Details
Rent Goodbye Without Leaving
Author:
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Harpercollins
Published: Jun 2000
Genre: Fiction - Literary
Retail Price: $13.99
Pages: 253
Synopsis
An insightful domestic comedy, at once hilarious and extremely moving, Goodbye Without Leaving is the story of a woman's attempt to remain true to herself in a world of diminishing returns. As a bored graduate student, Geraldine Colshares is plucked from her too-tame existence when she is invited to tour as the only white backup singer for Vernon and Ruby Shakely and the Shakettes. The years she spends as a Shakette are a mixed blessing, however, for while they provide her with purpose and excitement, she ultimately submits to a conventional life of marriage, children, and bittersweet memories of what comes to seem a glorious past. With her usual dry wit and candor, Laurie Colwin follows Geraldine as she tries to reconcile her past with her future, to be an adult and still boogie in her soul.
Reviews
I've now read every book this author wrote before her untimely death. Every book is different and Goodbye Without Leaving is amusing and poignant at the same time, as are all her books. The only white Shakette theme that runs throughout the book is a great treatise on the 60's. And don't we all want to put on one of her flashy outfits and shimmy on stage, belting out some great old songs? And doesn't real life intrude into our fantasies? As with all of Laurie Colwin's books, I didn't want to put it down.