What do you think?
Rate this book
The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even
This is a wonderful comic novel, about philosophy, the nature of art, the beauty of the ordinary, and about quirky, complete, night & day victims of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Two charming, over-anxious, germ-phobic friends, Isaac and Greg take a road trip from Boston to Philadelphia. They are both obsessed with Marcel Duchamp, his art and his ideas, and thus the destination has to be the largest collection of Duchamp in the world, The Philadelphia Art Museum, the actual place "The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even" was to be delivered when it was cracked and broken in shipment. The piece is sometimes known as The Large Glass, and today it sits in the middle of a large gallery proudly displayed in its broken state which Duchamp repaired and then certified had been his intention all along.
The two men are driven in a rented disinfected Winnebago by Kelly, a beautiful art scholar who smells like a mixture of lemons and fresh sawdust. They intend to pick up an ancient chocolate grinder, an exact working sculptural copy of one used in a Duchamp painting. Isaac intends to grind his own pure chocolate, which will prevent the build-up or arterial plaque, because his mother died of a stroke. Every action has its own suitable reaction, and then some. Isaac hopes eventually to overcome his devotion to his many obsessions and to re-enter the world, evidently his version of the real world. He is not an unreliable narrator, he is a hyper-reliable narrator, consumed by his own attention and thrilled with the connections he sees everywhere all at once. Of course when he finally gets to the museum he must dress-up as a woman to visit the collection.
The two men are driven in a rented disinfected Winnebago by Kelly, a beautiful art scholar who smells like a mixture of lemons and fresh sawdust. They intend to pick up an ancient chocolate grinder, an exact working sculptural copy of one used in a Duchamp painting. Isaac intends to grind his own pure chocolate, which will prevent the build-up or arterial plaque, because his mother died of a stroke. Every action has its own suitable reaction, and then some. Isaac hopes eventually to overcome his devotion to his many obsessions and to re-enter the world, evidently his version of the real world. He is not an unreliable narrator, he is a hyper-reliable narrator, consumed by his own attention and thrilled with the connections he sees everywhere all at once. Of course when he finally gets to the museum he must dress-up as a woman to visit the collection.
312 pages, Hardcover
First published May 19, 2014
9 people are currently reading
611 people want to read
About the author
Chris F. Westbury
2 books12 followersI am the author of the novel 'The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even' (named after a famous sculpture by French artist Marcel Duchamp), published by Counterpoint Press. It was on the long list for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Canadian humour writing in 2015.
I'm also a Canadian cognitive neuropsychologist, educated at McGill University and the Montréal Neurological Institute in Montréal. I study the functional structure of language processing and its neurological underpinnings at the Department of Psychology at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada. I co-edited a volume on methodological advances in lexical research with Gary Libben and Gonia Jarema, also found on GoodReads.com.
I'm also a Canadian cognitive neuropsychologist, educated at McGill University and the Montréal Neurological Institute in Montréal. I study the functional structure of language processing and its neurological underpinnings at the Department of Psychology at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada. I co-edited a volume on methodological advances in lexical research with Gary Libben and Gonia Jarema, also found on GoodReads.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
August 5, 2014
Cognitive Neuropsychology Meets Art - Duchamp Would Approve
This is an elegant book. The author presents us with Isaac, an articulate hero/narrator of great charm and insight, and it is a pleasure to follow Isaac's wandering road trip and his reflections about art and the subtle variations in proportion that mark the boundary between the normal and the insane. (The "diagnosable" insane, our narrator would emphasize.)
Our hero/guide literally goes on a road trip, but more importantly he just sort of wanders about inside his own head, picking up and examining and describing the odd bits of mental flotsam and jetsam that he discovers. The book is a little bit about Duchamp and modern art, a bit about friendship, to some degree about the bonds of family love, a touch about obsession, and a great deal about how to bring oneself out of the shadows to become a "doer".
