Items related to A Certain Age
When a woman reaches a certain age, the quest for a husband takes on a particular urgency--especially in certain tightly woven social circles. A Certain Age is a biting and masterful social satire from the bestselling author of Slaves of New York.
Tama Janowitz created a literary sensation with her first book about New York and its slaves, establishing herself as one of the preeminent voices of her generation. Now, she returns with a wickedly funny and glisteningly dark novel that takes as its subject our current obsession with conspicuous consumption--especially in the form of one very misguided young woman, desperate to secure a mate and a certain lifestyle.
When Florence Collins sets out on the jitney for a weekend at her friend Natalie's house in the Hamptons, she boards the bus with an air of unspoken expectation, especially when she spots the very wealthy and still available, if somewhat uptight, Charlie Twigall. But the weekend's promise of potential partnering spirals into a disastrous series of mishaps that include an unwanted nighttime visit from Natalie's husband, the near drowning of Natalie's daughter, a bad financial gamble, and the expulsion of one Florence Collins from the premises.
Thus begins this tragicomic novel about the sad plight of a woman on the make in Manhattan. Biding her time in a low-paying job at one of the lesser auction houses, Florence spends every cent of her not-so-hard-earned money and what's left of her mother's inheritance on body wraps, designer clothes, custom-mixed makeup and skin emollients, and every other known accessory--all in the vain hope of attracting a rich husband.
In prose at once biting and sparkling, Janowitz has created a novel of modern manners with this sly and unforgettable portrait of New York society, as unforgiving today as it was a hundred years ago.
Tama Janowitz created a literary sensation with her first book about New York and its slaves, establishing herself as one of the preeminent voices of her generation. Now, she returns with a wickedly funny and glisteningly dark novel that takes as its subject our current obsession with conspicuous consumption--especially in the form of one very misguided young woman, desperate to secure a mate and a certain lifestyle.
When Florence Collins sets out on the jitney for a weekend at her friend Natalie's house in the Hamptons, she boards the bus with an air of unspoken expectation, especially when she spots the very wealthy and still available, if somewhat uptight, Charlie Twigall. But the weekend's promise of potential partnering spirals into a disastrous series of mishaps that include an unwanted nighttime visit from Natalie's husband, the near drowning of Natalie's daughter, a bad financial gamble, and the expulsion of one Florence Collins from the premises.
Thus begins this tragicomic novel about the sad plight of a woman on the make in Manhattan. Biding her time in a low-paying job at one of the lesser auction houses, Florence spends every cent of her not-so-hard-earned money and what's left of her mother's inheritance on body wraps, designer clothes, custom-mixed makeup and skin emollients, and every other known accessory--all in the vain hope of attracting a rich husband.
In prose at once biting and sparkling, Janowitz has created a novel of modern manners with this sly and unforgettable portrait of New York society, as unforgiving today as it was a hundred years ago.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
"It was the sort of education that a young woman might have once had simply in order to be able to make civilized conversation at dinner." A stray passage from an Edith Wharton novel? No, it's Tama Janowitz's tale of Manhattan life in the '90s, which follows a decidedly Whartonian downward spiral. Florence Collins wants a rich husband. And although she is accomplished, a good conversationalist, a snappy dresser, and stunningly beautiful, she can't seem to find one. Why? Because she lives in New York; in her early 30s, she is past her prime; and her name is legion.
From the Back Cover:
Florence disastrously visits the Hamptons, goes out to a lot of expensive restaurants, and halfheartedly performs her job at an auction house, but finds her matrimonial quarry ever elusive. Janowitz tells us, "By high school she had realized that no matter what women filled their lives with, there was still no status for them apart from whoever-whatever they had married." No clue is given as to how Florence comes to this arresting conclusion, but the author chooses to make her pay for her callowness. So predictable is Janowitz's notion of moral failure that we find our once-fastidious gal smoking crack by novel's end as well as friendless and broke. What's missing here are the psychological atmospherics found in The House of Mirth and The Custom of the Country. Instead, we get loving descriptions of department-store sprees: "She went to up to the men's department and spent seven hundred dollars on a black cashmere crew neck sweater--three hundred fifty dollars--two black t-shirts, fifty dollars each, a matelot shirt ... for seventy dollars and a pair of brown linen-silk blend trousers with pleats and cuffs, on sale for two hundred." This is yuppie porn--disguised as a scorching indictment of yuppie porn. Janowitz wants to have her sushi and eat it, too. --Claire Dederer
Praise for the novels of Tama Janowitz:
"If there's anything Tama Janowitz knows about, it's the sheer savagery of our most chic and ultra-sophisticated social arrangements."
--The New York Times Book Review
"Outrageously funny...Janowitz is a sharp-tongued and funny writer."
--Chicago Tribune
"Her writing is wonderfully light. It combines the witticisms and fanciful observations of a Lewis Carroll or a Kurt Vonnegut with the occasional bite of Martin Amis...Brilliant and satirical and insightful...marvelously enjoyable."
--Dallas Times Herald
"A cracked and wonderful ride...Janowitz's writing comes out of a tradition of comic American misanthropy that can be traced back to Twain, passing along the way through such intervening figures as Dreiser, Nathanael West, and the author of whom she is most reminiscent, Ring Lardner."
--New York Newsday
"A feminist version of classic narratives of adventurous individualism such as Tom Jones and Tristram Shandy...Tama Janowitz's wit reminds one of a hip Grace Paley."
--San Francisco Chronicle
"A wry commentary on sexual politics and the Manhattan mating game...The subversive ending of this amusing high-spirited novel makes the twisted ride completely worth the effort."
--Vogue
"If there's anything Tama Janowitz knows about, it's the sheer savagery of our most chic and ultra-sophisticated social arrangements."
--The New York Times Book Review
"Outrageously funny...Janowitz is a sharp-tongued and funny writer."
--Chicago Tribune
"Her writing is wonderfully light. It combines the witticisms and fanciful observations of a Lewis Carroll or a Kurt Vonnegut with the occasional bite of Martin Amis...Brilliant and satirical and insightful...marvelously enjoyable."
--Dallas Times Herald
"A cracked and wonderful ride...Janowitz's writing comes out of a tradition of comic American misanthropy that can be traced back to Twain, passing along the way through such intervening figures as Dreiser, Nathanael West, and the author of whom she is most reminiscent, Ring Lardner."
--New York Newsday
"A feminist version of classic narratives of adventurous individualism such as Tom Jones and Tristram Shandy...Tama Janowitz's wit reminds one of a hip Grace Paley."
--San Francisco Chronicle
"A wry commentary on sexual politics and the Manhattan mating game...The subversive ending of this amusing high-spirited novel makes the twisted ride completely worth the effort."
--Vogue
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- PublisherDoubleday
- Publication date1999
- ISBN 10 0385496109
- ISBN 13 9780385496100
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages336
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