She Is Too Fond Of Books ... » Joshua Henkin

Author Event: Joshua Henkin and Matrimony

sheistoofondofbooks — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 10:57:13 +0000

I had the pleasure of seeing/hearing Joshua Henkin at a book reading last weekend. The reading was on a Sunday afternoon at Newtonville Books, which I hadn’t visited before. It’s a great independent bookstore with a large and comfy children’s section, lots of author events, and a very cool meeting room where the readings are held … but I digress, clearly Newtonville Books will be the subject of a future Spotlight on Bookstores!

Joshua was there as part of Newtonville Books’ Paperback Books & Brews program, sounds like fun already, right? He was sharing the reading time with another author, Ellen Litman who read from The Last Chicken in America: A Novel in Stories (more about Ellen and her book in an upcoming post!). I didn’t realize there would be two readings and a longer Q&A session, which left me a little short on time at the end of the afternoon … but let’s go back to the beginning …

After Ellen read, Joshua stepped up to the lectern with his still hot-from-the-presses paperback copy of Matrimony (my review is here). I could see several copies in the audience as well; groups from book clubs had come to the reading, as well as individuals who had popped in to hear what Joshua called the “tasting menu” as he read three short sections to give the flavor of the novel.

The first section he read (pages 3-4) introduces us to the main character, Julian Wainwright. We see Julian as a previously non-verbal toddler, insistently repeating “Out! Out! Out!” to his parents as they drive back to Manhattan from a visit to Martha’s Vineyard; seventeen years later Julian gets his wish as he enters Graymont College, an alternative liberal arts school in western Massachusetts. This passage sets the tone for the Wainwright family – Julian’s well-to-do parents attended Yale and Wellesley; Julian is determined to make his own mark.

Joshua next read from pages 38-39, when Julian meets his future wife, Mia, for the first time. There were quite a few laughs from the audience as Joshua read this section; we could probably all identify with wanting to make the best first impression. To set the scene, Julian and his new best friend Carter have been admiring Mia from afar, in the Freshman facebook; they’ve decided that she’s sophisticated, and have given her the nickname “Mia from Montreal.” Julian and Mia run into each other in the laundry room:

He hoped she didn’t notice that next to him, clearly in his possession, was a package of fabric softener. He had a book of stories by Ernest Hemingway, and he placed the book on top of the fabric softener, to balance the picture out.

This section has a lot of witty flirtatious banter between them, in which they reveal a little bit of their personalities and backgrounds. If you have the book, go back and read this part out loud, I promise you’ll chuckle (or at least smile!).

Lastly, Joshua read a longer, more somber passage (pages 74-78) in which Mia returns to Montreal during her senior year of college. Her mother has been diagnosed with breast cancer and has undergone a mastectomy, to be followed by chemo and radiation. This section is heavy with emotions: Mia helps her weakened mother in the shower, faces her own inadequacies as a daughter, wants to make amends by quitting school and caring for her mother, and is frustrated that since Julian has been in her life only a few years, he doesn’t share the same memories of Mia’s mother.

Joshua’s “tasting menu” were excellent selections to introduce a group to Matrimony – they introduced Julian and Mia, showed the playful spirit of their relationship when they first met, and encountered a hardship that could have far-reaching consequences.

Here are a few questions from the audience (paraphrased):

Q: Is Graymont College based on a real school?

A: Graymont is loosely based on Hampshire College in Hadley, Massachusetts. However, Joshua intentionally leaves that connection up to the reader. The “feel” of Graymont is similar to Hampshire, but the town itself (streets, stores, restaurants, etc.) is his own creation. Joshua did point out how unusual it was for a student at this type of college (in the late 80s, early 90s) to get married in their early 20s (right after graduating).

Q: There were major life events (graduation, wedding, funeral) that happened, but no details were given, why not? (the person asking the question noted that it was refreshing to not be pulled into a side scene that had no later bearing on the novel.)

A: Joshua actually wrote these more detailed scenes, but they didn’t add to the story, so he cut them; Matrimony took ten years to write, and he threw out 3000 pages in the process. But the novel isn’t about big life events, it’s about the everyday happenings, covering twenty years of the characters’ lives [in my review I called Matrimony a true "slice of life"]. Life is a set of circumstances and our responses to them. Matrimony shows the pleasures Julian and Mia experience and the travails they endure. Often when we’re in our 20s, 30s, and 40s we’re waiting for life to start — it’s already happening. Life is what happens when you’re not paying attention.

