The Summer Without Men: A Novel

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Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Picador (April 26, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780312570606
ISBN-13: 978-0312570606
ASIN: 0312570600
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

A theatrically manic poet turns heartbreak into an intellectual endeavor in Hustvedt's intellectually spry latest (after The Sorrows of an American). Fresh out of the hospital at age 55 following a breakdown brought on by her husband's departure for a young colleague referred to as "The Pause," award-winning poet and Columbia professor Mia Fredricksen flees Brooklyn to spend the summer in her Minnesota hometown. There she is in the company of her mother and four other feisty old ladies, the young mother next door, and the seven hormone-addled pubescent girls enrolled in her poetry class at the local arts guild. Mia sorts out her agony as only a scorned woman with a Ph.D. in comparative literature can—by pouring it through a sieve of poets, philosophers, and critical theorists. At times these references eclipse the presence of the narrator herself, but even this absence becomes the basis for philosophical rumination, as Mia corresponds online with the anonymous—and at times abusive—Mr. Nobody. Though initially trapped in a claustrophobic cerebral solitude, Mia opens up, and, in so doing, lets in some much needed air to a constricted narrative, so that instead of being another novel of a woman on the brink, this becomes an adroit take on love, men and women, and girls and women. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. Review Praise for Siri Hustvedt:“A rare writer who can both rouse the mind and grip the heart.” —The Independent (UK)  “Great.” —Newsday “An expert storyteller.” —San Francisco Chronicle “A modern master.” —The Age “Passionate . . . enlightening.” —The Miami Herald “Frequently dazzling . . . truly memorable.” —The Sunday Times (London)“Riveting storytelling.” —Booklist“Wonderful … Her skill lies in convincing the reader that we have seen right inside someone’s soul.” —The Observer (UK)“Superb. . . a page turner … serious but witty, large-minded and morally engaged.” —The New York Times Book Review “She writes like a dream.” —GQ“Masterful.” —The Times (UK)“Very powerful and awfully smart.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer“I think I am in love. . . . This is one of the most profound and absorbing books I have read in a long time.” —The Washington Post“Complex and contemplative. . . . The Sorrows of an American is a thought-provoking book that offers pleasures across many different registers.” —The New York Times Book Review “The pages turn themselves. The old story, the search for the self, holds water once again.” —Los Angeles Times The Summer Without Men: A Novel