Synopsis
When his wife suddenly abandons both her marriage and her role as mother, part-time attorney Gordon Nash finds himself solely responsible for raising their child, Calvin, and builds a new life in a small Kansas town, where he confronts the frustrations and joys of parenthood. A first novel. Tour.
Reviews
Gordon Nash is a young attorney living in small-town Kansas, raising his four-year-old son, Calvin. His wife, who left him two years ago to find herself, now finds herself in Texas. Gordon is in Kansas as if by accident-he got a job in a law firm run by some college buddies, but he welcomes the exile as a means to escape the emotional clutches of his cold and distant father, who racked up a stellar career as a college basketball coach in Ohio before recently passing away. Divorces and small-claims cases fill Gordon's day; by evening he tends to Calvin until he takes over as basketball coach at the local high school, eventually falling in romantically with Zoe, the older sister of one of his players. Gordon meanders along, seemingly stunned by his single fatherhood and the absence of his world-beating father, until his ex arrives on the scene for a brief bout of guilt and a stab at kidnapping. Jaffe's first novel shapelessly renders this emotional vortex, relying on a lot of "This reminds me of. . . " transitions from the present to a past memory. Gordon's sense of parenthood seems more like a teenager's persecuted view of what family obligations entail than a genuine experience of the overburdened household. That the selfish Gordon, who is the sort of guy who allows his girlfriend to baby-sit his child and fix her own muffler, has no irony in his sense of self doesn't help Jaffe in his attempt to use single parenthood as a rite of passage.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Jaffe's debut novel, about a divorced father and his young son, recalls the better domestic realism of the past two decades. But, as with the work of writers like Ann Beattie and Richard Ford, his quotidian drama and mundane observations seldom live up to his exacting style. Nothing in life has worked according to plan for Gordon Nash, who'd dreamt of becoming a high-powered, big-city litigator. When his twentysomething wife abandoned him and their boy, he instead opted for partnership in a small firm in tiny Tarent, Kansas, in the wholesome heartland of America. A single father, he hopes to avoid the mistakes made by his own late father, a hotheaded college basketball coach. Meanwhile, Gordon's widowed mother sends four- year-old Calvin all kinds of odd gifts, including a pickled Portuguese man-of-war, which he names ``Mom'' and carries around in a Mason jar. The confused little boy also steals urinal disks, and has to endure his father's occasional outbursts of cruelty. When the local high school asks Gordon to coach the basketball team, he decides to use the occasion as a way to bring himself and his son closer--the opposite of his experience with his volatile father. Feeling cheated by life, Gordon craves an unencumbered existence but mellows somewhat when he falls for Zoe Ward, a veterinary student who adores Calvin. Then Gordon's ex-wife suddenly appears, actually running off with Calvin until she realizes why she felt inadequate as a mother in the first place. For all its sensitive- guy posturing, the story builds to a well-deserved (in its opinion) slap across the face of Gordon's selfish ex. Jaffe's agonizing over the violent instincts of men will resonate with both genders, even if it amounts to such disposable insights as ``being a father is difficult.'' Too bad the novel suffers from the baby boomers' parental conceit that they've somehow reinvented parenthood. (First printing of 40,000; Book-of- the-Month Club/Quality Paperback Book Club featured alternate selection) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
After his wife leaves, Gordon Nash does his best to provide a loving home for his four-year-old son, Calvin. He takes an undemanding job in a small-town Kansas law firm, eventually coaching the high school basketball team as well. Although he is an affectionate dad and easygoing coach, Gordon fears he will become like his own cold, uncommunicative father, who was a tough college basketball coach. He begins dating Zoe, a self-sufficient college student and waitress, adored by Calvin because she lets him ride her horse. When Gordon's ex-wife secretly steals Calvin away, Gordon falls apart and depends on Zoe to help him find his son. This promising first novel is an absorbing, introspective domestic story. Jaffe, a writer for Sports Illustrated, captures the small, intimate, humorous details of a child's life as well as the fierce, protective love of a single father tormented by doubts and fears. Gordon, Calvin, and Zoe are characters to care about. Recommended for all public libraries.?Patricia Ross, Westerville P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Attorney Gordon Nash has been struggling to take care of his little boy, Calvin, in the two years since his wife abruptly walked out on them. They have settled in a small town in Kansas where Gordon has scaled back on his ambitions to become a big-time litigator, opting instead to work for an old college chum in a low-key law practice. Deeply shaken by his wife's departure, Gordon has nevertheless managed to settle in, taking on a coaching job for the local high-school basketball team and becoming involved in a new relationship. Out of the blue, he receives a call from his wife, and he must decide whether he's ready to let her back into their lives. In this gracefully written first novel, Jaffe captures the mixed joys of parenting, including both moments of unabashed tenderness and supreme irritation. And his winning characterization of four-year-old Calvin--who carries around a dead Portuguese man-of-war in a mason jar and stuffs his pockets full of slugs--is right on the mark. Joanne Wilkinson
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