Q: Which writers influence/inspire you?

A: Richard Russo’s Empire Falls was very instructive in the way the passage of time is handled. He shows when to skip time and when to stop for a scene, taking the “here and now” seriously.

Q. How do you choose the names of character? Pilar doesn’t “seem” like a Pilar …

A. Joshua peruses a baby name book to get ideas for character names. He said that maybe naming their daughter Pilar was one way her parents indicated they were not typical Greenwich people. The audience member who asked the question chuckled and said “yeah, she seemed more like a Katherine.” Isn’t it interesting how we have pre-conceived notions about people based on their names!

Q: If Matrimony were made into a movie, who do you see playing the leads?

A: Joshua politely side-stepped this question, coyly stating that he didn’t “focus group” his novels. Some names that were suggested: Topher Grace to play Julian and Minnie Driver to play Mia.

Joshua and Ellen wrapped up the Q&A and we headed down into the main part of the bookstore for book signings and “meet and greet.” So, where is the photo I usually post after an author event, the one of me grinning next to an author, with his book out front and center? I was unable to stay and talk to Joshua and didn’t get a picture of the two of us! I was running late for “family obligations,” as the reading with two wonderful authors took longer than I had cleared on my calendar. So, Joshua, if you’re reading this, the woman scribbling notes in the back of the room, surreptitiously taking (non-flash) photos and lurking for a bit at the book signing was not some crazy “number one fan” a la Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) in Misery … it was just me, too fond of books and too short on time! I hope to catch you the next time you’re in town!

Joshua will be speaking at Book Group Expo later this month; check out his event page to see if he’ll be near you anytime soon.

Haven’t read the Matrimony yet? You can order it from Amazon here.

The Week Ahead: September 6 – 12, 2008

sheistoofondofbooks — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:23:55 +0000

First, I want to thank everyone who joined me in planning The Week Ahead during August and September. I’ve enjoyed keeping up with you all, including:

I gave everyone one entry for each The Week Ahead post they wrote during the past two months. The randomly-selected winner of the Book Lover’s Page-A-Day Calendar is …. Bree! Congratulations, Bree! Please send me your mailing address and I’ll get the calendar out to you.

The feedback has been that planning ahead has been useful (I know it helps me stay on track, or at least know where the track is!); keep on doing it, I may run another incentive after the first of the year. Here’s what’s on tap for me this week:

Monday 10/6 - It’s after one o’clock, and I’m just writing my planning post now … enough said!

Tuesday 10/7 - Time for Tuesday Thingers!

Wednesday 10/8 – This week’s Spotlight on Bookstores is a guest post by Shana at Literarily. She’s going to tell us about an independent bookstore with phenomenal author events and great staff recommendations. Something to keep in mind for a rainy day.

Thursday 10/9 – LM4 starts a new afternoon storytime program at our local library. My other kids have no school due to the Yom Kippur holiday, so the whole gang will walk down for some library fun. They’ll probably convince me to stop for hot chocolate or ice cream (weather dependent, this is New England!) before we head home.

Friday 10/10 – And sometime this week, with Friday being my deadline, I plan to post reviews for several books I’ve enjoyed but haven’t yet blogged about. They are: Guernica by Dave Boling, The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean and Run by Ann Patchett. Also, I was fortunate to see Joshua Henkin (Matrimony) at a book reading yesterday; that post is coming up this week, too.

That’s my week in a nutshell … lots of catching up and housekeeping it looks like!

The Week Ahead: September 29 – October 5, 2008

sheistoofondofbooks — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:25:23 +0000

It’s time for me to sit down and plan what’s happening for me this week – bookish and otherwise. There’s a whole lot of “otherwise” this week – the two older kids start swim team so we have 4 hours in the pool plus packing (“where are my goggles!”), drive time and me in the “splash pool” with the two younger ones (my fingers will be prunes!). I’m sure we’ll get into a routine after a few weeks, but I think the first few days of the new schedule might be hectic!

