Thirtysomethings Roy and Sam have been best friends since boyhood, but middle age has revealed their fundamental differences. Roy is fit, financially solvent, a dedicated bachelor, and an accomplished womanizer; he drives his vintage cars aggressively but well. Sam is obese and spends as recklessly as he drives; his whiny dependence on his straitlaced wife, Kristin, keeps him well fed and out of the red. After Sam has a sudden heart attack, Roy and Kristin conspire to shape him up, unaware that their common needs will lead to furtive passion. Roy's friendship with Sam crumbles further with every encounter, but falling in love with his best friend' s wife lets Roy finally address his own emptiness. Berger's latest novel is as subtly unpredictable and generalization-defying as much of his earlier work (
Little Big Man [1964], most famously). His characters are as nuanced as ever, presented with the sensitive psychological insight we've come to expect over Berger's 50-year career. His staying power occasionally works against him, afflicting Roy and friends with midlife crises (and tastes in vintage cars) more appropriate for older characters; there are a few awkward Internet references. These mild anachronisms certainly don't interfere, however, with this graceful tale of friendship and betrayal. Knowing what master storyteller Berger is capable of, they may even be deliberate, playful puzzlements.
Brendan DriscollCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Pressestimmen
Jeffrey Frank
"The Washington Post Book World"
The characters in "Best Friends,.".are...recognizably human in their weaknesses and their destinies. It is Berger's genius as an observer and storyteller that we never, for a moment, take our eyes off them.