If one is so inclined, this book can be read as a reinterpretation of the meaning of, or the intent behind, the Duchamp piece about which the book revolves. Isaac and Greg, unable to cope with the world around them, are driven to Philadelphia to view the Duchamp installation by the beautiful and brilliant Kelly. So we have two OCD bachelors and a beautiful young lady heading off to visit a piece that is traditionally read as a commentary on the sexual tension between the beautiful female and the bachelor males who surround her. Put that in your book club pipe and smoke it.
I prefer to enjoy this as a novel, not as the coolest Duchamp art gallery catalogue ever, but that's just me. Either way, much of the book - dialogue, Isaac's monologues, descriptions of the passing scene - are well crafted delights.
This is a rich feast and, charming though he may be, Isaac can be a demanding and wearing companion. This did not strike me as a book to devour. It is built for wandering; with its little asides, diversions, wrong turns and dead ends it invites the reader to observe but also to pause and reflect.
Mostly, though, this comes off as a light-hearted comic novel that touches on interesting themes in art, science, mental illness, obsession, and hand-sanitizer. That alone is enough to recommend it to me.
Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
This is an elegant book. The author presents us with Isaac, an articulate hero/narrator of great charm and insight, and it is a pleasure to follow Isaac's wandering road trip and his reflections about art and the subtle variations in proportion that mark the boundary between the normal and the insane. (The "diagnosable" insane, our narrator would emphasize.)
Our hero/guide literally goes on a road trip, but more importantly he just sort of wanders about inside his own head, picking up and examining and describing the odd bits of mental flotsam and jetsam that he discovers. The book is a little bit about Duchamp and modern art, a bit about friendship, to some degree about the bonds of family love, a touch about obsession, and a great deal about how to bring oneself out of the shadows to become a "doer".
If one is so inclined, this book can be read as a reinterpretation of the meaning of, or the intent behind, the Duchamp piece about which the book revolves. Isaac and Greg, unable to cope with the world around them, are driven to Philadelphia to view the Duchamp installation by the beautiful and brilliant Kelly. So we have two OCD bachelors and a beautiful young lady heading off to visit a piece that is traditionally read as a commentary on the sexual tension between the beautiful female and the bachelor males who surround her. Put that in your book club pipe and smoke it.
I prefer to enjoy this as a novel, not as the coolest Duchamp art gallery catalogue ever, but that's just me. Either way, much of the book - dialogue, Isaac's monologues, descriptions of the passing scene - are well crafted delights.
This is a rich feast and, charming though he may be, Isaac can be a demanding and wearing companion. This did not strike me as a book to devour. It is built for wandering; with its little asides, diversions, wrong turns and dead ends it invites the reader to observe but also to pause and reflect.
Mostly, though, this comes off as a light-hearted comic novel that touches on interesting themes in art, science, mental illness, obsession, and hand-sanitizer. That alone is enough to recommend it to me.
Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
October 14, 2014
As a reader, it definitely makes a difference if you have a smattering knowledge of modern art. Plus a broad reading of literature helps to get some of the sly references. Even so, I had to google DuChamp's work to remind myself of specific pieces. Now I REALLY want to go to Philadelphia, not only to see the art: the passage about Philly Cheesesteak and the pastries made me groan with envy. For me, this was a perfectly enjoyable book. I loved the characters, the road trip and the resolution. Who wouldn't? No one I know anyway.
August 13, 2015
The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even is a sweet novel about 2 friends with OCD and a feminist art scholar and their journey to honour Marcel Duchamp. For anyone who has been in the middle of making a piece of art and felt insane or been studing a subject down to the tiniest of details and recognizing the absurditiy of it all this book is for you. Westbury so lovingly describes the paradox of art as a symptom and as a cure for sanity. Highly recommended!
August 8, 2014
Charming and original - OCD and Duchamp.
September 17, 2020
I don’t generally review books, but this little novel is a hidden gem; having only 118 ratings and 33 reviews at the time that I post this, and already being 6 years old, I’ve decided to break my habit. This book needs some more attention.
