From Publishers Weekly
Leavitt's assured and convincing second novel, after The Lost Language of Cranes , follows the four members of the Cooper family through the mother's illness and death. Louise has lived with lymphatic cancer for a long time, all through Danny and April's growing-up years in northern California; now April's successful singing career has made her a feminist leader, and Danny practices law in New York. While focusing primarily on Danny and the impact of his family connections on his long-term relationship with Walt, another lawyer with whom he lives in New Jersey, Leavitt gives rounded, affectionate treatment to the others as well: Louise, whose bitter present includes cherished secrets of a wild past; Nat, who finds solace for dashed dreams with his mistress; April, whose bisexuality is at odds with her feminism; and even Walt, who scours the gay computer networks and thinks about leaving Danny. In understated, perfectly targeted prose, Leavitt illuminates the ordinariness of his characters, giving them and their sorrows and joys a long-lasting afterglow. 50,000 first printing; author tour. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
The latest novel by the author of Family Dancing (8/84) and The Lost Language of Cranes (9/15/84) examines the complex relationships of the Cooper family. Family matriarch Louise Cooper, mother of gay siblings April and Danny, suffers one medical malady after another, while Nat, her computer scientist husband, enjoys a long-term affair on the side. As Louise's condition deteriorates, tensions mount and family members attempt to define and justify their conflicting feelings. Leavitt's plot twists and turns around various relationshipsof Nat and Lousie, Danny and his lover Walter, Louise and her polio-crippled sister Eleanorand April's decision to have a baby while maintaining her tremendous appeal as a star of women's music. A compassionate, moving work.Kevin M. Roddy, Oakland P.L., Cal.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From the Publisher
The vivid and emotionally powerful story of a family in crisis. "Leavitt is able to demonstrate his . . . talent for empathy, his ability to write persuasively about highly emotional issues."--Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The vivid and emotionally powerful story of a family in crisis. "Leavitt is able to demonstrate his . . . talent for empathy, his ability to write persuasively about highly emotional issues."--Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Leavitt's assured and convincing second novel, after The Lost Language of Cranes , follows the four members of the Cooper family through the mother's illness and death. Louise has lived with lymphatic cancer for a long time, all through Danny and April's growing-up years in northern California; now April's successful singing career has made her a feminist leader, and Danny practices law in New York. While focusing primarily on Danny and the impact of his family connections on his long-term relationship with Walt, another lawyer with whom he lives in New Jersey, Leavitt gives rounded, affectionate treatment to the others as well: Louise, whose bitter present includes cherished secrets of a wild past; Nat, who finds solace for dashed dreams with his mistress; April, whose bisexuality is at odds with her feminism; and even Walt, who scours the gay computer networks and thinks about leaving Danny. In understated, perfectly targeted prose, Leavitt illuminates the ordinariness of his characters, giving them and their sorrows and joys a long-lasting afterglow. 50,000 first printing; author tour. (Jan.)

Library Journal