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Goldberg Variations
Imagine King Lear as a comedy . . .
Elegant, amusing, and profoundly nasty tycoon Gloria Garrison, née Goldberg, has a kingdom to bequeath to one of the grandchildren she barely knows. They’re all twentysomethings who foolishly believe money isn’t everything. Just shy of eighty, Gloria doesn’t wish to watch the minutes tick by while the three dither over the issues of their generation—love, meaning, identity. She has summoned them all from New York for a weekend at her palatial home in Santa Fe. She has a single question to ask them: “Which one of you most deserves to inherit my business?” Gloria never anticipates the answer will be “not interested” times three. She created a brilliant, booming beauty business, Glory, Inc., that not only does well, but does good. And they say “no”? What’s so grand about their lives that they would reject such a kingdom?
Daisy Goldberg is not only mad for movies, she’s part of the film industry: East Coast story editor for one of the biggest studios. Her brother, Matt, the über–sports buff, has a great job in public relations with Major League Baseball. And their cousin Raquel Goldberg, half-Latina, all Catholic, is a Legal Aid lawyer. They may like their work, but do they really like their lives? Would they be so foolish as to hold against their grandmother the pain she inflicted on every member of the family? As far as Gloria is concerned, this isn’t about tender feelings. It’s about millions of dollars; it’s about living a life the ninety-nine percent dream of and the one percent know.
The weekend is full of surprises, not only for Daisy, Matt, and Raquel but also for Gloria. Memories have a way of intruding at the most inopportune times. And is Gloria’s tough hide as impenetrable as she has always believed? Susan Isaacs is at her formidable best in Goldberg Variations, a novel that is both wickedly witty and a deeply moving tale of family and reconciliation.
Elegant, amusing, and profoundly nasty tycoon Gloria Garrison, née Goldberg, has a kingdom to bequeath to one of the grandchildren she barely knows. They’re all twentysomethings who foolishly believe money isn’t everything. Just shy of eighty, Gloria doesn’t wish to watch the minutes tick by while the three dither over the issues of their generation—love, meaning, identity. She has summoned them all from New York for a weekend at her palatial home in Santa Fe. She has a single question to ask them: “Which one of you most deserves to inherit my business?” Gloria never anticipates the answer will be “not interested” times three. She created a brilliant, booming beauty business, Glory, Inc., that not only does well, but does good. And they say “no”? What’s so grand about their lives that they would reject such a kingdom?
Daisy Goldberg is not only mad for movies, she’s part of the film industry: East Coast story editor for one of the biggest studios. Her brother, Matt, the über–sports buff, has a great job in public relations with Major League Baseball. And their cousin Raquel Goldberg, half-Latina, all Catholic, is a Legal Aid lawyer. They may like their work, but do they really like their lives? Would they be so foolish as to hold against their grandmother the pain she inflicted on every member of the family? As far as Gloria is concerned, this isn’t about tender feelings. It’s about millions of dollars; it’s about living a life the ninety-nine percent dream of and the one percent know.
The weekend is full of surprises, not only for Daisy, Matt, and Raquel but also for Gloria. Memories have a way of intruding at the most inopportune times. And is Gloria’s tough hide as impenetrable as she has always believed? Susan Isaacs is at her formidable best in Goldberg Variations, a novel that is both wickedly witty and a deeply moving tale of family and reconciliation.
338 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
68 people are currently reading
582 people want to read
About the author
Susan Isaacs
48 books504 followersI was born in a thatched cottage in the Cotswolds. Oh, you want the truth. Fine. I was born in Brooklyn and educated at Queens College. After leaving school, I saw one of those ads: BE A COMPUTER PROGRAMMER! Take our aptitude test. Since I had nothing else in mind, I took the test-and flunked. The guy at the employment agency looked at my resume and mumbled, “You wrote for your college paper? Uh, we have an opening at Seventeen magazine.” That’s how I became a writer.
I liked my job, but I found doing advice to the lovelorn and articles like “How to Write a Letter to a Boy” somewhat short of fulfilling. So, first as a volunteer, then for actual money, I wrote political speeches in my spare time. I did less of that when I met a wonderful guy, Elkan Abramowitz, then a federal prosecutor in the SDNY.
We were married and a little more than a year later, we had Andrew (now a corporate lawyer). Three years later, Elizabeth (now a philosopher and writer) was born. I’d left Seventeen to be home with my kids but continued to to do speeches and the occasional magazine piece. During what free time I had, I read more mysteries than was healthy. Possibly I became deranged, but I thought, I can do this.
And that’s how Compromising Positions, a whodunit with a housewife-detectives set on Long Island came about. Talk about good luck: it was chosen the Main Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, auctioned for paperback, sold to the movies, translated into thirty languages, and became a bestseller. I was a little overwhelmed by the success. However, it’s hard to rise to a state of perpetual cool and go to slick downtown parties when you’re living in the suburbs with a husband, two kids, two dogs, and a mini-van, I simply wrote another book… and then another and another.
About half my works are mysteries, two fall into the category of espionage, and the rest are…well, regular novels. In the horn-tooting department, nearly all my novels have been New York Times bestsellers.
