Craving for Women: 2 - Hardcover

Claiborne, Sybil

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0525246827 ISBN 13: 9780525246824

Publisher: Dutton Adult, 1988

Synopsis

Comical chaos ensues when Saul's routine of spending one day per week with each of his seven wives breaks down, the authorities discover his polygamous lifestyle, and Hollywood filmmakers plan to film his life story

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Claiborne's farfetched and often painfully sexist first novel may leave more than a few readers with a craving for a refund. Set, for the most part, in the SoHo section of New York, the story revolves around an unusual "extended family" comprised of seven trendy women who share a collective dose of neurosis and a mutual husband named Saul. How the polygamous patriarcha pompous and self-obsessed middle-aged expert on everythingmanages to captivate the adoration and cooperation of these attractive and mostly well-educated women is a fictional phenomenon that defies common logic. Nonetheless, the members of the harem are hopelessly devoted to "poor Saul" and willingly comply to a weekly schedule of "conjugal visits" until the groom disrupts the "routine" by suddenly not showing up. Bonded by a shared sense of rejection, anxiety, inadequacy and rage, the women eventually compare notes and discover that not only has Saul been spending every night with his sixth and wackiest wife, but he's planning a winter canoe trip with her. Besides that, she's pregnant! What follows is an explosion of seriocomic emotions mixed with melodramatic scenarios that find Saul under arrest, and the wives alternately nitpicking each other to pieces while pretending to be one hip, happy family. Although adroitly written, this fiction is a farce.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

Claiborne's first novel goes down easy. Saul, an amiable New York designer, has one child and a wife for every day of the week; the wives and their spouse all get together every Sunday for brunch. Saul's oldest and first wife, Helen, is the narrator as well as his business partner. She describes, with gentle objectivity, the abrupt sequence of events that interrupt her co-wives' weekly routine of conjugal visits and covered dish socials. Saul marries his seventh wife, becomes unreliable in his routines, falls in love, and is finally indicted for polygamy. Claiborne's storytelling falters in the abrupt transition to Saul's letters from prison, but overall she recounts a sprightly good story while conveying serious messages about aesthetics and sexual freedom. Joyce Smothers, Monmouth Cty. Lib, Manalapan, N.J.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dutton Adult
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0525246827
• ISBN 13: 9780525246824
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1