I found this novel sitting – slightly assumingly – face out in the used section of a favorite local bookstore. The title grabbed me. The description grabbed me. This book is ostensibly about a couple of buddies, both struggling with OCD, who decide to take a roadtrip to experience in-person a work of art by an artist I wasn’t familiar with, Marcel Duchamp. The totally bizarre title is the name of one of his most important/famous works. We find out later that the piece was broken during shipping between a first viewing in NY, and its permanent installment in Philly. Choosing a “broken” artwork as an obsession of “broken” people looking to make their way in the world was a choice I only really appreciate now that I’ve finished this book.
Mental illness is taken seriously, though comically, in this work. And the characters are taken earnestly and with (good) humor by those that come into contact with them. I really appreciated the delicacy and clear-eyed look that the author gave us with his characters. I liked them a lot. I have known guys like them. People like them are often scoffed at, but they are also very much people worth knowing. I liked seeing a “bromance”-like story with two men who neither had to learn to be softer and appreciate that they could love another man platonically, nor constantly emote the fact that they were pals. They were just great friends on an adventure, loving each other for who they were. And there was a lot to who they were.
Read this book if you like roadtrip stories. Read this book if you like a good bromance. Read this book if you like stories with complicated, weird, loveable characters. Read this book if you are looking for something unexpected.
Oh, and give this book a chance to grow on you if you decide to pick it up. The language is quirky and fun from moment one, but it takes a good 75 pages of the total 320 to really get into its groove, and get the characters interacting with each other, and that is the thing that is going to give you all the good feelings throughout the rest of this charming novel.
I left this novel sitting – slightly assumingly – face out in my Little Free Library for somebody else to discover and enjoy.
I found this novel sitting – slightly assumingly – face out in the used section of a favorite local bookstore. The title grabbed me. The description grabbed me. This book is ostensibly about a couple of buddies, both struggling with OCD, who decide to take a roadtrip to experience in-person a work of art by an artist I wasn’t familiar with, Marcel Duchamp. The totally bizarre title is the name of one of his most important/famous works. We find out later that the piece was broken during shipping between a first viewing in NY, and its permanent installment in Philly. Choosing a “broken” artwork as an obsession of “broken” people looking to make their way in the world was a choice I only really appreciate now that I’ve finished this book.
Mental illness is taken seriously, though comically, in this work. And the characters are taken earnestly and with (good) humor by those that come into contact with them. I really appreciated the delicacy and clear-eyed look that the author gave us with his characters. I liked them a lot. I have known guys like them. People like them are often scoffed at, but they are also very much people worth knowing. I liked seeing a “bromance”-like story with two men who neither had to learn to be softer and appreciate that they could love another man platonically, nor constantly emote the fact that they were pals. They were just great friends on an adventure, loving each other for who they were. And there was a lot to who they were.
Read this book if you like roadtrip stories. Read this book if you like a good bromance. Read this book if you like stories with complicated, weird, loveable characters. Read this book if you are looking for something unexpected.
Oh, and give this book a chance to grow on you if you decide to pick it up. The language is quirky and fun from moment one, but it takes a good 75 pages of the total 320 to really get into its groove, and get the characters interacting with each other, and that is the thing that is going to give you all the good feelings throughout the rest of this charming novel.
I left this novel sitting – slightly assumingly – face out in my Little Free Library for somebody else to discover and enjoy.
July 6, 2014
Art, philosophy, and language are all motifs in this quirky novel by Westbury. The voice of the narrator is off-beat, but engaging. The story is sweet, but not sickeningly so. The way Isaac and Greg discuss Duchamp and his art is fascinating and I know I will be doing some more reading about Duchamp's philosophy of art in the near future.
January 5, 2015
Westbury is definitely one of my favorite authors. Great sense of humor, wonderful characters, yet still managing to add wit and charm. This book was insightful and interesting and very well written and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.
September 5, 2017
Quirky and perfect. One of my favorite books ever.
May 28, 2016
An inspiring look at Duchamp's ready mades through the eyes of fans who make a pilgrimage to view some in Philadelphia, irrespective of their peers.
