From Publishers Weekly
These 13 stories by a British writer might be better sandwiched between recipes on the glossy pages of commercial magazines. Coy, often featuring tasteful couples caught in tasteful marital crises, they lack artistic vision. In "Balloons," a character announces plans to leave his startled wife: "But didn't it ever occur to you that things hadn't been well, how shall I put it, quite tickety-boo for some years?" The husband of "Sudden Dancer" secretly takes dancing lessons in order to surprise his petulant spouse, who tardily realizes that not even proficiency in the Charleston will gratify her: " 'Turns out, though, it isn't just the dancing that counts. Not just the dancing,' she sighed." The longest entry, "Ladies' Race," is no subtler: two lifelong friends are desperately enamored of the same man, who, unable to choose between them, orders them to compete for his hand by running a grueling race that proves not only fateful but fatal. The ironies throughout are far too heavy to buoy these banal tales.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Description
A collection of stories of winners and losers in love.
