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Title details for A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein - Available

A Friend of the Family

by Lauren Grodstein
Rick Adamson
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
Pete Dizinoff has spent years working toward a life that would be, by all measures, deemed successful. A skilled internist, he's built a thriving practice in suburban New Jersey. He has a devoted wife, a network of close friends, and an impressive house, and most important, he has a son, Alec, on whom he's pinned all his hopes. Pete has afforded Alec every opportunity, bailed him out of close calls with the law, and even ensured his acceptance into a good college. But Pete never counted on the wild card: Laura, his best friend's daughter-ten years older than Alec, irresistibly beautiful, with a past so shocking that it's never spoken of. When Laura sets her sights on Alec, Pete sees his plans for his son not just unraveling but being destroyed completely. Believing he has only the best of intentions, he sets out to derail this romance and rescue his son. He could never have foreseen how his whole world would shatter in the process.Lauren Grodstein delivers a riveting story in the tradition of The Ice Storm,American Beauty, and Little Children, charting a father's fall from grace as he struggles to save his family, his reputation, and himself.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 10, 2009

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781598879445
      • File size: 264747 KB
      • Duration: 09:11:33

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Father-and-son tension escalates into a crisis in Grodstein's latest potboiler, which is given added emotional depth in a rigorous interpretation by narrator Rick Adamson. The story revolves around a doctor whose distrust of his best friend's daughter reaches a crescendo when the girl shows up in her 30s to make a play for his son, a young struggling artist. While the story itself may sound like an extended family argument to some, Adamson is superb in drawing out all the characters' inner torments. His risk-taking performance is so good it will leave listeners wondering if this is just fine acting or if Adamson is personally familiar with this emotional landscape. J.L. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from July 6, 2009
      In her wonderful second novel, Grodstein (Reproduction Is the Flaw of Love
      ) traces a suburban crisis and gives especially perceptive attention to the father-son bond. Pete Dizinoff has it pretty good—an internist with a successful practice, loving wife, nice house in a safe New Jersey suburb and his best friend living close by—but there’s some nasty muck beneath the surface. Some years back, Laura, the daughter of Pete’s best friend, Joe, was suspected of murdering her baby upon birth. Now in her early 30s, Laura’s returned to town after several years of leisurely work and travel and is seducing Pete’s college dropout son, Alec, who is also back in town, pursuing the life of a painter in his parents’ garage. Laura does not fit into Pete’s idea of what’s best for his son, but when Pete intervenes, things spin wildly out of control. Add to this a malpractice case, and Pete senses his life is falling apart. An astute dissector of male aspiration, Grodstein brings great insight into a father’s protective urge for his son in this gripping portrait of an American family in crisis.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from December 21, 2009
      There are grave consequences when Pete Dizinoff, a successful doctor, tries to keep his son from being seduced by Laura, a possible murderess and the daughter of Pete's best friend. Grodstein's superb second novel is a deft portrayal of suburban life, and Adamson more than does justice to the fine material in his tour-de-force performance. With his ability to shift from pathos to restraint, he creates realistically layered characters that grip readers from the start and linger long after the finish. An Algonquin hardcover (Reviews, Jul. 6).

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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