My kids grew up. My husband became a defense lawyer specializing in white collar matters: I call him my house counsel since I’m always consulting him on criminal procedure, the justice system, and law enforcement jargon. Anyway, after forty-five years of writing all sorts of novels—standalones—I decided to write a mystery series. I conceived Corie Geller with a rich enough background to avoid what I’d always been leery of—that doing a series would mean writing the same book over and over, changing only the settings.
I also produced one work of nonfiction, Brave Dames and Wimpettes: What Women are Really Doing on Page and Screen. I wrote a slew of articles, essays, and op-ed pieces as well. Newsday sent me to write about the 2000 presidential campaign, which was one of the greatest thrills of my life-going to both conventions, riding beside John McCain on the Straight Talk Express, interviewing George W. Bush. I also reviewed books for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Newsday. (My website has far more information about my projects than most people would want to know, but have a look.)
In the mid-1980s, I wrote the screenplay for Paramount’s Compromising Positions which starred Susan Sarandon and Raul Julia. I also wrote and co-produced Touchstone’s Hello Again which starred Shelley Long, Gabriel Byrne, and Judith Ivey. (My fourth novel, Shining Through, set during World War II became the 20th Century Fox movie starring Michael Douglas, Melanie Griffith and Liam Neeson. I would have written the script, except I wasn’t asked.)
Here’s the professional stuff. I’m a recipient of the Writers for Writers Award, the Marymount Manhattan Writing Center Award, and the John Steinbeck Award. I just retired (after over a decade) as chairman of the board of the literary organization, Poets & Writers. I also served as president of Mystery Writers of America. I belong to the National Book Critics Circle, the Creative Coalition, PEN, the Ameri
I liked my job, but I found doing advice to the lovelorn and articles like “How to Write a Letter to a Boy” somewhat short of fulfilling. So, first as a volunteer, then for actual money, I wrote political speeches in my spare time. I did less of that when I met a wonderful guy, Elkan Abramowitz, then a federal prosecutor in the SDNY.
We were married and a little more than a year later, we had Andrew (now a corporate lawyer). Three years later, Elizabeth (now a philosopher and writer) was born. I’d left Seventeen to be home with my kids but continued to to do speeches and the occasional magazine piece. During what free time I had, I read more mysteries than was healthy. Possibly I became deranged, but I thought, I can do this.
And that’s how Compromising Positions, a whodunit with a housewife-detectives set on Long Island came about. Talk about good luck: it was chosen the Main Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, auctioned for paperback, sold to the movies, translated into thirty languages, and became a bestseller. I was a little overwhelmed by the success. However, it’s hard to rise to a state of perpetual cool and go to slick downtown parties when you’re living in the suburbs with a husband, two kids, two dogs, and a mini-van, I simply wrote another book… and then another and another.
About half my works are mysteries, two fall into the category of espionage, and the rest are…well, regular novels. In the horn-tooting department, nearly all my novels have been New York Times bestsellers.
My kids grew up. My husband became a defense lawyer specializing in white collar matters: I call him my house counsel since I’m always consulting him on criminal procedure, the justice system, and law enforcement jargon. Anyway, after forty-five years of writing all sorts of novels—standalones—I decided to write a mystery series. I conceived Corie Geller with a rich enough background to avoid what I’d always been leery of—that doing a series would mean writing the same book over and over, changing only the settings.
I also produced one work of nonfiction, Brave Dames and Wimpettes: What Women are Really Doing on Page and Screen. I wrote a slew of articles, essays, and op-ed pieces as well. Newsday sent me to write about the 2000 presidential campaign, which was one of the greatest thrills of my life-going to both conventions, riding beside John McCain on the Straight Talk Express, interviewing George W. Bush. I also reviewed books for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Newsday. (My website has far more information about my projects than most people would want to know, but have a look.)
In the mid-1980s, I wrote the screenplay for Paramount’s Compromising Positions which starred Susan Sarandon and Raul Julia. I also wrote and co-produced Touchstone’s Hello Again which starred Shelley Long, Gabriel Byrne, and Judith Ivey. (My fourth novel, Shining Through, set during World War II became the 20th Century Fox movie starring Michael Douglas, Melanie Griffith and Liam Neeson. I would have written the script, except I wasn’t asked.)
Here’s the professional stuff. I’m a recipient of the Writers for Writers Award, the Marymount Manhattan Writing Center Award, and the John Steinbeck Award. I just retired (after over a decade) as chairman of the board of the literary organization, Poets & Writers. I also served as president of Mystery Writers of America. I belong to the National Book Critics Circle, the Creative Coalition, PEN, the Ameri
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 247 reviews
October 22, 2017
2.5 stars rounded up. Gloria Goldberg Garrison has summoned her 3 grown grandchildren, with whom she has no relationship, to her home in Santa Fe to determine which of them is worthy of inheriting her beauty business which is worth millions. She is stunned when each of them reject her offer. Over the weekend she starts to get to know each grandchild as an individual and they start to get to know her.
This is the crux of the story. It is supposed to be wonderfully funny and touching, but not so much. Gloria is such an unpleasant, obnoxious, cold, self absorbed, unfeeling bitch that it made it hard to continue reading the book. There were times that I almost gave up on it.
Fortunately, the story is told from alternating POVs so you get to see things from Daisy, Matt and Raquel's sides, which soften the story greatly. About two-thirds through the book, you begin to see cracks in Gloria's armor, which makes the story much more palatable.
