piercing, and moving examination of the battle between the need for connection and the quest for freedom that every modern woman must fight.
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