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Perfect Life: A Novel (2009)

by Jessica Shattuck(Favorite Author)

2.79 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0393069508 (ISBN13: 9780393069501)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

review 1: I liked, but did not love, Shattuck's first novel, The Hazards of Good Breeding (the title alone is pretty fantastic). And the premise of this one -- man donates sperm to former girlfriend; can he stay away from his child even though that's what he's supposed to do? -- is both interesting and timely. But this was pretty dull. The story revolves around four college friends and where their lives have ended up at age 35. The central plot device, the sperm, is actually a factor for one of the other friends -- a lesbian, whose partner has twins by artificial insemination and is keen to meet all the other moms (and their kids) who were inseminated by the same donor -- but it's not really a novel about those sorts of complications at all. Rather, it's about love and betrayal... more and how our lives end up in ways we wouldn't have imagined and can't quite control. And yet it didn't seem to offer anything all that new or refreshing on these plenty interesting subjects. It was a very quick read, but largely because I was on a plane and the other book I'd brought was zipped up in my carryon in the overhead bin.
review 2: I really shouldn't have taken this book out after my disaster run in with this authors last book. I wasn't looking forward to this one at all, but thank god, it was a little better. College friends grown up. Three girls and a dude. Girl #1 is happily married with kids. Girl #2 is a lesbian and has kids with her partner that her partner had, so technically she isn't part of them at all. Girl #3's husband can't have kids, so she asked the Dude to be the father. He's a little flaky and does it. The women live in Mass and the Dude lives in Cal, but the Dude comes back to Mass for work. He sleeps with Girl #1 when her husband is away. Girl #3 is freaked that the kid is going to find out and the Dude is going to tell everyone because as part of the deal, he isn't supposed to tell anyone (tho the couple knows, of course and the friends do, but no one else, including the kid). Also, the husband of Girl #3 gets cancer. And Girl #2 has a hard time dealing with the connection her partner has with the kids that she doesn't. In the end, the rules with the Dude change and even though he isn't the day to day father, he is allowed in the child's life. Anyway, slightly better then this authors last book, but still a little too dry for me.Grade: C less

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