Frankly, the only truly funny part of the book for me was Matt talking about his sister Daisy and her poor sense of direction:
"On family vacations, when we shared a room adjoining the parents and were old enough to go out off on our own, she'd go out into the hall and consistently turn the wrong way for the elevator-even on our fourth or fifth day in the hotel. One time I asked her,'How the f*** do you do it? Just by the law of averages, you should go in the right direction fifty percent of the time.' She said something like, 'Oh, it's a gift.' Just blew it off." I found this hilarious because I'm the same way. It drives my husband crazy that I get so turned around when I step off an elevator or go out a door. I tell him that I do it to amuse him. 😂
Anyway, this book was just meh. The grandchildren are strong characters but they are totally overshadowed by Gloria. By the time she is somewhat humanized, it is hard to switch to liking her. The reasons given for why she is the way she is just didn't ring true. I could not feel any compassion for a character who felt no compassion for anyone else.
I cannot recommend this book.
This is the crux of the story. It is supposed to be wonderfully funny and touching, but not so much. Gloria is such an unpleasant, obnoxious, cold, self absorbed, unfeeling bitch that it made it hard to continue reading the book. There were times that I almost gave up on it.
Fortunately, the story is told from alternating POVs so you get to see things from Daisy, Matt and Raquel's sides, which soften the story greatly. About two-thirds through the book, you begin to see cracks in Gloria's armor, which makes the story much more palatable.
Frankly, the only truly funny part of the book for me was Matt talking about his sister Daisy and her poor sense of direction:
"On family vacations, when we shared a room adjoining the parents and were old enough to go out off on our own, she'd go out into the hall and consistently turn the wrong way for the elevator-even on our fourth or fifth day in the hotel. One time I asked her,'How the f*** do you do it? Just by the law of averages, you should go in the right direction fifty percent of the time.' She said something like, 'Oh, it's a gift.' Just blew it off." I found this hilarious because I'm the same way. It drives my husband crazy that I get so turned around when I step off an elevator or go out a door. I tell him that I do it to amuse him. 😂
Anyway, this book was just meh. The grandchildren are strong characters but they are totally overshadowed by Gloria. By the time she is somewhat humanized, it is hard to switch to liking her. The reasons given for why she is the way she is just didn't ring true. I could not feel any compassion for a character who felt no compassion for anyone else.
I cannot recommend this book.
October 2, 2012
Annoying and Unpleasant, October 2, 2012
This review is from: Goldberg Variations (Kindle Edition)
Goldberg Variations by Susan Issacs
I really don't know what I can say about this book that hasn't been explained in the synopsis. Except that, this book is chock filled with unpleasant characters and I don't mean just Gloria the grandmother. I found the grandchildren childish and whiny. Granted, the grandkids didn't know what the weekend was going to be about and again granted they felt ignored by their grandmother all their lives. I just don't get them (the kids) feeling this much anger at something they never had so they couldn't miss it/her.
At any rate, this book had each chapter written in a different person's point of view, which was very disconcerting and at times annoying. The plot was thin, contrived and obvious right from the start. There is no story except that the Grandmother learns to be a better person by the end of the book. She manages to become this better person with a little discussion about religion with one of her Granddaughters. In a way I felt the book, coming from the Mother of Chick lit, as it were, put a little too much emphasis on Matt getting the company and didn't quite reflect on how either of the girls could have done with it.
I was fairly saddened at this book because it was just a, I guess character study, that didn't entertain me. Books should enlighten, entertain, elate or educate - this book did none of those things.
*ARC SUPPLIED BY PUBLISHER*
January 11, 2013
Take it for what you will, but I hate a book that is poorly paced. This one is so slow moving as to be deadly. That's a particular bummer because the story line has potential (for what it is, not great literature). The other decision I wish the author had made differently is that with four narrative voices, she makes illogical jumps in time. This might have been solved by giving the reader some cue. It would it take editorial brain surgery to make this book more readable.
I finished it, because I had read the end first and wondered how it was possible to get there from the beginning. The answer: Ungracefully.
I finished it, because I had read the end first and wondered how it was possible to get there from the beginning. The answer: Ungracefully.
October 13, 2012
What's up with all the recent adult novels with thoroughly unlikeable characters? I saw the ending of this one coming from a mile away.
September 11, 2018
An excellent if unwitting choice for the Rosh Hoshanah/Yom Kippur season, this stunning book begins as a "3 cousins in search of humanity in their weird unpleasant grandmother" then slows down to becomes a study in women finding their own beauty in a realistic way (QUITE interesting to this lipstick occasionally but nothing else woman) AND a study of how love accepted permits the grandmother to seek reconciliation. The necessary back-story is unveiled in succinctly so so as not to intrude, and the reconciliation scenes are not maudlin.
Really, a wonderful book...... I would have excised a couple of the discussions, but that's me, Beautifully crafted, the characters are believable and the grandmother retains a FEW of her warts....
Really, a wonderful book...... I would have excised a couple of the discussions, but that's me, Beautifully crafted, the characters are believable and the grandmother retains a FEW of her warts....
April 8, 2018
Fun, quick read with some real insights into human frailty. Also a Mets allegiance and a brief dose of traditional Jewish values. All good!
August 11, 2018
2.5 stars. The premise of this book was good but I felt the characters were flat! The grandchildren were all too good and the grandmother so mean!
