Items related to Never Change
Synopsis
Unmarried at 51, Myra Lipinsky has endured the isolation of her middle life by immersing herself in her home nursing career. Now Chip Reardon is assigned to be her new patient. He is an old school friend who, with an incurable illness, has returned home to New England to spend his remaining days.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
Elizabeth Berg has a single great gift as a novelist. She creates heroines who are stuck and unhappy, yet deeply sympathetic. This may seem like an easy trick to pull off, but it's not. Think about it: usually when a character is mired in a problem--especially a problem stemming from her own reluctance to change, or fear of commitment, or lack of identity--the reader is ready within a few dozen pages to shout, "Pull yourself together!" and set the book aside. In contrast, Berg's characters seem like enjoyable challenges: problems with actual solutions.
In Never Change, Berg uses her gift to great advantage. Middle-aged Myra Lipinsky describes herself as "the one who sat on a folding chair out in the hall with a cigar box on my lap selling tickets to the prom, but never going." And despite a flourishing career as a visiting nurse, she feels as much an also-ran as ever. As the novel begins, in fact, high school seems to be rearing its ugly head again: Chip Reardon, the heartthrob of Myra's youth, has returned to town to live with his parents. Chip is dying from a brain tumor, and Myra becomes his nurse. Berg is not the kind of writer to lay bare the unsettling power dynamics of such a situation. Instead, Chip and Myra become friends and, well, learn how to love each other. It's a testament to the author's strong sense of character that we actually believe--and what's more, care about--Myra's emergence from her emotional cocoon. And the book is full of nice details, like this snapshot of children being read to at a library, "rising up on their knees to see the pictures, resting their hands unselfconsciously on those ahead of them so that they would not lose their balance." Such careful observations, recounted in Myra's voice, make us believe that she is a character worth knowing, and worth saving. --Claire Dederer
About the Author
Elizabeth Berg is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Never Change and Open House, which was an Oprah's Book Club selection in 2000. Joy School was selected as American Library Association Best Book of the Year, and Talk Before Sleep, another New York Times bestseller, was shortlisted for the ABBY award in 1996. She won the 1997 New England Bookseller's Award for her novels. A former nurse, she lives in Chicago.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherRandom House
- Publication date2003
- ISBN 10 0099461277
- ISBN 13 9780099461272
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages320
- Rating
Buy New
Learn more about this copy
US$ 21.73
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace
Stock Image
Never Change
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.54. Seller Inventory # G0099461277I3N00
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Never Change
Seller: AwesomeBooks, Wallingford, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
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 # 7719-9780099461272
Quantity: 3 available
Stock Image
Never Change
Seller: Bahamut Media, Reading, United Kingdom
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Condition: Very Good. Shipped within 24 hours from our UK warehouse. Clean, undamaged book with no damage to pages and minimal wear to the cover. Spine still tight, in very good condition. Remember if you are not happy, you are covered by our 100% money back guarantee. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780099461272
Quantity: 3 available
Stock Image
Never Change
Seller: Goldstone Books, Llandybie, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. All orders are dispatched within one working day from our UK warehouse. We've been selling books online since 2004! We have over 750,000 books in stock. No quibble refund if not completely satisfied. Seller Inventory # mon0006385095
Quantity: 1 available
Seller Image
Never Change by Berg, Elizabeth [Paperback ]
Seller: booksXpress, Bayonne, NJ, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780099461272
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Never Change
Seller: Greener Books, London, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Used; Very Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! Greener Books. Seller Inventory # 2837242
Quantity: 1 available
Seller Image
Never Change
Seller: Yare Books, Great Yarmouth, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Reprint. Seller Inventory # 032118
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Never Change
Published by
Cornerstone, United Kingdom, London, 2002
ISBN 10: 0099461277
ISBN 13: 9780099461272
Used
Paperback
Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Fair. 'You know people like me. I'm the one who sat in the hall selling tickets to the prom but never going, the one everybody liked but no one wanted to be with.'A self-anointed spinster at fifty-one, Myra Lipinsky has endured the isolation of her middle life by immersing herself in her career as a visiting nurse and by doting on her dog, Frank. Myra considers herself reasonably content, telling herself, It's enough, work and Frank. And is has to be enough - until Chip Reardon, the too-good-to-be-true golden boy she adored from afar whilst at high school, is assigned to be her new patient. Choosing to forgo invasive treatment for an incurable illness, Chip has returned home from Manhattan to the New England home of his childhood to spend what time he has left. Now, Myra and Chip find themselves engaged in a poignant redefinition of roles, and a complicated dance of memory, ambivalence and longing. A readable copy of the book which may include some defects such as highlighting and notes. Cover and pages may be creased and show discolouration. Seller Inventory # GOR003941404
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Never Change
Published by
Cornerstone, United Kingdom, London, 2002
ISBN 10: 0099461277
ISBN 13: 9780099461272
Used
Paperback
Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. 'You know people like me. I'm the one who sat in the hall selling tickets to the prom but never going, the one everybody liked but no one wanted to be with.'A self-anointed spinster at fifty-one, Myra Lipinsky has endured the isolation of her middle life by immersing herself in her career as a visiting nurse and by doting on her dog, Frank. Myra considers herself reasonably content, telling herself, It's enough, work and Frank. And is has to be enough - until Chip Reardon, the too-good-to-be-true golden boy she adored from afar whilst at high school, is assigned to be her new patient. Choosing to forgo invasive treatment for an incurable illness, Chip has returned home from Manhattan to the New England home of his childhood to spend what time he has left. Now, Myra and Chip find themselves engaged in a poignant redefinition of roles, and a complicated dance of memory, ambivalence and longing. 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 # GOR000818894
Quantity: 2 available
Seller Image
Berg, E: Never Change
Print on DemandSeller: moluna, Greven, Germany
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: New. Dieser Artikel ist ein Print on Demand Artikel und wird nach Ihrer Bestellung fuer Sie gedruckt. I m the one who sat in the hall selling tickets to the prom but never going, the one everybody liked but no one wanted to be with. A self-anointed spinster at fifty-one, Myra Lipinsky has endured the isolation of her middle life by immersing herself in her . Seller Inventory # 594350828
Quantity: Over 20 available