FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE

This was my WOW book of the summer (2019). I couldn’t put it down, couldn’t stop thinking about it when it was done, and couldn’t wait to discuss it with everyone who read it.

Toby Fleishman is a soon-to-be-divorced NYC hepatologist who is just starting to enjoy - reeeally enjoy - his newly single status, when his estranged wife drops their kids at his apartment and then: vanishes. He’s annoyed, then bewildered, then enraged, then concerned, then … well, the result is a bit like watching a train wreck unfold in slow motion. What begins as a witty, acerbic send up of dating apps and Upper East Side parenting is not as straightforward as it seems. The novel becomes a darkly observant, sometimes bitter, decidedly contemporary statement on marriage, mothers with careers, and the role of 40+ women in the world.

What causes a marriage to dissolve? Who is at fault? Is marriage futile unless both partners lose themselves to a ceaseless struggle never to let their relationship evolve? Which partner bears the greater burden of this almost impossible feat?

At times this book angered me - I often disagreed with how the author answers these complicated questions. But the way they are posited in the context of this story is fascinating. I couldn’t stop turning the pages.

Not naming names, but someone in this story gets extremely annoyed when their spouse takes credit for making the chicken milanese. So, I looked up some recipes and turns out, chicken milanese is just kind of a fancy chicken cutlet. Easy to make, and definitely not worth fighting over bragging rights! Unless there’s tarragon...