Want to read
April 12, 2014blurb from amazon
Imagine King Lear as a comedy . . .
Elegant, amusing, and profoundly nasty tycoon Gloria Garrison, née Goldberg, has a kingdom to bequeath to one of the grandchildren she barely knows. They’re all twentysomethings who foolishly believe money isn’t everything. Just shy of eighty, Gloria doesn’t wish to watch the minutes tick by while the three dither over the issues of their generation—love, meaning, identity. She has summoned them all from New York for a weekend at her palatial home in Santa Fe. She has a single question to ask them: “Which one of you most deserves to inherit my business?” Gloria never anticipates the answer will be “not interested” times three. She created a brilliant, booming beauty business, Glory, Inc., that not only does well, but does good. And they say “no”? What’s so grand about their lives that they would reject such a kingdom?
Daisy Goldberg is not only mad for movies, she’s part of the film industry: East Coast story editor for one of the biggest studios. Her brother, Matt, the über–sports buff, has a great job in public relations with Major League Baseball. And their cousin Raquel Goldberg, half-Latina, all Catholic, is a Legal Aid lawyer. They may like their work, but do they really like their lives? Would they be so foolish as to hold against their grandmother the pain she inflicted on every member of the family? As far as Gloria is concerned, this isn’t about tender feelings. It’s about millions of dollars; it’s about living a life the ninety-nine percent dream of and the one percent know.
The weekend is full of surprises, not only for Daisy, Matt, and Raquel but also for Gloria. Memories have a way of intruding at the most inopportune times. And is Gloria’s tough hide as impenetrable as she has always believed? Susan Isaacs is at her formidable best in Goldberg Variations, a novel that is both wickedly witty and a deeply moving tale of family and reconciliation.
Imagine King Lear as a comedy . . .
Elegant, amusing, and profoundly nasty tycoon Gloria Garrison, née Goldberg, has a kingdom to bequeath to one of the grandchildren she barely knows. They’re all twentysomethings who foolishly believe money isn’t everything. Just shy of eighty, Gloria doesn’t wish to watch the minutes tick by while the three dither over the issues of their generation—love, meaning, identity. She has summoned them all from New York for a weekend at her palatial home in Santa Fe. She has a single question to ask them: “Which one of you most deserves to inherit my business?” Gloria never anticipates the answer will be “not interested” times three. She created a brilliant, booming beauty business, Glory, Inc., that not only does well, but does good. And they say “no”? What’s so grand about their lives that they would reject such a kingdom?
Daisy Goldberg is not only mad for movies, she’s part of the film industry: East Coast story editor for one of the biggest studios. Her brother, Matt, the über–sports buff, has a great job in public relations with Major League Baseball. And their cousin Raquel Goldberg, half-Latina, all Catholic, is a Legal Aid lawyer. They may like their work, but do they really like their lives? Would they be so foolish as to hold against their grandmother the pain she inflicted on every member of the family? As far as Gloria is concerned, this isn’t about tender feelings. It’s about millions of dollars; it’s about living a life the ninety-nine percent dream of and the one percent know.
The weekend is full of surprises, not only for Daisy, Matt, and Raquel but also for Gloria. Memories have a way of intruding at the most inopportune times. And is Gloria’s tough hide as impenetrable as she has always believed? Susan Isaacs is at her formidable best in Goldberg Variations, a novel that is both wickedly witty and a deeply moving tale of family and reconciliation.
November 6, 2012
Gloria Goldberg Garrison is the tough, outspoken, forceful head of a prosperous beauty business in Santa Fe, New Mexico, called Glory. At 79, she confronts the reality that she cannot continue to run the daily operation for much longer. She has alienated her assistant, the person she had intended all along to sell Glory to, and has no one else she can trust.
Her only option seems to be to pick one of her three grandchildren who live in New York City. The problem is she really doesn't know any of them since she has only seen them a few times in the almost 30 years of their lives --through her own choice -- and has very little desire to know them better. She invites the three, a brother and sister and their girl cousin, to her estate for a weekend. Her plan is to choose one to inherit the entire business; the other two will be given nothing. She is in for some surprises!
Susan Isaacs' understanding of people and her dry wit make this an entertaining tale that shows even those who appear cold and heartless really do have hearts. And with a little luck, someone will care enough to help them reveal it.
Her only option seems to be to pick one of her three grandchildren who live in New York City. The problem is she really doesn't know any of them since she has only seen them a few times in the almost 30 years of their lives --through her own choice -- and has very little desire to know them better. She invites the three, a brother and sister and their girl cousin, to her estate for a weekend. Her plan is to choose one to inherit the entire business; the other two will be given nothing. She is in for some surprises!
Susan Isaacs' understanding of people and her dry wit make this an entertaining tale that shows even those who appear cold and heartless really do have hearts. And with a little luck, someone will care enough to help them reveal it.
February 7, 2013
Here's the thing about Susan Isaacs, we all know she's sharp and insightful and with this latest book she has presented a fascinating character study of four very different people and has allowed us into the minds of all of them. Gloria Garrison, formerly Goldberg, is a wizened old bird, super independent, callous and in a predicament because she needs someone to run Glory, her cosmetics/makeover business when she passes on (which could be anytime now, in her opinion). The only problem with that is she has alienated anyone who could have been a viable candidate, so she summons her three grandchildren that she doesn't know (by her own design) to New Mexico, from New York, and offers them the opportunity of a lifetime.
