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karyan1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, War, Sexual content, Body shaming, Classism, Grief, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Death, and Drug use
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Antisemitism, and Death of parent
Minor: Car accident
greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Sexual content, Infidelity, Alcohol, Abortion, Body shaming, Mental illness, Pregnancy, War, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Misogyny
betsygrace's review against another edition
Too much weird sexual content and sexual assault/rape vibes for me. It’s very normalized in the circle that the main character runs in, and I got tired of hearing it (listened on audiobook)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Alcohol, Rape, Violence, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
nothingforpomegranted's review
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Vivian Morris is an old lady at the start of this book in 2010. She has received a letter from Angela, "his daughter," asking about her relationship to her father, and the rest of the book is her answer.
We jump back in time to see Vivian moving to New York City in the early 1940s after practically failing out of Vassar, and falling in love--not with a man, but with life, that of the wild theater people whose very being infuses a pulse and excitement into the city. As a passionate lover of New York myself, I expected to like this book far more than I did. Certainly, there were passages that struck me and moments of rooting for the characters or crying for them, but for the most part, the book felt indulgent, too long, too crass, and too superficial.
Elizabeth Gilbert claims to have written this book as a celebration of sexually-active women whose promiscuity didn't ruin their lives. I'm all for that mission, and I am eager to celebrate women who enjoy sex without shame or regret, but frankly, Vivian didn't seem to have much of a life to ruin anyway. She was selfish, ignorant, and vain, focused primarily on her own beauty, the appearance of others, and the surprising realization that not everything can be fixed by throwing money at it--though most things, apparently, can be, and those that can't aren't such a big deal after all. There are generous, intelligent, ambitious women, too, who enjoy sex, have lots of it, and whose lives aren't destroyed. A Vulture review by Hillary Kelly said it best: having lots of sex does not equal having a personality, and despite over 500 pages of autobiographical sharing, Vivian Morris does not have much of one.
As she gambols through New York City through the decades, Vivian picks up a motley crew of acquaintances through her Aunt Peg's theater community. She attaches herself to the showgirls, flirts with men whenever and wherever she encounters them, and discoveries the physical wonders of sex through her relationship with Anthony, an arrogant actor who comes to join the players at the Lily Theater when they cast their first big show in years, starring the brilliant British Edna Parker Watson.
Edna was my favorite character in the book. She took her pleasures confidently and had a sense of both her strengths and her weaknesses. She exuded self-assuredness through the pages, and I would happily have read an entire book about her life (though her doormat of a husband was just as boring to read about as he seemed to the characters and would have been better left out if not for the fact that his presence was supposedly essential to the dramatic turn of events in the plot). Indeed, it is Arthur--that very doormat of a man--who ruins Vivian's year of gallivanting carelessly through New York and sends her back to her family home in Clinton, horrified by scandal and shame.
Of course, Vivian returns quite quickly to New York, embarrassed for a brief time before she decides the shame is not worth the energy, instead investing her time in sewing costumes for the US Navy entertainment corps and having lots and lots of sex once the war comes to an end. This is where the book really lost steam for me. Dislikable characters are not a deal-breaker for me, and I was intrigued by Vivian's life in treating society among showgirls and theater people despite her selfishness, but these moments were not notable or flashy and seemed to be included solely for the payoff of finally, finally introducing the mysterious Angela's father.
I liked Frank, actually, and I enjoyed reading about Frank and Vivian's nighttime strolls through every neighborhood of the city. I wish he had been brought into the story earlier, for I would have loved to read details of their explorations. As it was, I read 400 pages waiting to discover this mystery man, only for the relationship--supposedly the longest and most significant, though least erotic, of Vivian's life--to be summarized in just a few short chapters. I wanted to fall in love with Frank because he seemed like a troubled, honorable man (great qualities for a romantic hero), but I hardly had the time.
I liked this book, certainly, but I wasn't blown away. And while I did stay up way too late reading it, I think it was more because of a desire to finish it than a need to know what would happen next. I wasn't propelled forward by the energy of the book, though I did enjoy the journey into a New York of another generation.
We jump back in time to see Vivian moving to New York City in the early 1940s after practically failing out of Vassar, and falling in love--not with a man, but with life, that of the wild theater people whose very being infuses a pulse and excitement into the city. As a passionate lover of New York myself, I expected to like this book far more than I did. Certainly, there were passages that struck me and moments of rooting for the characters or crying for them, but for the most part, the book felt indulgent, too long, too crass, and too superficial.
Elizabeth Gilbert claims to have written this book as a celebration of sexually-active women whose promiscuity didn't ruin their lives. I'm all for that mission, and I am eager to celebrate women who enjoy sex without shame or regret, but frankly, Vivian didn't seem to have much of a life to ruin anyway. She was selfish, ignorant, and vain, focused primarily on her own beauty, the appearance of others, and the surprising realization that not everything can be fixed by throwing money at it--though most things, apparently, can be, and those that can't aren't such a big deal after all. There are generous, intelligent, ambitious women, too, who enjoy sex, have lots of it, and whose lives aren't destroyed. A Vulture review by Hillary Kelly said it best: having lots of sex does not equal having a personality, and despite over 500 pages of autobiographical sharing, Vivian Morris does not have much of one.
As she gambols through New York City through the decades, Vivian picks up a motley crew of acquaintances through her Aunt Peg's theater community. She attaches herself to the showgirls, flirts with men whenever and wherever she encounters them, and discoveries the physical wonders of sex through her relationship with Anthony, an arrogant actor who comes to join the players at the Lily Theater when they cast their first big show in years, starring the brilliant British Edna Parker Watson.
Edna was my favorite character in the book. She took her pleasures confidently and had a sense of both her strengths and her weaknesses. She exuded self-assuredness through the pages, and I would happily have read an entire book about her life (though her doormat of a husband was just as boring to read about as he seemed to the characters and would have been better left out if not for the fact that his presence was supposedly essential to the dramatic turn of events in the plot). Indeed, it is Arthur--that very doormat of a man--who ruins Vivian's year of gallivanting carelessly through New York and sends her back to her family home in Clinton, horrified by scandal and shame.
Of course, Vivian returns quite quickly to New York, embarrassed for a brief time before she decides the shame is not worth the energy, instead investing her time in sewing costumes for the US Navy entertainment corps and having lots and lots of sex once the war comes to an end. This is where the book really lost steam for me. Dislikable characters are not a deal-breaker for me, and I was intrigued by Vivian's life in treating society among showgirls and theater people despite her selfishness, but these moments were not notable or flashy and seemed to be included solely for the payoff of finally, finally introducing the mysterious Angela's father.
I liked Frank, actually, and I enjoyed reading about Frank and Vivian's nighttime strolls through every neighborhood of the city. I wish he had been brought into the story earlier, for I would have loved to read details of their explorations. As it was, I read 400 pages waiting to discover this mystery man, only for the relationship--supposedly the longest and most significant, though least erotic, of Vivian's life--to be summarized in just a few short chapters. I wanted to fall in love with Frank because he seemed like a troubled, honorable man (great qualities for a romantic hero), but I hardly had the time.
I liked this book, certainly, but I wasn't blown away. And while I did stay up way too late reading it, I think it was more because of a desire to finish it than a need to know what would happen next. I wasn't propelled forward by the energy of the book, though I did enjoy the journey into a New York of another generation.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Sexual content, and Infidelity
Minor: Alcoholism
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