The Marriage Plot, finished, and a Giveaway

So, I wrote about Jeffrey Eugenides' new novel The Marriage Plot, here. I was excited at first because I love his writing and had so looked forward to the book; the story of an English major at a university in the early eighties, in love with a genius man -- well, it resonated with me in more than one way. In any case, I liked the early chapters and then slowly    got    bored. The middle of the book was a slog, and that was when I wrote about it. I was advised to drop it by some -- there's no time for the slog, I thought, but I did continue, and I have to admit that it picked up considerably toward the end. Not enough for me to say that this is a great book, but it certainly turned out to be a decent read, and I even felt moved at the way things turned out.

Weirdly enough, a publicist from Macmillan Audio contacted me just the other day and asked whether I'd like to include a clip of the audio version of the book on my blog, alongside the review. She even offered a free audiobook to one of my loyal readers!

So, dear Loyal Readers! Listen to this clip and leave a comment here telling me whether you've read the book or not and whether you'd like to listen to the book or not. I will pick a winner randomly on Monday, January 9th.


Here's the CLIP

Drinking and Anna Karenina

Tolstoy

I've been drinking more lately. I'm one of those people who has never been a drinker, despite the pleadings of some of my friends who insist that drinking a glass of wine a night would be good for me. When I took them up on the recommendation, I wanted to go to sleep at around 9:00 and therefore discovered the secret to why I am able to write and read into the wee hours of the morning, as opposed to my more "exhausted" friends. The other day, I bought a bottle of Kahlua at Trader Joe's because I remembered how good it tastes, but I haven't opened it up yet. Two nights ago, I had a pomegranate mojito before dinner, a glass of sauvignon blanc with my moules frites and a shot of vodka at my friend's house after dinner. Last night, I had a glass of wine with my dinner and contemplated a Blue Moon when I got home. I saw a movie, too, last night -- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I remember reading the book in my late teens when I was totally into Robert Ludlum and John Le Carre spy novels. I don't remember being confused when I read the novels, but last night I was completely befuddled by the movie and so was my really smart friend Shannon. We laughed about it over our wine and dinner, and I even looked up a plot summary online afterward.

Oh! Now I understand!

I'm reading Jeffrey Eugenides' book The Marriage Plot, and while I was so excited to open and read it, I'm now in that exasperated slog phase when I should just give up and put it down, bored to tears, but I feel obligated to finish it. This seems to be happening more and more lately -- I feel like I haven't read a novel in years that I connect to with joy and wonder. The last really great book I read was the memoir The Boy in the Moon. A fellow bookworm told me that I should re-read Anna Karenina, so that's what I'm going to do.

Remember the famous opening lines?

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

Who is writing like this anymore?

Would it be too much to add a shot of Kahlua to my morning coffee? Or should I start reading Tolstoy with a shot of frozen vodka?