They turn her down flat and she is shocked, annoyed and determined to send them packing at once. But they surprise her by not wanting to leave, and as a result we get a novel filled with adult conversation and humor and more than its share of genuine moments. The only misstep in my opinion is the ending. I felt that Gloria, who I had come to rely on for her unapologetic behavior, goes soft at the end.
All in all, this is a recommended read.
They turn her down flat and she is shocked, annoyed and determined to send them packing at once. But they surprise her by not wanting to leave, and as a result we get a novel filled with adult conversation and humor and more than its share of genuine moments. The only misstep in my opinion is the ending. I felt that Gloria, who I had come to rely on for her unapologetic behavior, goes soft at the end.
All in all, this is a recommended read.
July 16, 2015
Really liked it. This is a 4 star Beach Book or Pool Book or Plane Book, and total Chick Lit. No man would or should read this book.
There is practically no plot (or the "plot" is stated in the subtitle). The book is basically conversations (often internal) between a Narcissistic Grandmother and her 3 Grandchildren, from whom she estranged (by her doing, not theirs).
What I didn't like--nothing. It was perfect for the genre described above.
What I liked--I like how Susan Isaacs writes. While Compromising Positions and Shining Through are much better books by the same author (they have a plot and romance, are far more witty), I enjoyed this book and literally couldn't put it down.
I cared about the characters (well, I cared about the Grandkids and the Grandmother improved as the story went on).
The theme of this book was family and forgiveness, and it is a theme that rivets me.
There is practically no plot (or the "plot" is stated in the subtitle). The book is basically conversations (often internal) between a Narcissistic Grandmother and her 3 Grandchildren, from whom she estranged (by her doing, not theirs).
What I didn't like--nothing. It was perfect for the genre described above.
What I liked--I like how Susan Isaacs writes. While Compromising Positions and Shining Through are much better books by the same author (they have a plot and romance, are far more witty), I enjoyed this book and literally couldn't put it down.
I cared about the characters (well, I cared about the Grandkids and the Grandmother improved as the story went on).
The theme of this book was family and forgiveness, and it is a theme that rivets me.
July 17, 2014
What the hell happened to Susan Isaacs? Her books used to be well-plotted, easy to read, interesting page turners with witty, intelligent characters (especially the women.) This book was such a departure from all her previous work that I suspect Isaacs may have died and an anonymous hack hired to fulfill her contract. The character of Gloria was a gold star bitch, the grandchildren moronic saps, and the ending totally unbelievable. Plot, characters, story development, all wrong, Just nothing to like about this book. Such a shame when good authors go bad.
October 30, 2012
A bit of a disappointment. I've been an Isaacs fan since her first novel, "Compromising Positions", and this novel is a less-than-successful blend of her usual humor and drama. Also, the story has four narrators and they all sound disconcertingly the same. Picks up interest a bit as it goes along, but not quite enough.
June 19, 2017
Susan Isaacs' new novel "Goldberg Variations", is an easy book to read but a difficult book to review. To say the main character, Gloria Goldberg Goldberg Garrison ("Gloria GGG") is unlikable is an understatement. Rarely has so much unpleasantness been put into a fictional character. But why does a book's main character have to be likable? Read "My Holocaust" by Tova Reich, which is a marvelous book without a single character with even a single redeeming virtue. Not one. So, should we excoriate Isaacs because Gloria is so...awful? I don't know.
Supposedly Isaacs is writing a novel based on Shakespeare's "King Lear". You know, the one with three daughters and he has to decide who will inherit his kingdom. In Gloria's case, it isn't a kingdom she has to leave, but rather a company, "Glory", that she has built into a successful women's makeover company. After fleeing New York years previously with two large trucks and two teen-age sons, she ended up in Santa Fe and turned one of the trucks into a traveling makeover studio, concentrating on women in small towns in the West and Southwest. She left her husband - who may or may not have been somewhat "hapless" - and embarked on a single life. She was successful in her work and in her new hometown of Santa Fe. In her familial relationships, she was much less successful. Estranged in everything but a perfunctory way from her two sons, their wives, and the three grandchildren, Gloria built a life with a gay man who was her business partner and best friend. After rather tactlessly offending her friend when she refused to visit his dying life-partner in the hospital, the once best-friend has removed himself from Gloria's life and future inheritance. Gloria has to find a successor. She calls her three estranged grandchildren to visit her in Santa Fe. She wants to pick one of them as her successor at "Glory".
The three grandchildren are a son and daughter of Gloria's surviving son and the daughter of the beloved son Gloria lost in an accident. Too bad for Gloria that she lost the son she truly loved. The three, Daisy, Matt, and Raquel are in their mid-to-late 20s and successful in their careers. Raquel was raised Catholic by her widowed mother, while the other two were raised as Jews. There's a slight emphasis on religion which is a needed part of the plot.
Gloria GGG, as I pointed out before, is a more successful business woman than human being. Nasty, ungrateful, and prejudiced, Gloria has come to her personality after a difficult childhood in Cincinnati and a less than fulfilling marriage in New York. Susan Isaacs does a good job at giving us - her readers - a well-rounded bad person whose life has been empty due to her own limitations. But Isaacs also gives us a semi-transformed Gloria by the book's end. The trick is how she gets Gloria - and us - there.
