Staff Pick
When the new drama teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School stages a production of Aristophanes's Lysistrata, the town of Stellar Plains is never again the same. The town's women are overtaken by a creeping, cold curse that leads them to completely disengage from their husbands, lovers, and boyfriends. It's funny how a Greek comedy written in 411 BC about the Peloponnesian War is so timely today: the political climate, the war protests, the unhappy community, the men who fight, and the women who stay behind. This is a smart, topical, unique story which is absolutely done to perfection. Wolitzer's prose is straightforward and clean, leaving her gem of a story to shine — and shine it does. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
From the
New York Times-bestselling author of
The Ten-Year Nap, a funny, provocative, revealing novel about female desire.
When the elliptical new drama teacher at Stellar Plains High School chooses for the school play Lysistrata — the comedy by Aristophanes in which women stop having sex with men in order to end a war — a strange spell seems to be cast over the school. Or, at least, over the women. One by one throughout the high school community, perfectly healthy, normal women and teenage girls turn away from their husbands and boyfriends in the bedroom, for reasons they don't really understand. As the women worry over their loss of passion, and the men become by turns unhappy, offended, and above all, confused, both sides are forced to look at their shared history, and at their sexual selves in a new light.
As she did to such acclaim with the New York Times bestseller The Ten-Year Nap, Wolitzer tackles an issue that has deep ramifications for women's lives, in a way that makes it funny, riveting, and totally fresh allowing us to see our own lives through her insightful lens.
Review
"Meg Wolitzer, like Tom Perrotta, is an author who makes you wonder why more people don't write perceptive, entertaining, unassuming novels about how and why ordinary people choose to make decisions about their lives....The Uncoupling is a novel that can't help but make you think about your own relationship -- about what it consists of, what would be left if sex were taken away, how far you'd be prepared to go in order to keep it in your life somewhere, and so on." Nick Hornby, in The Believer
Review
"Lifting the veil on intimacy that has 'caved in and collapsed,' Wolitzer has written a novel that may tempt you to muse on the ups and downs of your own erotic life." More
Review
"Wolitzer is a tender, engaging narrator....This is the suburban comedy of Tom Perrotta in a flannel nightgown. The Uncoupling provides the charm of recognizing your own nervous tics and anxieties laid out by an author who's not out to get you." The Washington Post
Review
"In The Uncoupling, bestselling author Meg Wolitzer sets up a twenty-first century parable that blends the supernatural with the decidedly real....The Uncoupling is a fast, fun read, and like all off-kilter thought experiments, it asks us to reexamine the experiences we accept unthinkingly as well as the very language we use to describe them. Desire is enchanting, but its sudden absence can feel like a curse." NPR
Review
"With her humorous voice, ecstatic prose, and unique historical backdrop, Wolitzer sheds light on the changing nature of female sexuality over time." Daily Beast
Review
"At this point in her career, Meg Wolitzer deserves to be a household name. Every few years she turns out a sparkling novel that manages to bring the shine back to big, tarnished issues of gender politics, such as women's pull between work and family, or the role of sexuality in family dynamics." San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"Imagine that a high-school play could cast a spell, transforming not just its cast but also the faculty members around it, mysteriously changing their lives. Such is the irresistible premise of Meg Wolitzer's ninth novel, The Uncoupling, in which a suburban New Jersey community is altered by a production of Lysistrata....The Uncoupling is a smooth and often enchanting read that reveals a wry understanding of modern relationships and generations." The Seattle Times
Review
"The Uncoupling is enchanting from start to finish....Thoughtful and touching, The Uncoupling is also very funny." The New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Meg Wolitzer's novels include The Uncoupling, The Ten-Year Nap; The Position; The Wife; and Surrender, Dorothy, among others. Wolitzer, whose short fiction has appeared in The Best American Short Stories and The Pushcart Prize, lives in New York City with her family.