Monday 9/29 - For some reason, The Bangles’ Manic Monday is running through my head right now! It’s only 7 a.m., and I can already see the writing on the wall – it’s going to be “one of those days”! Our newspaper wasn’t delivered yet, and I forgot to run the dishwasher last night! OK, deep breath, think positive!

It’s Banned Books Week! I don’t have any events planned here at She Is Too Fond Of Books, but there are great posts already up on other blogs; click through a few on my blogroll, or enter the Books ‘n Blogs webring to explore. More info on Banned Books Week is at the ALA website.

Here’s some news – I’ve extended the giveaway for Kenny Shopsin’s Eat Me! until October 6 to give everyone ample time to find me at my new online home. Check out the comments on this giveaway, lots of creative ideas!

After pre-school drop-off this morning, I’m heading over to have the oil in my car changed; boring maintenance, but I’ll walk over to Starbucks, and if I can find a seat (it’s a small shop), I’ll re-write my review of Sarah’s Key.

Tuesday 9/30 – Time for Tuesday Thingers! I didn’t have much to say about my favorite authors last week … I’ll try to provide a more interesting post this week!

Since it’s the end of the month, I’ll be posting an update on my volunteer and fundraising efforts for First Book.

Also, I’ll be drawing the winner of the Book Lovers Page-A-Day Calendar for those who are in the running with The Week Ahead entries.

Finally, Tatiana de Rosnay’s spellbinding novel Sarah’s Key releases in paperback today from St. Martins Press. My review file is corrupted, and I’m hoping to cobble a recreation of it together to post on Tuesday.

Thursday 10/2 – The TriCon book group meets to discuss Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto. I first read this novel about five years ago, and absolutely loved it! I’m looking forward to re-visiting it for the book group this week, especially since I hold it as the benchmark against which I (perhaps unfairly) judge all of Patchett’s other work. More about this in my upcoming review of Run.

Saturday 10/4 – I don’t think I can put it off any longer – the kids have been anxious to put up the Halloween/fall decorations; today’s the day!

Sunday 10/5 – Another author event coming up! Joshua Henkin, the book-group-friendly author of Matrimony will be at a local bookstore. My 12-year-old “Little Woman” and I will venture out for the reading and some quality mother-daughter time.

I have a few book-related events to look forward to, a few obstacles to overcome, and a whole lot of time I plan to devote to reading! What’s on your calendar this week? What are you reading? Have you put up your Autumn decorations?

Winner of Matrimony giveaway

Dawn — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:49:46 +0000

As usual, I used random.org to select one winner from the 35 comments that were left on the post.

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2008-09-16 11:24:51 UTC

Shonda is the lucky winner of the paperback of Matrimony, personally inscribed by the author, book-group-friendly Joshua Henkin. Joshua, thanks for your generosity! Shonda, please send me your mailing address so I can pass it along.

Not a winner? Go out and buy the book; you’ll enjoy it!

The Week Ahead: September 15 – 21, 2008

Dawn — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:44:21 +0000

I’m posting my Week Ahead a day earlier than usual this week – it’s going to be a busy week! There’s a lot happening here and on other book blogs in conjunction with Book Blogger Appreciation Week … check out this partial listing of what’s going on in my little corner of the world:

Monday 9/15 – I’m starting the week out as a tour host for Kathleen McCleary’ novel House & Home, working with TLC Book Tours. I’ll have a book review and themed giveaway posted today!

Tuesday 9/16 – A bonus guest post by Kathleen McCleary, which will also serve as an early Spotlight on Bookstores this week. If you’ve read the novel, you may be curious about the origins of “The Hole in the Wall” bookstore …

Also, I’ll be announcing the winner of Joshua Henkin’s Matrimony today (enter by midnight on Monday 9/15 for your chance to win an inscribed copy of the paperback!)

And, if that’s not enough … today is the day that BBAW intereviews with bloggers will be online. She Is Too Fond of Books will have a VIP guest that I’m thrilled to interview; now it’s your turn to get to know her better …

Wednesday 9/17 – BBAW award presentations begin today! Click over to My Friend Amy’s blog for the complete schedule (her blog should be on your “Favorites” or in your Google Reader … read early, read often!). I can’t wait to watch all the award-winners walk the red carpet … will Joan Rivers be there critiquing what everyone’s wearing?