Isaacs does a pretty good job about writing about Santa Fe. I suspect she's spent some time out here. The SF wags refer to St Vincent's Hospital as "St Victims" but maybe Isaacs didn't want to add any local color to her story. (And maybe she never had to spend any time there!)
She captured the ambiance of the colors and large houses behind gates and the good food. Of course, most of Santa Fe isn't huge houses on huge lots like that but enough is and she's fairly accurate about the artsy circles in which Gloria GGG moved.
Isaacs' book, "Goldberg Variations", is not a perfect novel. But it is readable and thought-provoking, and the ending is as it should be. Isaacs' characters in her previous novels are quirky and interesting, just as Gloria, Matt, Daisy, and Raquel are in "Goldberg". If you're looking for a book with pleasant characters you'd like spending time with, this isn't the book for you. But if you're into a not-so-everyday plot with not-so-everyday people, check this book out.
Supposedly Isaacs is writing a novel based on Shakespeare's "King Lear". You know, the one with three daughters and he has to decide who will inherit his kingdom. In Gloria's case, it isn't a kingdom she has to leave, but rather a company, "Glory", that she has built into a successful women's makeover company. After fleeing New York years previously with two large trucks and two teen-age sons, she ended up in Santa Fe and turned one of the trucks into a traveling makeover studio, concentrating on women in small towns in the West and Southwest. She left her husband - who may or may not have been somewhat "hapless" - and embarked on a single life. She was successful in her work and in her new hometown of Santa Fe. In her familial relationships, she was much less successful. Estranged in everything but a perfunctory way from her two sons, their wives, and the three grandchildren, Gloria built a life with a gay man who was her business partner and best friend. After rather tactlessly offending her friend when she refused to visit his dying life-partner in the hospital, the once best-friend has removed himself from Gloria's life and future inheritance. Gloria has to find a successor. She calls her three estranged grandchildren to visit her in Santa Fe. She wants to pick one of them as her successor at "Glory".
The three grandchildren are a son and daughter of Gloria's surviving son and the daughter of the beloved son Gloria lost in an accident. Too bad for Gloria that she lost the son she truly loved. The three, Daisy, Matt, and Raquel are in their mid-to-late 20s and successful in their careers. Raquel was raised Catholic by her widowed mother, while the other two were raised as Jews. There's a slight emphasis on religion which is a needed part of the plot.
Gloria GGG, as I pointed out before, is a more successful business woman than human being. Nasty, ungrateful, and prejudiced, Gloria has come to her personality after a difficult childhood in Cincinnati and a less than fulfilling marriage in New York. Susan Isaacs does a good job at giving us - her readers - a well-rounded bad person whose life has been empty due to her own limitations. But Isaacs also gives us a semi-transformed Gloria by the book's end. The trick is how she gets Gloria - and us - there.
Isaacs does a pretty good job about writing about Santa Fe. I suspect she's spent some time out here. The SF wags refer to St Vincent's Hospital as "St Victims" but maybe Isaacs didn't want to add any local color to her story. (And maybe she never had to spend any time there!)
She captured the ambiance of the colors and large houses behind gates and the good food. Of course, most of Santa Fe isn't huge houses on huge lots like that but enough is and she's fairly accurate about the artsy circles in which Gloria GGG moved.
Isaacs' book, "Goldberg Variations", is not a perfect novel. But it is readable and thought-provoking, and the ending is as it should be. Isaacs' characters in her previous novels are quirky and interesting, just as Gloria, Matt, Daisy, and Raquel are in "Goldberg". If you're looking for a book with pleasant characters you'd like spending time with, this isn't the book for you. But if you're into a not-so-everyday plot with not-so-everyday people, check this book out.
July 29, 2017
OMG - please someone tell me this book is not by Susan Isaacs....
"Gloria turned our way [conversation of the Wicked Grandmother with three adult grandchildren in a restaurant]. "Daisy [the granddaughter], are you a believer in being in touch with your feelings?"
"I don't know how to avoid them."
"By ignoring them."
"But then you won't understand yourself."
"Of course you will. I'm not saying not to acknowledge a strong feeling, like, oh, I don't know. Acknowledge it. Act if action is possible. But then put it aside. But so many people get plagued by feelings. Why can't they distract themselves with something else?"
Daisy's smile was almost maternal. You poor, deluded thing. "But you're implying that feelings are bad, something to defend against."
"No, good feelings are perfectly fine", Gloria said. "Why not enjoy them? It's that these days everyone pays so much attention to the bad ones. Boohoo, my mother did not love me. Boohoo, we were poor. Boohoo, I'm a victim, I have anxiety, I'm bipolar, I have ADD. Anything negative that arises gets examined and reexamined in that light. And worse, far worse, that it is gets then discussed ad nauseam with anyone who can't escape quickly enough." (Pg. 261)
Dear reader, are you fed up with feelings - feelings - feelings ad nauseam? Is it time to escape quickly enough, and go back to earlier books by Susan Isaacs? Woe us, "Goldberg Variations" does not provide an escape. It's all about feelings - Wicked Grandmother and three adult grandchildren resembling Hansel and Gretel in the woods, completely lost in their moral obligations to be "nice", to feel "nice", and still tied to the prospect of one of them inheriting the Wicked Witch's glam company. (That business model is still not clear to me: in the age of YouTube videos which literally will show you step by step how to change the lightbulb, why would one opt for Glo_Mobile with some dubious makeover artists they are seeing for the first time? Wouldn't it be easier (and more economical) to take care of one's makeover by oneself? Just take some time, have some rest, look in the mirror, get out, go to the hairdresser, enjoy the stores - both window shopping and the real one, it's really therapeutic).
