- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Random House (July 12 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1400063469
- ISBN-13: 978-1400063468
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 16.4 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 599 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,400,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. William Moreland, the 47-year-old New York psychoanalyst at the center of Harrison's sixth novel, has a family that's awash in betrayals. Will's father, a retired veterinarian turned photographer, is having an affair with the owner of his gallery. Will's brother, Mitchell, a long-distance swimmer with "a name as recognizable as that of, say, Lance Armstrong or Tiger Woods," is estranged from the family. And ever since Will's 12-year-old son died three years ago in a boating accident, his wife, Carole, has been emotionally and sexually distant. All these wounds pucker open when Will attends his college reunion and runs into a statuesque ex-girlfriend who left him 25 years ago when she may or may not have been pregnant with his child. That past betrayal becomes entangled with the others in Will's life and leads to further transgressions and revelations. Given the steamy, soap-operatic nature of this plot, it's remarkable how Harrison renders it emotionally plausible, in sinuous, sensitive and often funny prose, exposing the raunchiness of sex and the "obscene" nature of mortality. Will's profession as an analyst seems too convenient—allowing Harrison to analyze her own novel through the voice of her main character—but this is a pardonable flaw in a book so juicy and intelligent. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Harrison is a high-wire memoirist and a probing and inventive novelist. Her sixth novel, an intoxicating work of psychosexual suspense, portrays a New York family wracked by tragedy, some of it obvious--the accidental drowning of a young boy--much hidden. Harrison writes commandingly from a male psychologist's point of view, and much of the heady power of this harrowing tale is rooted in the fact that none of Will's powers as a perceptive therapist help him understand how his stoic wife copes with their son's death, or recognize that secrets are being kept from him. Yet Will's instincts are sharp. He wonders if the 24-year-old daughter of an old girlfriend is his. He is unnerved by his retired veterinarian father's transformation into a celebrated photographer. He obsesses about the subterranean, perhaps malevolent, aspects of his relationship with his identical twin, Mitch, identical, that is, except for the port-wine stain that disfigures Mitch's face. A world-famous long-distance swimmer, Mitch has been estranged from his twin and their parents for 15 years, ever since Will got married. Will is finally pitched into crisis by a new patient, a stunningly audacious, spiked and tattooed, viciously intelligent, foul-mouthed, and sexually rampaging young woman. Harrison's dialogue is electrifying, the sophistication of her psychology is mesmerizing, and her characters, so astutely drawn, are bewitching. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Obsession, How Far Can a Man Go?,
By
This review is from: Envy: A Novel (Paperback)
Will Moreland is a successful psychoanalyst, married with two children and much as he thinks he is able to think his way through his grief over the death of his ten-year-old son Luke a couple years earlier, he can't. He thinks he sees clearly, but his vision is clouded. And he is obsessed, obsessed over the tragic drowning, obsessed over sex and obsessed over the fact that he may be the father of a child he's never seen. Add the fact that he is horribly jealous of his famous twin brother and you have a man who has some serious problems, successful psychoanalyst or not.Will is about to take a trip into a dark place nobody wants to go, deep into the netherworld of his mind, a kind of self brought about hell on earth and his first step is when he goes to his twenty-fifth college reunion and confronts his old girlfriend, demanding to know if he is the father of her child. She tells him to buzz off and, of course, he won't, so it's down, down he goes and on his journey he meets a patient on his shrink's sofa who is so seductive that, well you get the picture. Then there is his philandering father, just another notch on the gun handle of Will's problems. Will's obsessions and his journey make for delicious reading. The book is sexually explicit, sexually frank and sexually exciting, even if it is a bit rough on the old psyche at times. I know I couldn't put it down, but then I'm no stranger to sexually explicit writing. A prude might have a problem with this five star book, but if she gave it a chance it might open her eyes a bit and she might learn a thing or two worth knowing. This is a darn good book and worth every one of the five stars I'm giving it. Review Submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.4 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews) 16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
An urban psychiatrist with too many problems of his own.,
By Linda Linguvic - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Envy: A Novel (Hardcover)