May 16, 2015
Quirky, enjoyable book. As an indication of how crazy things have been lately, I somehow started reading this midway through (only possible bc I downloaded it to read on a tablet). I thought it was odd, and couldn't follow what was happening, but decided to go with it. A few chapters later it ended.... THEN I figured out I didn't start at the beginning. So, started over. Isaac and Greg, two friends with OCD, embark on a field trip to Philadelphia to see a modern art piece. Isaac is a terrific narrator; kind, smart, interested in life, and open about the challenges of having OCD. I got a little bored with some of the discussion about the art, but overall, a very enjoyable book.
August 31, 2014
Goodreads win. Will read and review once received.
This was a really interesting book. I loved how it was different from what I usually read. It involves two friends with OCD and decide to take a road trip. This is was an original book that takes you on an adventure along with the characters. A good read and I can see myself reading more from this author.
This was a really interesting book. I loved how it was different from what I usually read. It involves two friends with OCD and decide to take a road trip. This is was an original book that takes you on an adventure along with the characters. A good read and I can see myself reading more from this author.
April 26, 2015
This book was not perfect, but I loved it.
November 17, 2014
I really enjoyed this. Reminded me a bit of "The Silver Linings Playbook."
January 2, 2015
Really enjoyed it. An unexpectedly fine treatise on Duchamp.
October 17, 2016
Brilliant! This cracked my top 10 list. Very entertaining. I loved every page of it.
April 18, 2018
2018 ICT READING CHALLENGE (http://www.kansas.com/entertainment/b...)
#3: A book about reading or writing
While not strictly about reading or writing, the main character of this novel, Isaac, is writing the novel himself, so I'm going to count it.
Chris F. Westbury, a cognitive neuropsychologist, has accomplished a major feat in his debut novel "The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even". Taking its title from a work by Marcel Duchamp, Westbury combines a deep, resounding love for the artist himself with a realistic, touching portrayal of obsessive-compulsive disorder through Isaac and his best friend Greg. The novel is brimming with art criticism and winding philosophies, but they never bored me. It's fascinating from both an art and psychological perspective. The entire cast of characters are lovable, and I found myself sad to finish this work. Big thanks to Watermark Books in Wichita, KS, and Rebekah Rine for this out-of-the-blue recommendation.
#3: A book about reading or writing
While not strictly about reading or writing, the main character of this novel, Isaac, is writing the novel himself, so I'm going to count it.
Chris F. Westbury, a cognitive neuropsychologist, has accomplished a major feat in his debut novel "The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even". Taking its title from a work by Marcel Duchamp, Westbury combines a deep, resounding love for the artist himself with a realistic, touching portrayal of obsessive-compulsive disorder through Isaac and his best friend Greg. The novel is brimming with art criticism and winding philosophies, but they never bored me. It's fascinating from both an art and psychological perspective. The entire cast of characters are lovable, and I found myself sad to finish this work. Big thanks to Watermark Books in Wichita, KS, and Rebekah Rine for this out-of-the-blue recommendation.
November 16, 2017
The main character has OCD and is friends belongs to a support group. With one OCD friend, and a new non OCD friend, they all set off in a road trip to pick up a chocolate grinder that has been made a close to as possible as the chocolate grinder in Marcel Duchamp's The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors or the Broken Glass. There were some really excellent ideas explored in this book by the characters. I especially loved the idea or proportionality when it comes to whether a behavior causes one to be diagnosable. I loved the discussions about religion, art, Duchamp, and OCD, yet the book at times just sort of lingered too long. For me if this book was edited a bit, I would have loved it.
February 15, 2020
Rarely have I been so surprised and delighted by a book!
Chris Westbury’s writing is charming and engaging and at times heart wrenching.
This book has a similar tener as “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles. Serious and sad topics written with grace and yes, some humor too!
I would never have chosen this book on my own which is why I am so happy to be a member of a Book Club. Rarely, does anyone select a book that I would have chosen on my own.
I am going to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art and visit “The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors Even”. I will “delay” but I will not be involved in any performance art pieces.
