The Pursuit of Alice Thrift - Hardcover

Lipman, Elinor

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679463135 ISBN 13: 9780679463139

Publisher: Random House Inc, 2003

Synopsis

Workaholic wallflower Alice Thrift, a socially inept surgical intern at a Boston hospital, is pursued romantically by Ray Russo, a social-climbing, somewhat shady purveyor of carnival fudge, until her roommate, nurse Leo Frawley, and neighbor, Dr. Sylvie Schwartz, decide to take on the task of guiding Alice through the social complexities of life. 50,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

'Elinor Lipman's latest novel brings together the rare combination of intelligence, wit, and wisdom. A jewel of a book.' Carol Shields

'Imagine, if you can, a cross between Philip Roth and Melissa Bank.'
Maggie O'Farrell Independent on Sunday

'I started to underline all the bits of Alice Thrift that either amazed or tickled me, but I finally had to quit: there were simply too many.' Anita Shreve

'About the best trick any writer can possess is the ability to make everything look easy, even to other writers who know better. Elinor Lipman possesses this gift in spades, and The Pursuit of Alice Thrift treats head, heart and funnybone with equal respect.' Richard Russo

'Elinor Lipman was born with an ear for dialogue sharper than an electronic listening system. Her situations and her characters sparkle with life.' Elizabeth Buchan, The Times

‘Eleanor Lipman's dialogue of acidic and the comic ending is refreshingly unsentimental. She has created an unexpectedly endearing, well observed heroine.' Daily Telegraph

‘This is a deliciously acerbic comedy, and Dr Thrift's scalpel-sharp wit is worthy of Jane Austen.' Daily Mail

About the Author:

Elinor Lipman is the author of seven books: the novels The Pursuit of Alice Thrift, The Dearly Departed, The Ladies' Man, The Inn at Lake Devine, Isabel's Bed, The Way Men Act, Then She Found Me, and a collection of stories, Into Love and Out Again. She has been called "the diva of dialogue" (People) and  "the last urbane romantic" (Chicago Tribune). Book Magazine said of The Pursuit of Alice Thrift,  "Like Jane Austen,  the past master of the genre, Lipman isn't only out for laughs. She serves up social satire, too, that's all the more  trenchant for being deftly drawn."
 
Her essays have appeared in the Boston Globe Magazine, Gourmet, Chicago Tribune, and The New York Times’ Writers on Writing series.  She received the New England Booksellers' 2001 fiction award for a body of work.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Inc
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0679463135
• ISBN 13: 9780679463139
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 269