Thursday 9/18 – I have a few reviews to post this week, look for The Madonnas of Leningrad and Guernica. Interesting connection between these two novels, each has a story line that involves removing art from museums in order to protect the masterpieces during a war. Read the Comments below to find out which museum and which war in each case.

Friday 9/19 – I’ll have my weekly Friday Finds post, sharing the books that have come into my life over the week.

And, ahoy, matey! September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day! (I’m not kidding!) Practice your “yo ho ho”s and “arrr”s while reading one of our favorite children’s books, How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long and illustrated by the ever-amusing David Shannon. You can translate any phrase into pirate-speak at the official site of Talk Like a Pirate Day; try it, it’s fun!

OK, time for me to put my feet up and relax for a bit before the week begins I’m going to just sit back and crack open a book … What are you most looking forward to this week?!

BBAW contest for the folks who READ book blogs!

Dawn — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:24:59 +0000

Next week is Book Blogger Appreciation Week … there are guests posts, giveaways, interviews, awards galore, etc.!

What’s in it for the person who reads book blogs (doesn’t have one of his/her own) … PLENTY! Where would book bloggers be without the loyal readers who contribute so much to our blogs with feedback, comments, questions?!? This week is to honor YOU as well.

Accordingly, the Literate Housewife has put together an amazing contest just for book blog readers. All you have to do is submit a short (200 words or less) essay completing the sentence: “I read book blogs because …” The top ten answers will be submitted to Joshua Henkin, the author of Matrimony. Readers of my blog know how much Joshua loves readers and book groups (details of my current giveaway are here) … he’ll be selecting the First, Second and Third place entries – the winners will get grab bags of books!!

Read the details of the contest at the Literate Housewife’s post - remember to email your entry to the address she provides, don’t leave it in the Comments section.

Thanks, readers!

Giveaway of Joshua Henkin’s Matrimony

Dawn — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:51:18 +0000

I’m so pleased that Joshua Henkin has offered to co-host a giveaway of his novel Matrimony! I reviewed this mid-August, just before the release of the paperback. One of the things I really like about Matrimony is that Henkin shows the significance of the “everyday” parts of a marriage, as well as the “extraordinary.”

Has your book group read Matrimony and is ready to discuss it? Read what Henkin has to say about books group in this guest post over at Books on the Brain – he loves talking to discussion groups and may be able to schedule a virtual visit - all you need is a speakerphone! This is a great novel for book groups to talk about; there’s a reading group guide available, to get you started.

Some of us like the nice display a hardcover makes on a bookcase; some of us realize that we can get more “bang for the buck” if we wait for the paperback … now’s your chance! You can buy this New York Times Notable Book in paperback, or leave a Comment on this post for a chance to win; winner will be drawn randomly, and announced on September 16 (and if you don’t win, you can head to the bookstore then!). Joshua Henkin will personally inscribe the book in your name and pop it in the mail; as my six-year-old would say: how cool is that?!

Book Review: Matrimony by Joshua Henkin

Dawn — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:11:43 +0000

Matrimony by Joshua Henkin

Publisher: Vintage (August 26, 2008 )

Paperback: 304 pages

ISBN-10: 030727716X

ISBN-13: 978-0307277169

Matrimony is the second novel by author Joshua Henkin, who has also published Swimming Across the Hudson (1997) and several short stories. I found Matrimony such a pleasant and “cozy” read that I’m planning to look up his other work.

Let’s start with the synopsis from inside the dust jacket, which I find to be an accurate picture of the novel, without any spoilers:

From the moment he was born, Julian Wainwright has lived a life of Waspy privilege. The son of a Yale-educated investment banker, he grew up in a huge apartment on Sutton Place, high above the East River, and attended a tony Manhattan private school. Yet, more than anything, he wants to get out-out from under his parents’ influence, off to Graymont College, in western Massachusetts, where he hopes to become a writer.

When he arrives, in the fall of 1986, Julian meets Carter Heinz, a scholarship student from California with whom he develops a strong but ambivalent friendship. Carter’s mother, desperate to save money for his college education, used to buy him reversible clothing, figuring she was getting two items for the price of one. Now, spending time with Julian, Carter seethes with resentment. He swears he will grow up to be wealthy-wealthier, even, than Julian himself.

