A novel about talent, friendship, love, and the ravages that reality bears upon youthful idealism, Meg Wolitzer's, "The Interestings," is an introspective and ambitious novel featuring characters and relationships as complex, intricate, frustrating, and wonderful as life itself. Set initially at an art camp in the mid seventies, the novel follows six teenagers who meet at the art camp and become close friends, sharing in common vast talent and romantic idealism about the world. Each has a special artistic talent, ranging from music to visual arts to drama, and each believes in the power of their own ability to make the world a better place.
However the scope of the novel is not just a fleeting youthful moment at a summer camp, but a philosophical inquiry into how youthful relationships and ideals change upon exposure to the cold facts of the adult world. Critic Adam Langer of The Washington Post writes, "Fine novels that chart the long-term progress of friendships are all too rare... and Wolitzer is at her best when she shows how these relationships can be tested over time." And Wolitzer provides a compelling narrative on the way the relationships between the characters are changed, and how their individual success, or lack thereof, alters and sometimes compromises their original artistic vision. Wolitzer provides a fascinating juxtaposition between art and life over the course of the novel, and circumspectly examines complex characters and their interactions as they capriciously float in and out of each other's lives.
Born on Long Island in 1959, Meg Wolitzer has written a number of full length fiction novels for adults as well as young adults. She attended Brown University and Smith College, and has seen one of her novels, Surrender, Dorothy, made into a full length film.
“There’s something so appealing
about books with a whole cast of main characters. It's as if the listener has
the chance to identify with not just one character but with a community. In
this engrossing audiobook, Meg Wolitzer and Jen Tullock join forces to create
three-dimensional characters whose friendship spans the period between their
teenage years at an artsy summer camp and their midlife years in and around New
York City. Tullock's gift is her ability to capture conversations without
overdramatizing the inflections or the voices. Her pacing is superb, and her
tone lends a contemporary feel to this contemporary novel. Beautifully written
and performed, this audiobook will appeal to lovers of literary fiction as well
as those interested in hearing the stories of kindred spirits. Winner of
AudioFile Earphones Award.”
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AudioFile