Read this book as soon as you get a moment!
Chris Westbury’s writing is charming and engaging and at times heart wrenching.
This book has a similar tener as “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles. Serious and sad topics written with grace and yes, some humor too!
I would never have chosen this book on my own which is why I am so happy to be a member of a Book Club. Rarely, does anyone select a book that I would have chosen on my own.
I am going to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art and visit “The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors Even”. I will “delay” but I will not be involved in any performance art pieces.
Read this book as soon as you get a moment!
November 5, 2020
I enjoyed this book because it made me laugh out loud and it was set in Philadelphia. The author explores the world of OCD in the lives of two guys on a hunt for a painting in Philadelphia. The author knows a lot more than me about OCD but I felt the end “happy ever after ending” happened too quickly and was too put together. How does someone get cured of this disorder so neatly and live a regular life?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 26, 2018
Started well, but then went to "Group". The narrator becomes very self aware-- but maybe this is just a result of being diagnosed. However the OCD pushed me away rather than drawing me in. I did not want to wade through it. I gave up. Perhaps if I was obsessed with Marcel Duchamp it would have helped.
September 19, 2020
I very much enjoyed this read. Two obsessive-compulsive friends take a road trip from Boston to Philadelphia accompanied by their Jewish-Japanese friend because she has a license to drive. I very much recommend it.
January 22, 2019
Fun book
Fun book that details obsessive compulsive behavior in an amusing way. My sister recommended it and I also recommend it.
Fun book that details obsessive compulsive behavior in an amusing way. My sister recommended it and I also recommend it.
April 16, 2020
Really enjoyed this and am now interested in the Philadelphia museum of art. Part aesthetics and part self help, this book was very personal and much more interesting that I thought it would be.
July 21, 2022
4.5 stars
June 5, 2023
Pitiful book. I read 50 pages, then tossed aside.
Read
July 24, 2014http://www.full-stop.net/2014/07/24/r...
Review by Moze Halperin
The tension at play in Marcel Duchamp’s The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even is the result of temporal paralysis; by virtue of being an inanimate work of art, it obscures the movements of the complex machine it depicts — a machine whose movements would likely clue us into its meaning. It’s divided into two panels — a masculine and a feminine, with the feminine “bride” object — a mechanical, relatively genderless Chihuahua-esque thing that, were it not for Duchamp’s vivid title and published notes, wouldn’t exactly scream femininity — suspended over a clusterfuck of “bachelors” — knobby, dwarfed “malic molds” hooked up to an apparatus with a chocolate grinder at its core. In her isolation and her longitudinal superiority, the bride appears at once almighty and encaged, objectified through glorification. It might seem that “The Bachelor Machine” — the phrase Duchamp coined for the male, bottom half of the piece — runs on the sustenance of the bride’s image. But on the flip side, it might also seem that the bride’s image is projected from The Bachelor Machine, her being only actualized by male longing. We’re left to speculate on what, in Duchamp’s eyes, is causal and what’s consequential — that’s why the piece is so haunting. Just as the placing of dehumanized shapes on view in the piece sums up gender relationships in a tableau of perpetually unfulfilled desire, The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even is, for the viewer, a flagrant perpetrator of intellectual blue-balls.
But a novel — at least a traditional novel — moves. Quite obviously, it travels through time, and in reading, one becomes aware of its machinations and forms a clearer idea of who’s doing what to whom. The “readymade”-titled The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even, by Chris F. Westbury, being a conventional novel, follows suit: in it, we see a man with severe OCD (which fuels his obsession with Duchamp) slowly begin to understand himself and transcend the confines of his mental illness. Somehow, despite its themes of death and mental illness, the book turns out to be a sweet, lighthearted comedy — albeit one that’s choked in decorative philosophizing (between two art history buffs and a women’s studies doctoral candidate, Westbury creates characters who can spout philosophy so that the novel as a whole doesn’t quite have to).
Read more here: http://www.full-stop.net/2014/07/24/r...
