Items related to Open House: A Novel
Synopsis
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Review
Oprah Book ClubŪ Selection, August 2000: The narrator of Elizabeth Berg's Open House calls divorce "a series of internal earthquakes ... one after the other." She ought to know. Samantha is abandoned by her husband in the opening pages of this three-handkerchief special, and the resultant tremors keep her off-balance for most of the novel. There are practical problems aplenty, of course, including a shortage of money and an 11-year-old son to raise. But Sam's sense of emotional bereavement is far worse, despite the fact that her husband had been giving her the conjugal cold shoulder for years:
I miss David so much, yes I do, I miss the presence of another person in my bed at night, even if he doesn't touch me; the reliability of someone else being there in the morning, even if they only shave and stare straight ahead into the mirror while you lean against the bathroom doorjamb with your cup of coffee, chatting hopefully.The loneliness in her "as constant and as irrefutable" as circulating blood, Sam begins to rebuild her life. She finds herself a job and takes in a couple of boarders to help meet her mortgage payments. (One of them, a depressed student named Lavender Blue, informs her that "life was nothing but one major disappointment after the other"--the sort of homily that Sam is understandably reluctant to hear these days.) She also starts dating, with disastrous results. Yet this comically kvetching heroine does manage to find love in the ruins, and by the time Open House winds down, it's hard not to believe that she's much better off. Throughout, Berg alternates her snappy and sappy registers like a real pro. And the conclusion, which most readers will be able to spot a mile off, seems just right--the light at the end of the post-matrimonial tunnel. --Anita Urquhart
From the Back Cover
"Touching . . . [A] deft, sweet, and often comic novel."
--Chicago Tribune
"THIS NOVEL MAKES FOR PLEASANT READING . . . PATTY MURPHY IS APPEALINGLY VULNERABLE. . . . NOVELIST ELIZABETH BERG HAS AN ENGAGING VOICE AND STYLE."
--Los Angeles Times
"A PERCEPTIVE COMEDY OF MODERN MANNERS . . . At the end of each undemanding day, Patty goes home to an empty apartment and listens to her biological clock ticking as ominously as Captain Hook's crocodile. . . . Patty wants a husband and a baby, and not necessarily in that order. . . . But Patty has a problem. Try as she might, there is only one man she can love--her best friend, Ethan--and try as Ethan might, he is quite firmly and intractably gay. With rueful good humor, Until the Real Thing Comes Along shows how Patty and Ethan come to terms with the impossibility of having it all."
--The Boston Globe
"BERG WRITES WITH HUMOR AND UNDERSTANDING ABOUT MATTERS OF THE HEART. . . . The author's generous view of humanity is evident in her characters, who walk right off the page they are so well and truly drawn."
--St. Louis Post Dispatch
"ENTERTAINING . . . FLAWLESS DIALOGUE . . . READING IT IS LIKE EAVESDROPPING ON AN INTIMATE FEMALE CHAT."
--New York Daily News
"COMPELLING . . . [A] WARMLY TOLD TALE."
--People
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherRandom House
- Publication date2000
- ISBN 10 009179384X
- ISBN 13 9780091793845
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages241
- Rating
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Open House
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Open House
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Open House: A Novel
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Open House
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR008875576
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Open House: A Novel
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Open House
Seller: AwesomeBooks, Wallingford, United Kingdom
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Open House This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 7719-9780091793845
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Open House
Seller: Bahamut Media, Reading, United Kingdom
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780091793845
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Open House
Seller: Dromanabooks, Newstead, VIC, Australia
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. 400gms weight; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 248 pages. Seller Inventory # 35905
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Open House
Published by
Random House, Australia, 2000
ISBN 10: 009179384X
ISBN 13: 9780091793845
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Trade Paperback
Seller: Manyhills Books, Traralgon, VIC, Australia
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Trade Paperback. Condition: Near Fine. Oprah's Book Club. Trade Paperback. 241 pages. *** PUBLISHING DETAILS: Random House, Australia, 2000. Oprah's Book Club. *** CONDITION: This book is in near fine condition. Minor creasing to covers. Lightly tanned pages. Book exchange stamp. *** ABOUT THIS BOOK: You are bending over the dryer, pulling out the still-warm sheets, and the knowledge walks up your backbone. You stare at the man you love and you are staring at nothing; he is gone before he is gone.' When Samantha Morrow's husband leaves her and her eleven-year-old son she is faced with the terrifying prospect of having to recreate her whole life. After a few faltering steps she starts to put the pieces into place. She opens her house to a series of lodgers who each in their eccentric way help her to see herself. She fends off her mother, whose idea of getting over a failed marriage is to get a pedicure and get out there dating. And she makes a friend, King, an MIT graduate turned handyman, who shows her that she has the ability to make her own future and her own happiness. *** Quantity Available: 1. Category: Fiction; Romance & Women's Fiction; ISBN: 009179384X. ISBN/EAN: 9780091793845. Inventory No: 13010107. The photo of this book is of the actual book for sale. Seller Inventory # 13010107
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Open House
Seller: Mr Pickwick's Fine Old Books, Katoomba, NSW, Australia
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Softcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. Later Edition. Size: Octavo (standard book size). 241 pages. Text body is clean, and free from previous owner annotation, underlining and highlighting. Binding is tight, covers and spine fully intact, but spine is slightly cocked. Edges browned slightly. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilogram. Category: Fiction; ISBN: 009179384X. ISBN/EAN: 9780091793845. All our pictures shown here are of the actual item, not stock photos. Inventory No: RB17106. For further info on this title, click on the "Contact Seller" button within this listing. We will try to reply within 24 hours. Otherwise you can order right now (inclusive of shipping options) from the "Add to Basket" button to the right. Seller Inventory # RB17106
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