- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Vintage; New edition edition (4 Jun 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0099448637
- ISBN-13: 978-0099448631
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,654,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Women With Men
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More About the Author
Product Description
Raymond Carver
'Richard Ford is a masterful storyteller’
Julie Myerson, Mail on Sunday
'Here are three perfect 'long’ stories, so sinuously entwined and so subtly echoing one another that the whole towers like a great novel’
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There is the selection of stories itself that is interesting. Two are primarily set in Paris, the book ends for one set in Montana. Meaningful design, or whimsy?
In both the stories set in Paris, there is a strong element of American "innocents abroad," traveling out of their depth, with an inchoate sense that Paris will solve the problems of their shallow lives. In the first story, "The Womanizer," the American protagonist, Martin Austin, is nominally a happily married, yet is pulled to a certain "je ne sais quoi" that seems to envelop French women. Ford has a remarkable ability to portray what is Austin's mind, while at the same time depicting the reality that he is oblivious to. At one point Austin sees, sitting in a café, "a man with soiled lapels, in need of a shave and short of cash, scribbling his miserable thoughts into a tiny spiral notebook like all the other morons he's seen who'd thrown their lives away," which is a haunting foreshadowing of the inevitable, tragic denouement of Austin's odyssey - certainly far more tragic than my limited imagination could have predicted.
In the third story, "Occidentals," a "retired" white English professor, who through a fluke, had become a black studies specialist, has taken one of his former students, who is eight years older than him, for their first trip to Paris. She has cancer, and a classic checklist of sights that must be seen. At one point she meets former friends, the true "Ugly Americans" abroad, and they have dinner. They scene is a painful read, for regrettably it is not crude caricature, but an accurate depiction of those who are uncomfortable out of their own narrow cultural norms. Likewise, there is another tragic denouement.
Then, the middle story, "Jealous," would easily fit into his stories entitled "Rock Springs." It is that hard-scrabble existence, along the upper continental divide that is portrayed. A boy is coming of age, his parents are divorced; he is leaving his father, on good terms, to spend time with his mother on the West Coast, and is accompanied by his aunt. The physical and spiritual poverty of their lives is deftly described in classic Ford style.
I used to think this was Ford's finest work, but after the re-read have reduced it to parity with his other classics, Independence Day, etc. I disagree with other reviewers who think these stories are cast-offs from abandoned novels; each is wonderfully complete in itself. I also disagree with another reviewer who thinks these stories are not appropriately set in Paris - it seems to me that they could ONLY occur in Paris. Ford is never a "fun read," and so much the better for it, and at least for this reader, induces anxiety as one sees parts of oneself in these sad tales.
(Note: Review first published at Amazon, USA, on August 01, 2008)
In both the stories set in Paris, there is a strong element of American "innocents abroad," traveling out of their depth, with an inchoate sense that Paris will solve the problems of their shallow lives. In the first story, "The Womanizer," the American protagonist, Martin Austin, is nominally a happily married, yet is pulled to a certain "je ne sais quoi" that seems to envelop French women. Ford has a remarkable ability to portray what is Austin's mind, while at the same time depicting the reality that he is oblivious to. At one point Austin sees, sitting in a café, "a man with soiled lapels, in need of a shave and short of cash, scribbling his miserable thoughts into a tiny spiral notebook like all the other morons he's seen who'd thrown their lives away," which is a haunting foreshadowing of the inevitable, tragic denouement of Austin's odyssey - certainly far more tragic than my limited imagination could have predicted.
In the third story, "Occidentals," a "retired" white English professor, who through a fluke, had become a black studies specialist, has taken one of his former students, who is eight years older than him, for their first trip to Paris. She has cancer, and a classic checklist of sights that must be seen. At one point she meets former friends, the true "Ugly Americans" abroad, and they have dinner. They scene is a painful read, for regrettably it is not crude caricature, but an accurate depiction of those who are uncomfortable out of their own narrow cultural norms. Likewise, there is another tragic denouement.
Then, the middle story, "Jealous," would easily fit into his stories entitled "Rock Springs." It is that hard-scrabble existence, along the upper continental divide that is portrayed. A boy is coming of age, his parents are divorced; he is leaving his father, on good terms, to spend time with his mother on the West Coast, and is accompanied by his aunt. The physical and spiritual poverty of their lives is deftly described in classic Ford style.
I used to think this was Ford's finest work, but after the re-read have reduced it to parity with his other classics, Independence Day, etc. I disagree with other reviewers who think these stories are cast-offs from abandoned novels; each is wonderfully complete in itself. I also disagree with another reviewer who thinks these stories are not appropriately set in Paris - it seems to me that they could ONLY occur in Paris. Ford is never a "fun read," and so much the better for it, and at least for this reader, induces anxiety as one sees parts of oneself in these sad tales.
(Note: Review first published at Amazon, USA, on August 01, 2008)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I think Ford is a great writer, for what it's worth. He must take his place with the best of them. The Bascombe novels are important works in literary history.
The stories here envelope the reader immediately. What astounds is his feeling for the little things that give us away - the nuances of thought and speech that reveal the desperation of the individual. He's funny too. His treatment of fellow Americans met at the Eiffel Tower is classic. And his dialogue rings true - the verbal games people play to manipulate other people.
Ford is a Europhile without doubt but not afraid to portray Paris as a depressing and frustrating place. His descriptions of the city, however, make me want to go back there right now!
The stories here envelope the reader immediately. What astounds is his feeling for the little things that give us away - the nuances of thought and speech that reveal the desperation of the individual. He's funny too. His treatment of fellow Americans met at the Eiffel Tower is classic. And his dialogue rings true - the verbal games people play to manipulate other people.
Ford is a Europhile without doubt but not afraid to portray Paris as a depressing and frustrating place. His descriptions of the city, however, make me want to go back there right now!
Format:Hardcover
three stories that have made a great impression on me. just revel in ford's psychologic nuances. ponder his angles of view. i like the little stylistic device of seemingly finishing a section of the story, leaving a gap of about 3 lines, and then taking up the story exactly where we left off! smart.
but ford really is a master. i detected only one false note in the whole book - in "jealous" the penultimate sentence doesnt quite ring true. but it matters not, my first exposure to richard ford has made me a big fan. much better than updike. this guy can write like an angel.
but ford really is a master. i detected only one false note in the whole book - in "jealous" the penultimate sentence doesnt quite ring true. but it matters not, my first exposure to richard ford has made me a big fan. much better than updike. this guy can write like an angel.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Like it; would recommend it
This book was chosen for a book club I'm a member of and it's been one of my favourite books we've read. Lots to talk about and an intersting writing style.
Published 11 months ago by C. Means
Beautifully written
Three beautifully written stories, two of which are set in Paris and all of which detail the minutae of relationships - of various sorts - between men and women. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Dave Gilmour's cat
Short measure
Of the three novellas presented here, 'Occidentals' is the most successful. The story of a man to whom life just happens, who drifts and dreams, and whose inner fantasy world seems... Read more
Published on 27 Feb 2008 by M. G. Wilson
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