Then, one day, flipping through the college facebook, Julian and Carter see a photo of Mia Mendelsohn. Mia from Montreal, they call her. Beautiful, Jewish, the daughter of a physics professor at McGill, Mia is-Julian and Carter agree-dreamy, urbane, stylish, refined.

But Julian gets to Mia first, meeting her by chance in the college laundry room. Soon they begin a love affair that-spurred on by family tragedy-will carry them to graduation and beyond, taking them through several college towns, over the next ten years. Then Carter reappears, working for an Internet company in California, and he throws everyone’s life into turmoil: Julian’s, Mia’s, his own.

Starting at the height of the Reagan era and ending in the new millennium, Matrimony is about love and friendship, about money and ambition, desire and tensions of faith. It asks what happens to a marriage when it is confronted by betrayal and the specter of mortality. What happens when people marry younger than they’d expected? Can love endure the passing of time?

In its emotional honesty, its luminous prose, its generosity and wry wit, Matrimony is a beautifully detailed portrait of what it means to share a life with someone-to do it when you’re young, and to try to do it afresh on the brink of middle age.

I found Matrimony to be a true “slice of life” with so many of the issues being near-universal experiences: emergence of ourselves in adulthood and the subsequent changes in our relationships, illness/death of parent, decisions and conflicts around career/education path of significant other, infidelity of friend or colleague, religious differences and how they affect our responses to others, friendships based on mutual convenience versus those that are deep-seated, and finally, the maturity of long-term love.

We meet Julian on the cusp of adulthood as he enters college at an alternative liberal arts school. Henkin is very effective in the way he spools out his novel, easing us forward through the next twenty years as he also dips into the past to fill in details using narrative flashback scenes. Details such as the Peer Contraceptive Counseling squad during freshman orientation and the “well-intentioned gesture [of securing] for him for his sixteenth birthday an inscribed copy of Atlas Shrugged” are believable aspects of Julian’s experience which lend additional authenticity to the writing.

Consider this look into Mia’s mind, as she and her sister, Olivia, contemplate their mother’s illness; it certainly resonated with me:

She just wanted them to admit how frightened they were, but it seemed they weren’t able to. And maybe she wasn’t, either. Last night, she’d stood silently with Olivia in the kitchen, and then she blurted out, “I love you,” and Olivia blurted it back. A discomfort settled between them, a shame almost. What freighted words those were, reserved for so few people sometimes it seemed they were never to be used at all. She recalled being a child, four, five, six when she said those words to her teachers and classmates, when it seemed there wasn’t anybody she didn’t love. Then a hardening set in, a calcifying of the heart, and you didn’t love anyone any longer, or at least you didn’t say you did, that now she couldn’t remember the last time she’d said those words to anyone besides Julian, when there were other people she loved, her family certainly.

Henkin is so focused on Julian as the central character that in the three pages of narrative and dialogue dedicated to their first day as Freshman roommates, the roommate remains nameless. Henkin uses this technique again in the epilogue; a new character is introduced, but several paragraphs pass before the character is named. This is an extremely effective way of drawing the reader in towards Julian and Mia, and serves as neat “bookends” to the novel.

I am so pleased by the number of authors who have “official” websites. Yes, they’re part of the marketing machine, but they really do offer resources that are welcomed by an interested reader. At Henkin’s website you can read more about the author and his work, and check listings for his author events. Henkin loves book groups! In addition to offering a downloadable reading group guide, he is willing to meet with book groups via speaker-phone (perhaps in person, if in the tri-state area), and is running a contest featuring copies of Matrimony and a Junior’s Cheesecake from Brooklyn! Because of the universality of so many of the themes in this novel, it is a good choice for book discussion groups; the lack of any major controversy/politics might make it especially appealing to book group “virgins”.

The book cover at the top of this review is from the hardcover edition, published in October 2007. Here is the paperback cover, being released by Vintage Books on August 26, 2008.

She Is Too Fond Of Books ... » Joshua Henkin

Author Event: Joshua Henkin and *Matrimony*