- Hardcover: 317 pages
- Publisher: Doubleday (Aug 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0385488300
- ISBN-13: 978-0385488303
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.5 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,173,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Double Fault
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Review
"'A brilliant tale of doomed love... Double Fault is a compelling and playfully ironic take on the sex wars' Observer Review 'Shriver is a truly remarkable star in the literary firmament... I doubt there is any thoughtful woman who does not recognise herself somewhere in Shriver's writing' Lisa Jardine, Financial Times 'When feminism has become the politics that dare not speak its name, it is refreshing to find an author who will bring such renewed vigour to the gender wars' Guardian 'With prose as taut as a well-strung racket, you'll be captivated' Marie Claire 'I was riveted by this novel' Lesley Glaister, Waterstone's Books Quarterly"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Review
"'A brilliant tale of doomed love' (Observer) 'Shriver has a terrible gift for laying bare for us the emotions that lie just beneath the skin. I doubt that there is any thoughtful woman who does not recognize herself somewhere in Shriver's writing' (Lisa Jardine, Financial Times) 'So fearless that, although readers may not sympathise with her, they'll understand why she's driven to destroy what she loves' (Metro) 'As taut as a well-strung racquet' (Marie Claire)"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It is inevitable that any examination of Double Fault will take place within the context of the Kevin phenomenon. If you're considering reading this book, it's likely to be because of your love of Kevin. Your appreciation of Double Fault is likely to depend on what it was you loved about Kevin.
Double Fault is a realistic, detailed and thought-provoking analysis of the deterioration of a marriage in the same way that Kevin depicted the deterioration of the mother-son relationship. Nobody writes dysfunction like Shriver.
Both novels are written from the point of view of flawed anti-heroines, with which all but the most saintly of us can identify to some extent. If you like respectable protagonists, full of honour and virtue, neither book is for you.
Double Fault examines the extent to which eventualities are pre-destined by circumstance, just as Kevin did.
Double Fault is written with exactly the same flair, entertaining imagery and vibrant characterisation.
The difference between the two novels lies in plot. Double Fault has very little. It is simply an examination of a relationship and the emotional journey taken by a character. Don't wait for a twist or a jaw-dropping finale. If therein lies your love of Kevin, avoid Double Fault.
Double Fault is a realistic, detailed and thought-provoking analysis of the deterioration of a marriage in the same way that Kevin depicted the deterioration of the mother-son relationship. Nobody writes dysfunction like Shriver.
Both novels are written from the point of view of flawed anti-heroines, with which all but the most saintly of us can identify to some extent. If you like respectable protagonists, full of honour and virtue, neither book is for you.
Double Fault examines the extent to which eventualities are pre-destined by circumstance, just as Kevin did.
Double Fault is written with exactly the same flair, entertaining imagery and vibrant characterisation.
The difference between the two novels lies in plot. Double Fault has very little. It is simply an examination of a relationship and the emotional journey taken by a character. Don't wait for a twist or a jaw-dropping finale. If therein lies your love of Kevin, avoid Double Fault.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'Double Fault' is the sort of novel I would only consider reading after having read the blistering 'We Need to Talk About Kevin', and although it lacks the later novel's grippingly current premise, 'Double Fault' is still a damn good read. I think this may be overall testament to Shriver's accomplished talent as a fine writer of sophistocated fiction that cleverly osillates between high end literature, popular culture and just a sprinkling of 'chick lit'. All the right components are distilled in 'Double Fault' to make it distinctively Shriver's work: the relationship that starts off passionately fresh, and then deteriorates into bitter competition and spiteful revenge, the female protagonist's ambivalence towards motherhood and the succinct observations that border on the profound through the fact that they are actually quite mundane. Take for example Willy's difficult tennis match marred by the onset of her menstruation that causes a hormonal bout of diarrhoea. The imagery is horrible but somehow very true to life, a bit like Shriver's writing sometimes.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Willie is a 27 year old mid-ranked US tennis player with a passion for the game, huge ambition and a future in front of her. This book tells, in parallel, the story of her marriage to Eric who starts off ranked well below her but ends up in the US Open, and Willie's own decline. It's a kind of A Star is Born in reverse, with the gender roles inverted, and is, I think, as much about our reactions to unbridled female ambition as it is about the characters. Little insertions of Hillary Clinton in the background extend this consideration of women's roles, as back-office supporters for a man or as players in their own right, and the pressures this might create in their/our own psyches as well as the impact it might have on our personal lives.
This isn't as riveting as Kevin, and there are points at which I found myself skimming the narrative. But Shriver is an acutely intelligent writer, uncompromising and sharp, and she excels at creating female characters who refuse to be good girls and play nicely.
There are not many female authors who tackle feminist politics head on but Shriver is one of them. She doesn't shy away from allowing her female protagonists to express anger, even violence, and is excellent at creating characters who are multi-dimensional, both likeable and deeply unpleasant at the same time, but always recognisable and realistic. This is, in lots of ways, an intensely sad book, with an ending that is almost tragic. But if you've ever considered whether it's really possible for a woman to have it all - the top-ranked career, the man, and the baby - then this is a must-read.
This isn't as riveting as Kevin, and there are points at which I found myself skimming the narrative. But Shriver is an acutely intelligent writer, uncompromising and sharp, and she excels at creating female characters who refuse to be good girls and play nicely.
There are not many female authors who tackle feminist politics head on but Shriver is one of them. She doesn't shy away from allowing her female protagonists to express anger, even violence, and is excellent at creating characters who are multi-dimensional, both likeable and deeply unpleasant at the same time, but always recognisable and realistic. This is, in lots of ways, an intensely sad book, with an ending that is almost tragic. But if you've ever considered whether it's really possible for a woman to have it all - the top-ranked career, the man, and the baby - then this is a must-read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Ignore the bad reviews- FANTASTIC novel
Admittedly you have to commit to this novel - but please, a novel "about tennis" this is not! The passages focussing on tennis are really about the other themes of the book -... Read more
Published 8 months ago by GH
Life is too short, read something else instead!
This book contains no humour, no plot and takes itself way too seriosly.
Only read if you like over written, wordy, dull novels
with characters you don't like or care... Read more
Only read if you like over written, wordy, dull novels
with characters you don't like or care... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Lex
Massive faults
I've given up on this book - only read as far as I did because it was all I had with me on the train. I like tennis but this was just too much. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Bettylou
Didn't care about the characters...
Unfortunately this a very boring book! I loved We Need to Talk about Kevin, but that seemed to be just a fluke! Read more
Published 20 months ago by miss_spookiness
A practice novel
Where We Need to Talk About Kevin was intriguing and occasionally terrifying, Double Fault was pettier and less grave, though the main characters were equally flawed. Read more
Published on 30 Jan 2010 by Mr. SD Halliday
Tennis and Marriage
Although this novel was first published in the USA in 1997, it was only published in the UK in 2006 after the success of `We Need To Talk About Kevin'. Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2010 by LindyLouMac
The woman can't write a bad sentence, at least
Lionel Shriver seems to make a feature of difficult to like heroines. In this book, Willy (short for Wilhelmina) is an American tennis professional. Read more
Published on 10 Sep 2009 by Eileen Shaw
Avoid
This is a early book by Lionel Shriver and it shows. There is none of that convincing and compelling voice that is in Kevin. Read more
Published on 26 Aug 2009 by steve
Skilfully written, but depressing and too long
I am glad I didn't read the reviews on here before I read the book, or it would still be gathering dust on the shelf! Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2009 by Mrs Norris
Tahitians would never have invented tennis...
So says Max, coach to diminutive, feisty tennis wunderkind Wilhelmina. Well, maybe not but they did invent surfing. Read more
Published on 27 Oct 2008 by Trevor Coote
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