Review by Moze Halperin
The tension at play in Marcel Duchamp’s The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even is the result of temporal paralysis; by virtue of being an inanimate work of art, it obscures the movements of the complex machine it depicts — a machine whose movements would likely clue us into its meaning. It’s divided into two panels — a masculine and a feminine, with the feminine “bride” object — a mechanical, relatively genderless Chihuahua-esque thing that, were it not for Duchamp’s vivid title and published notes, wouldn’t exactly scream femininity — suspended over a clusterfuck of “bachelors” — knobby, dwarfed “malic molds” hooked up to an apparatus with a chocolate grinder at its core. In her isolation and her longitudinal superiority, the bride appears at once almighty and encaged, objectified through glorification. It might seem that “The Bachelor Machine” — the phrase Duchamp coined for the male, bottom half of the piece — runs on the sustenance of the bride’s image. But on the flip side, it might also seem that the bride’s image is projected from The Bachelor Machine, her being only actualized by male longing. We’re left to speculate on what, in Duchamp’s eyes, is causal and what’s consequential — that’s why the piece is so haunting. Just as the placing of dehumanized shapes on view in the piece sums up gender relationships in a tableau of perpetually unfulfilled desire, The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even is, for the viewer, a flagrant perpetrator of intellectual blue-balls.
But a novel — at least a traditional novel — moves. Quite obviously, it travels through time, and in reading, one becomes aware of its machinations and forms a clearer idea of who’s doing what to whom. The “readymade”-titled The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even, by Chris F. Westbury, being a conventional novel, follows suit: in it, we see a man with severe OCD (which fuels his obsession with Duchamp) slowly begin to understand himself and transcend the confines of his mental illness. Somehow, despite its themes of death and mental illness, the book turns out to be a sweet, lighthearted comedy — albeit one that’s choked in decorative philosophizing (between two art history buffs and a women’s studies doctoral candidate, Westbury creates characters who can spout philosophy so that the novel as a whole doesn’t quite have to).
Read more here: http://www.full-stop.net/2014/07/24/r...
August 17, 2014
This was very different and very interesting. Two friends with OCD (they met in group therapy) decide on a road trip to pick up a chocolate grinder built for one of them based on a work of art by Duchamp (also the title of the book). A "normal" art lover agrees to drive them there in rented brand new RV (uncontaminated). A great time is had by all. Very original. I'd never heard of Duchamp so had to hit Google image search to see what they were talking about. No, it doesn't really help. Just let the art references wiz by; some will stick, others will hurt your brain, just go with it. The psychology of OCD is rather fascinating (we all have a touch here and there), the concept of "diagnosable" makes perfect sense and is highly relevant, the imagination and chutzpa of these guys is quite wonderful. Their idea of performance art is quite charming and they make some lovely friends. I would have given it 4 stars, but it didn't quite hold me long enough, I could only read a few chapters at a time then set it aside. If you're in the mood for something different, this is a great choice.
July 30, 2015
While I enjoyed the dialogue and the characters, I couldn't shake the feeling that our narrator's mental illness was used as just a cute quirk. Sure, I get the point about diagnosable vs "normal," but I think most people with OCD and other ailments suffer from them. It seemed awfully easy for him to recover. I know he says he isn't cured--but for all practical purposes, he is. I don't have OCD, but I wonder how readers who do feel about it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 7, 2014
Isaac and Greg are two OCD men in therapy together. This humorous, educational novel is the story of their journey in a rented Winnebego, driven by their friend Kelly to buy a chocolate grinder. They have so much fun on their journey that they begin to tame some of their more severe OCD tendencies. You grow to like Isaac and how he finds his mother dead in the home they share. I hope Mr. Westbury write more for us to enjoy.
November 21, 2014
I really enjoyed this. It is a novel about an OCD character trying to come to terms with his disease. It involves tons of art and a crazy adventure to Philadelphia to pick up a huge, custom-made chocolate grinder. The writing reminded me of Matthew Quick's (The Silver Lining Playbook) in that it features characters that many people consider handicapped in a very enlightening way.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews