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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Jul 2005, 320 pages
Paperback:
Jul 2006, 320 pages
Book Reviewed by:
BookBrowse Review Team
Buy This Book
Envy deals with the
subject of brotherly betrayal. As the
reviewer for The New York Observer puts it,
'Envy touches the nerve that drives
Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Will and his
cold-blooded fish of a brother.' The same
reviewer goes on to ponder 'The question is:
Do we accept all this [from Harrison]
because, after 10 psyche-shattering books,
[she] has debauched us by now? Or is it
because we recognize that she's
communicating something important?'
The Washington Post reviewer would reply to
this musing with a resounding and definite
no, saying, "Writers and critics who
complain of the shrinking audience for
literary fiction argue -- validly -- that
huge advances and advertising budgets for
blockbusters reduce the resources left to
promote serious novels. But the chances of
good literary fiction finding an audience
are also damaged when books such as Kathryn
Harrison's Envy are published and
passed off as worthy. Ten pages of Envy
are enough to make you yearn for the
juiciest trash novel you can find; 50 will
have you dreaming of box-top recipes."
Others disagree, Donna Seaman, a very
experienced reviewer for Booklist thinks
"'Harrison's dialogue is electrifying, the
sophistication of her psychology is
mesmerizing, and her characters, so astutely
drawn, are bewitching."
Personally speaking, Envy was a
disappointment after The Binding Chair
- call me middle-aged and boring but there
are just so many subjects that I find
more interesting than other people's sexual
fantasies. However, I can see that
Envy would be of appeal to many, so
don't be swayed by my opinions, instead
browse an excerpt for yourself.
This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in July 2005, and has been updated for the
August 2006 edition.
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