Lo and behold, the only action you'll ever see in this book is by three grandchildren desperately making overtures "in a nice way" to Wicked Grandma, even though they - pointedly - do not want her business and her company. Over and over, all weekend.
I have been fascinated by Isaacs' earlier books. They were full of action, humor, full of American culture, mores, all that subtle (and not subtle) stuff that you see all around you and which you start understanding only after so many years in the country....it just takes time. In some way, she's been a mentor, a remote girlfriend, an advisor - absolutely unbeknownst to her. I will do my best to forget "Goldberg Variations". In my book, it never happened.
"Gloria turned our way [conversation of the Wicked Grandmother with three adult grandchildren in a restaurant]. "Daisy [the granddaughter], are you a believer in being in touch with your feelings?"
"I don't know how to avoid them."
"By ignoring them."
"But then you won't understand yourself."
"Of course you will. I'm not saying not to acknowledge a strong feeling, like, oh, I don't know. Acknowledge it. Act if action is possible. But then put it aside. But so many people get plagued by feelings. Why can't they distract themselves with something else?"
Daisy's smile was almost maternal. You poor, deluded thing. "But you're implying that feelings are bad, something to defend against."
"No, good feelings are perfectly fine", Gloria said. "Why not enjoy them? It's that these days everyone pays so much attention to the bad ones. Boohoo, my mother did not love me. Boohoo, we were poor. Boohoo, I'm a victim, I have anxiety, I'm bipolar, I have ADD. Anything negative that arises gets examined and reexamined in that light. And worse, far worse, that it is gets then discussed ad nauseam with anyone who can't escape quickly enough." (Pg. 261)
Dear reader, are you fed up with feelings - feelings - feelings ad nauseam? Is it time to escape quickly enough, and go back to earlier books by Susan Isaacs? Woe us, "Goldberg Variations" does not provide an escape. It's all about feelings - Wicked Grandmother and three adult grandchildren resembling Hansel and Gretel in the woods, completely lost in their moral obligations to be "nice", to feel "nice", and still tied to the prospect of one of them inheriting the Wicked Witch's glam company. (That business model is still not clear to me: in the age of YouTube videos which literally will show you step by step how to change the lightbulb, why would one opt for Glo_Mobile with some dubious makeover artists they are seeing for the first time? Wouldn't it be easier (and more economical) to take care of one's makeover by oneself? Just take some time, have some rest, look in the mirror, get out, go to the hairdresser, enjoy the stores - both window shopping and the real one, it's really therapeutic).
Lo and behold, the only action you'll ever see in this book is by three grandchildren desperately making overtures "in a nice way" to Wicked Grandma, even though they - pointedly - do not want her business and her company. Over and over, all weekend.
I have been fascinated by Isaacs' earlier books. They were full of action, humor, full of American culture, mores, all that subtle (and not subtle) stuff that you see all around you and which you start understanding only after so many years in the country....it just takes time. In some way, she's been a mentor, a remote girlfriend, an advisor - absolutely unbeknownst to her. I will do my best to forget "Goldberg Variations". In my book, it never happened.
March 5, 2017
Gloria Garrison (she changed her name from Goldberg when she ran out on her husband, taking their two sons and two of her husband’s eleven Garment Center trucking trucks), built a successful beauty business that she has run smoothly and quite profitably with capable management. Now, nearing 80, with her “next in line” choice to run the business now not speaking to her, she must find someone to take over.
You would think that one of her three grandchildren would have been the first choice, but being a cold and distant mother, she was an even colder and more distant grandmother. She barely knows the three who are in their twenties. They seem to have the right background—she has ways to check into that. She has summoned the brother and sister, Matt and Daisy, and their cousin Raquel to visit her kingdom in Santa Fe where she will offer up her prized possession and see which one meets her approval.
What Gloria doesn’t anticipate is that the three, who never wanted to make the visit in the first place, have no interest in her business or in her. As she tells the three that only one will get the business and the other two will have no part of her will, she expects more from them—excitement, thrill, eagerness. What she doesn’t count on is all three telling her that they have no interest in her business, and they are content with who they are and what they are doing. Ok—they all have some desire for a change in their lives, but being a beauty business tycoon is not the change they are looking for.
There are many amusing show downs between the four feisty personalities and many things from the past are laid out in the open. I actually felt myself rooting for Gloria even as cold and brittle as she was.
I admired the love and loyalty between the cousins and the way they all played a part in handling Gloria. If not for them, I wouldn’t have found any part of myself rooting for Gloria.
The idea that there can be some understanding and some reconciliation between families without groveling was a key factor in my rating of this book. Each grandchild had a unique strength and wisdom that not only cracked the frosty demeanor of Gloria, but also caused each of them to really look closely at their own lives and decide what changes they were willing to make to find that “something” that each of them was missing.
And Gloria? At nearly 80 years old, she, too, might have found that “something” that she hadn’t realized she was missing in her own life.
