The Big Picture

Years after giving up his dreams of becoming a photographer for law, Ben Bradford finds his "perfect" life falling apart when his wife begins having an affair with a neighbor, a professional photographer, and Ben is suddenly faced with a dangerous choice. A first novel.

This astonishingly assured first novel, by an American working in London as a journalist, has a breathless readability that is rare-particularly as it seems at first to cover pretty familiar territory. Ben Bradford is a Wall Street lawyer living a comfortable life in Connecticut, with a wife and two small children, but he seems to be heading, rather early, for a midlife crisis. He had always wanted to be a photographer, still putters around at it, but feels his life is ebbing away. Beth, his wife, a frustrated novelist, is increasingly estranged from him. Then Ben discovers she has taken a lover-ironically, another failed photographer-and in a confrontation with the man, Gary Summers, Ben's accumulated rage leads to a moment of murderous madness. Both Beth's infatuation with Gary and Ben's maniacal rage seem rather out of character, but with that caveat, the rest of this headlong novel grips like a vise as Ben carefully covers up his crime, disappears and takes on his victim's identity. The Big Picture has to be the most careful and imaginative exploration of such a situation ever penned, from the details of how one convincingly contrives an apparent accidental death to the minutiae of building a new life, unrecognized, in a far place. In Ben's case, it is a small town in Montana, and his born-again existence there is rich in ironies, from his eventual success as a photographer to his ultimate need to disappear yet again. The book is more than just a compelling read: it also has poignant and moving things to say about lost opportunities and wasted lives in America, the cynical quality of sudden fame, the awfulness of willed separation from deeply loved children. There is a lot of excitement in the air about Kennedy's novel, and it is thoroughly justified. 400,000 first printing; $750,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selection; film rights to Fox2000
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Kennedy's well-hyped debut showcases a Connecticut lawyer who loses his designer life to a moment of murderous rage--and then squirms frantically to avoid retribution. Ben Bradford has it all, even though he doesn't want it. Years ago he surrendered his desire to be a photographer to his father's demand that he go to law school; now he's immured in a junior partnership in his New York firm's cozy Trusts & Estates division; in family responsibilities--a second child who's keeping him up nights, a wife who's stopped loving him; in the upscale consumables that holler success; and in the excess acid that pays for it. Shattered by the news that his wife Beth prefers the embraces of Gary Summers, a neighbor who's never given up his technical status as a professional photographer, Ben sees his life held hostage to this layabout. But he's the one who gives it the final calamitous push when he punctuates an ugly scene with Gary by killing him. Desperate for confession and absolution, Ben steels himself instead to hide every trace of the murder--and since he's a lawyer with money and unexpected leisure (Beth has bolted with his sons) as well as extended access to Gary's place, it's a world-class effort that involves faking an accident that will apparently kill Ben but will leave Gary dead in his place. Ben's taut narrative, which deftly mingles yuppie angst with obsessive plotting, almost makes you overlook how ancient this gambit is, and how cheesy its pulp antecedents. The accident staged, Ben flees the scene, lights out for the territories, scans the Times daily for his obituary, settles into a new life backed by Gary's ID and trust fund--and waits for the postman to ring twice, as he does in a satisfyingly ironic way. A startlingly unoriginal story whipped up by Kennedy's overdrive pacing and mastery of detail. (First printing of 400,000; Literary Guild selection; $750,000 ad/promo) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Kennedy's first novel is receiving top-drawer hype: a 400,000 first printing and a $300,000 television advertising campaign. And it's true, his book is a grabber. Ben and Beth Bradford, who once dreamed of being hippie artists, bought into the American dream instead: Ben is a successful lawyer pulling down a six-figure salary, and Beth is a bored suburban housewife with everything Ben's money can buy. But the Bradfords are miserable, imprisoned in a loveless marriage, and tied to a lifestyle they hate. To relieve her tedium, Beth takes a lover, an aging hippie who, unlike Ben, hasn't given in to the almighty dollar. Naturally, Ben finds out about Beth's affair. The worst happens, and in a moment, the Bradfords' lives change forever. The ensuing roller-coaster ride is full of tantalizing twists guaranteed to keep readers reading even as they're disgusted by a hero who is shallow as a rain puddle, nauseatingly self-centered, and undeservedly lucky enough to win multiple chances to redeem himself. Kennedy's story concept--a sort of morality tale cum action-adventure--rates a thumbs-up for inventiveness, but it's tough to believe that a wimpy yuppie lawyer could suddenly transform himself the way Ben does or that anybody could benefit from such an unlikely string of coincidences. Still, there's something about Kennedy's book--call it charisma--that just may catapult it onto the best-seller lists and maybe even the big screen. This time, the hype is well deserved. Emily Melton