I've read several books by Kathryn Harrison and enjoyed all of them. That's why I was anxious to read this latest one. It's different in many ways although the sharp perceptions that characterize her work are surely there.The setting is urban modern. The main character is a psychiatrist with problems of his own. Sometimes I thought he analyzed everything too much and his constant angst was off-putting. Other times I felt his inner pain. Mostly though, I just wanted to shake him and tell him to get on with his life. And yet the story was interesting and I kept reading just to see what would happen. I read this book differently than I read her other books though. I found myself lightly skimming the passages where he went on and on in self analysis. In the story, he's just gone to a 25th college reunion and discovered a startling secret. And he hasn't seen his twin brother in 15 years. And although he and his wife have a seemingly happy marriage, they just can't get over the loss of their young son who died in a tragic accident three years before. Stuff happens. Stuff that is interesting to read about. But I just couldn't really care about the characters. Yes, the plot did hold my interest. But I really need more than plot to recommend a book. I need something more, something that Ms. Harrison displayed in "Poison", "The Binding Chair" and "Seal Wife". Therefore, although her fans might think she can do no wrong and love this book, I found it just didn't measure up to the standards she had already set for herself. 17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
So messed up...and so good!,
By Melissa Niksic - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Envy: A Novel (Paperback)
Wow. Just...wow. There are so many crazy things that happen in this book, I don't even know where to begin!The central character in "Envy" is William Moreland, a 47-year-old psychoanalyst who is dealing with a huge number of personal issues. Will's son died in a boating accident three years ago, and ever since then, he and his wife, Carole, have experienced sexual and emotional distance in their marriage. Will also has a twin brother, Mitch, who is a professional swimmer and hasn't been seen or heard from by anyone in the Moreland family for more than 15 years. To add to the drama, Will recently attended his college reunion, where he discovered enough evidence to make him believe that his college girlfriend, Elizabeth, may have given birth to his child many years ago. Topping it all off, Will is troubled by a series of erotic fantasies he's been having that involve his female patients. Obviously, this poor guy has a lot on his plate right now, and unfortunately for him, things just keep getting worse. Although "Envy" is very interesting, I thought the pace of the novel slowed down a bit after a while, and everything dragged slightly until just after the halfway point, when BAM! Author Kathryn Harrison shifts the plot in a very unexpected direction that leaves readers with their mouths hanging open and scrambling to get to the end of the story. There is so much betrayal and so many twists and turns in this book, it's unbelievable. I don't want to give away the details, but if you're a big fan of shock-and-awe, you will not be disappointed! It amazes me that Harrison was able to cram so many dramatic subplots into one novel and somehow manage to tie it all together so seamlessly. The story is exciting, and the book is full of many intriguing characters. The mood of the novel is one of a psychological conspiracy of sorts, which adds to the drama and suspense. There are a few flaws with this novel. As I mentioned before, the plot slows down a bit in the first part of the book, but I think that only adds to the shock value as events unfold down the line. Also, there are so many amazing characters whose motivations are never completely revealed, especially those of Jennifer and Mitch. I think Harrison could write separate books on both of those characters if she wanted to. I really, really enjoyed this book. It's gritty, sexual, slightly trashy, and a lot of fun to read. Well done! 10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Lacking depth & character development,
By Tracy Vest - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Envy: A Novel (Hardcover)
"Envy" is a hard book to pin down. In a nutshell, we have Will Moreland, a New York therapist who has elected to go to his college reunion. His wife Carole prefers to stay home since she does not know anyone and they are still feeling the emotional tug of the loss of their son, Luke. During the reunion, most people are more concerned with the whereabouts of his twin brother Mitch, a pretty famous long-distance swimmer, whom Will is estranged. After reading about some of his former collegiates, he comes across the bio of former flame Elizabeth and discovers that she has a daughter that could possibly be his. When he asks her, she justifiably balks at him.He returns home, and seeks out a therapist of his own to discuss his intimacy issues with his wife, as well as his dark sexual fantasies, as they are starting to interfere with his effectiveness at his own practice. He is also having problems with the abandonment of his twin, who he has not seen since his wedding day. Mitch was born with birthmark that made him stand out to ridicule as a child. Will always felt guilt that his own face was not marred. Little does he know that the brother that he protected since childhood made a mockery of his devotion, as he slowly learns the truth behind Mitch's absence. A new patient arrives in his office with her own intimacy issues. She is a student and seduces older men. When she relishes in telling him about her sex life in detail, it is evident that her next victim is going to be Will. After she makes an inappropriate move on him, he decides to terminate their relationship and refers her elsewhere. Soon, she is knocking down his door, insisting that he see her. When she disrobes, Will's own lack of willpower triggers a sexual escapade which he will forever wish did not happen, particularly when the patient reveals who she is. Suddenly Will questions is own relationship with his wife, former lovers, his brother, and his parents. This really could have been a moving story, but I did not feel a connection in any way to the storyline - there was no real emotion, depth, or character development. The revelation of the student's identity is no surprise - anyone can se that coming. All told in a matter-of-fact manner, with little emotion, the story never has any clear resolution, nor any closure, making it a bit of a disappointment. |
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