You would think that one of her three grandchildren would have been the first choice, but being a cold and distant mother, she was an even colder and more distant grandmother. She barely knows the three who are in their twenties. They seem to have the right background—she has ways to check into that. She has summoned the brother and sister, Matt and Daisy, and their cousin Raquel to visit her kingdom in Santa Fe where she will offer up her prized possession and see which one meets her approval.
What Gloria doesn’t anticipate is that the three, who never wanted to make the visit in the first place, have no interest in her business or in her. As she tells the three that only one will get the business and the other two will have no part of her will, she expects more from them—excitement, thrill, eagerness. What she doesn’t count on is all three telling her that they have no interest in her business, and they are content with who they are and what they are doing. Ok—they all have some desire for a change in their lives, but being a beauty business tycoon is not the change they are looking for.
There are many amusing show downs between the four feisty personalities and many things from the past are laid out in the open. I actually felt myself rooting for Gloria even as cold and brittle as she was.
I admired the love and loyalty between the cousins and the way they all played a part in handling Gloria. If not for them, I wouldn’t have found any part of myself rooting for Gloria.
The idea that there can be some understanding and some reconciliation between families without groveling was a key factor in my rating of this book. Each grandchild had a unique strength and wisdom that not only cracked the frosty demeanor of Gloria, but also caused each of them to really look closely at their own lives and decide what changes they were willing to make to find that “something” that each of them was missing.
And Gloria? At nearly 80 years old, she, too, might have found that “something” that she hadn’t realized she was missing in her own life.
August 5, 2025
Snarky woman is still snarky as a grandmother. Gloria Goldberg changed her name to Gloria Garrison because it sounded better with the business she started, Glory. Glory had become a multi-million operation selling hair styling, makeovers, and clothing out of a semi-truck traveling to small cities in the West. Gloria was not snarky to her employees. At 79, she was aware she could not go on forever. She had her three grandchildren come to her home so she could decide which one would get the business. Yes, still snarky only one would get the business. Gloria had no relationship with these grandchildren, and nothing better with their parents. The story was told intermittently by Gloria and the grandchildren. It was an interesting read.
June 11, 2022
Boring annoying stupid unlikeable characters .And unlike many of you i can't stand the redemption arcs thst are so hideously overdone and undeserved.
Have I said boring yet?
.I quit reading by chapter 4 .
Always gobsmacked by how many of you are masochistic and insist on finishing trainwrecks thinking it'll get better.
Newsflash:
Books that start off bad ..never get better .
Have I said boring yet?
.I quit reading by chapter 4 .
Always gobsmacked by how many of you are masochistic and insist on finishing trainwrecks thinking it'll get better.
Newsflash:
Books that start off bad ..never get better .
September 29, 2024
I really wanted to like this book. The premise seemed good but none of the characters is likable. They’re two dimensional and the book tries too hard. We don’t need multiple chapters about getting through the house. There’s never an explanation about why this woman is so mean, then has such a huge change at the end that doesn’t jibe with her personality. This had potential but was disappointing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2018
I love how the 1-percenter (Gloria) struggles to understand that the rest of us value things other than money and the pursuit of it. I re-read this book every few years to remind myself there's more to life than how much money is in your retirement account.
May 28, 2019
Never really sure of the plot of the book. Took place over a weekend but left me wanting for more. Surprised that the main character was so fashioned focused - much different than most of Susan Isaacs books. Not one of her best.
December 9, 2019
I found none of the characters in this book to be particularly likable. There was lots of heartache and hurt, it was quite depressing all in all. So not pnly was it not very cheery the writing was just okay.
September 15, 2021
An interesting family story, with superb dialogue. As the blurb says, “imagine King Lear as comedy!” Gloria’s description of short women (pg 79) is hilarious. “They’d pin back their hair with tiny plastic barrettes as if God had not created taste.”
October 11, 2023
I liked the way EACH chapter was written in the voice of one of the 4 main characters of this book.
It was always clear whose viewpoint was being expressed.
Though it was hard to imagine a Grandmother such as this, it all came together somehow in the end.
It was always clear whose viewpoint was being expressed.
Though it was hard to imagine a Grandmother such as this, it all came together somehow in the end.
October 14, 2023
This would have been better as a short story.
It reads like an episode of Seinfeld except it wasn’t over in a half hour and got feet tedious. I felt like the author got tired of it too and the ending was abrupt.
It reads like an episode of Seinfeld except it wasn’t over in a half hour and got feet tedious. I felt like the author got tired of it too and the ending was abrupt.
July 6, 2024
Funny, and culturally funny, kept me reading, loved the three cousins a lot. I wasn’t completely convinced of the transformations, but was still happy with the ending. Gloria’s character was the toughest for me, but also found it interesting.
January 13, 2025
This was pretty dull and all over the place. And what's the deal with the focus on height, who cares ... 5'7" is not in any way "tall", just sort of average. The use of 4 POV's was good. It was really a 1.5 rating from me.
July 27, 2017
Fair book, not great, too long.
September 20, 2017
I barely got through this. Just didn't relate to the characters.
February 25, 2018
"She had less pizzazz than a pair of orthopedic shoes" is the best line ever!
The beginning of this novel is simply fabulous. Unfortunately the glitter dulls with each chapter.
The beginning of this novel is simply fabulous. Unfortunately the glitter dulls with each chapter.
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