Synopses & Reviews
The brilliant new novel from an author The New York Times has called "one of his generation's most gifted writers."
It's 1969, and Judith "Denny" Denham has just begun an affair with Dr. Ernest Wright, a psychology professor at Wellspring University, who just happens to be her boss. But her position in the Wright household is not merely as a mistress. Ernest's wife, Nancy, has taken Denny under her wing as a four-hand piano partner and general confidante, although Denny can never seem to measure up to Anne, Nancy's best friend from back east. Ernest's eldest son has fled over the Canadian border to escape the draft, while his only daughter has embarked on a secret affair with her father's protégé. The remaining son, Ben, is fifteen, and as delicate and insufferable as only a poetry-writing fifteen-year-old can be.
That autumn, Denny crosses the freeway that separates Wellspring from its less affluent mirror image, Springwell, to spend Thanksgiving with the Wrights and their assortment of strays, including two honored guests: the eagerly anticipated Anne and Anne's new husband, the acclaimed novelist Jonah Boyd. The chain of events set in motion that Thanksgiving will change the lives of everyone involved in ways that none can imagine, and that won't become clear for decades to come.
Hilarious and scorching, David Leavitt's first novel in four years is a tribute to the power of home, the lure of success, the mystery of originality, and, above all, the sisterhood of secretaries. Flawlessly crafted and full of surprises, it is a showcase for Leavitt's considerable skills.
David Leavitt is the author of several novels, including The Lost Language of Cranes, While England Sleeps, and Equal Affections, as well as the short-story collections Family Dancing, A Place I've Never Been, and The Marble Quilt, which are all included in the recently published Collected Stories. He wrote the Bloomsbury Writer and the City title Florence, A Delicate Case. A recipient of fellowships from both the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, he teaches at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
It's 1969, and Judith "Denny" Denham has just begun an affair with Dr. Ernest Wright, a psychology professor at Wellspring University, who just happens to be her boss. But her position in the Wright household is not merely as a mistress. Ernest's wife, Nancy, has taken Denny under her wing as a four-hand piano partner and general confidante, although Denny can never seem to measure up to Anne, Nancy's best friend from back east. Ernst's eldest son has fled over the Canadian border to escape the draft, while his only daughter has embarked on a secret affair with her father's protégé. The remaining son, Ben, is fifteen, and as delicate and insufferable as only a poetry-writing fifteen-year-old can be.
That autumn, Denny crosses the freeway that separates Wellspring from its less affluent mirror image, Springwell, to spend Thanksgiving with the Wrights and their assortment of strays, including two honored guests: the eagerly anticipated Anne and Anne's new husband, the acclaimed novelist Jonah Boyd. The chain of events set in motion that Thanksgiving will change the lives of everyone involved in ways that none can imagine, and that won't become clear for decades to come.
Hilarious and scorching, David Leavitt's first novel in four years is a tribute to the power of home, the lure of success, the mystery of originality, and, above all, the sisterhood of secretaries. Flawlessly crafted and full of surprises, it is the perfect showcase for Leavitt's considerable skills.
"Shrewdly funny . . . Leavitt's genuine feel for domestic life and rivalries make this a family novel with some real teeth, a brisk but polished and clever social comedy set in a world where the only morality is that of the moment."Rodney Welch, The Charlotte Observer
"Clever and extremely entertaining . . . The prose is never less than glittering . . . Leavitt [is] a stunning dramatist of the private anxieties and mixed motives of a social gathering . . . The novel satisfies, for three reasons. One is the way the book turns the question of literary originality into a tragic moral conundrum. Another is the clever construction of the plot, which resolves with the precision-engineered snap of a Victorian novel. And the third and most important reason is the pure pleasure of reading the brisk, unblinkered, and often hilarious judgements of an academic secretary on her betters. It's a sharp, backstage view of a certain type of middle-class life, like a Jane Austen novel told from the point of view of one of the servants, and I suspect that Ms. Austen herself would have enjoyed the result."James Hynes, The Washington Post
"There's no literary writer whose work I more enjoy for its elegance and its wit and its world-wisdom than David Leavitt. And with The Body of Johan Boyd he brilliantly illuminates what seems to me to be his great and enduring themethe universal striving for self. Through all Leavitt's dazzling, zeitgeist-smart riffing on relationships and creativity, the abiding focus of his art is our quest for an identity in this world. This is a thrilling novel from one of our finest writers."Robert Olen Bulter
"This engaging though slight family romance centers on manipulative psychoanalyst Ernest Wright; his hysterical wife, Nancy; and their teenage children, Daphne and neurotic budding writer Ben . . . The tale draws a link between literary creation and family procreation: just as a book started by one writer can be finished by another, the process of psychosexual development started by parents is completed by their Oedipal and Electra stand-ins. Leavitt possesses a limpid style, a gift for characterization and a sharp eye for middle-class family life."Publishers Weekly
Review
"[P]ungent, sad charm....[S]atisfying." Booklist
Review
"[A]ltogether charming....The book, with its acerbic tone and tight plot, is an unlikely vehicle for a paean to domesticity, yet it's this odd fit that makes The Body of Jonah Boyd such a pleasure." Claire Dederer, The New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
The brilliant new novel from an author The New York Times has called "one of his generation's most gifted writers."
It's 1969, and Judith "Denny" Denham has just begun an affair with Dr. Ernest Wright, a psychology professor at Wellspring University, who just happens to be her boss. But her position in the Wright household is not merely as a mistress. Ernest's wife, Nancy, has taken Denny under her wing as a four-hand piano partner and general confidante, although Denny can never seem to measure up to Anne, Nancy's best friend from back east. Ernest's eldest son has fled over the Canadian border to escape the draft, while his only daughter has embarked on a secret affair with her father's protégé. The remaining son, Ben, is fifteen, and as delicate and insufferable as only a poetry-writing fifteen-year-old can be.
That autumn, Denny crosses the freeway that separates Wellspring from its less affluent mirror image, Springwell, to spend Thanksgiving with the Wrights and their assortment of strays, including two honored guests: the eagerly anticipated Anne and Anne's new husband, the acclaimed novelist Jonah Boyd. The chain of events set in motion that Thanksgiving will change the lives of everyone involved in ways that none can imagine, and that won't become clear for decades to come.
Hilarious and scorching, David Leavitt's first novel in four years is a tribute to the power of home, the lure of success, the mystery of originality, and, above all, the sisterhood of secretaries. Flawlessly crafted and full of surprises, it is a showcase for Leavitt's considerable skills.
Synopsis
Hilarious and scorching, Leavitt's first novel in four years is a tribute to the power of home, the lure of success, the mystery of originality, and, above all, the sisterhood of secretaries.
Synopsis
Praise for David Leavitt: "A superb modern novelist of feeling."-Kirkus Reviews"He is in full command of a sharp, elegant style."-USA Today"Remarkably gifted."-Washington Post"A perceptive, probing chronicler of our time."-Sacramento Bee
Synopsis
Denny is a secretary who has just begun an affair with her boss, while also maintaining a friendship with his wife. Invited to the family's house for Thanksgiving dinner, she enters into a chain of events that will change everyone's lives in ways that none can imagine. Hilarious, scorching, and full of surprises, The Body of Jonah Boyd is a tribute to the power of home, the lure of success, and, above all, the sisterhood of secretaries.
About the Author
David Leavitt is the author of several novels, including The Lost Language of Cranes, While England Sleeps, and Equal Affections, as well as the short-story collections Family Dancing, A Place I've Never Been, and The Marble Quilt, which are all included in Bloomsbury's recently published Collected Stories. A recipient of fellowships from both the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, he teaches at the University of Florida in Gainesville.