Between You and Me

by Scott Nadelson

Every night, after the kids have gone to bed, he searches for their shoes. They might be under the family room couch, in the middle of the kitchen floor, on the basement landing, or if it's warm enough, out on the lawn, growing damp with dew. This is one of his contributions to the efficient running of the household, maybe his most important contribution, though not the most visible. If anyone has noticed, none has said a word. He performs the task quietly, without announcing himself, and takes private pleasure in knowing how useful he has been. Paul Haberman was happy living alone in the city until he met Cynthia, an enchanting suburban single mother. After he moves to New Jersey to marry her, Paul's life reshapes itself dramatically around his new family and home, evolving over the years in ways he could never have imagined. In this funny, moving, episodic novel, Scott Nadelson reveals the quiet beauty, doubt, and longing of a blended family's life in the unglamorous American suburbs. Scott Nadelson is the author of three story collections, most recently Aftermath , and a memoir, The Next Scott A Life in Progress . Winner of the Reform Judaism Fiction Prize, the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award, and an Oregon Book Award, he teaches at Willamette University and in the Rainier Writing Workshop MFA Program at Pacific Lutheran University.

Genres: Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 19, 2015

About the author

Scott Nadelson grew up in northern New Jersey before escaping to Oregon, where he has lived for the past eighteen years. He has published three collections of short stories--Aftermath, The Cantor's Daughter, and Saving Stanley: The Brickman Stories--and a memoir, The Next Scott Nadelson: A Life in Progress. His newest books are the novel, Between You and Me and the story collection The Fourth Corner of the World (Engine Books, 2018). He is the winner of the Reform Judaism Fiction Prize, the Great Lakes Colleges New Writers Award, and the Oregon Book Award for short fiction, and his work has been cited as notable in both the Best American Short Stories and Best American Essays anthologies. Nadelson teaches creative writing at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon and in the Rainier Writing Workshop MFA Program at Pacific Lutheran University.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stirring portrait of an ordinary life that's anything but ordinary. I savored Scott Nadelson's exquisite novel, its elegance and its elegies to the everyday. Told in a series of chapters, each spaced two years apart, BETWEEN YOU AND ME delves into the life of Paul Haberman, who moves to suburban New Jersey when he marries an attractive single mom. Paul strives to figure out his place in the world, especially when it comes to his role in the lives of his stepchildren, often with an endearing and honest bafflement. I recognized these people and this place--as a suburban Jersey girl--and am grateful for Scott's ability to take me back to my own roots.

[Colleen Rain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between You and Me." skillfully captures life in a blended family, the suburbs and that scary, melancholy we all feel as our bodies, friends,and relationships, age while our minds don't. I loved reading every word

[Arlene Weible · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird to see a timid male character ...

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this little glimpse into life, chapter by chapter, every two years through Paul and his marriage to Cynthia and her children, Joy and Kyle. Ambivalent about both marriage and children, he observes almost as an outsider but cannot help getting emotionally involved. One of my favorites is when he finds and sets out their shoes every night after everyone is asleep, to make things easier in the morning, like a shoe fairy. "obliviousness to the lives of adults is the gift of childhood, its crucial freedom". There is even a wonderful chapter about moving his mom to assisted living, where she too finds love. Completely delightful and a pleasure to read!

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humor amid life's perplexities! I felt I knew the main character--Paul Haberman--as each chapter glimpsed significant pieces of his life as he aged. When the novel begins, Paul is recently married for the first time, and a new stepdad with no previous experience of child-raising. He's past forty but retains many adolescent insecurities: He feels ignored, sometimes boring, with only tenuous connections to important people in his life; he questions why he is often uncomfortable in his own skin.

When the novel ends, Paul has retired from his job as a New York City attorney, but the same life questions remain, although he edges closer to resolving them. For his many weaknesses, Paul has numerous strengths the reader sees, although Paul has few insights about himself. For instance, he never outgrows his yen for attractive women but is ever faithful to his beloved wife, Cynthia, who seems undeserving of his undying affection at times. Paul remains a model of civility, even when seething with anger or disgust at his wife's previous husband, a co-worker, his stepkids' teen friends, and others in difficult situations.

The book's opening scene drew me in: Paul is in a face-off with an aggressive teen driver over a parking space in a shopping mall lot. With Paul are his seven and nine-year old stepchildren. He is in a quandary how to appear cool and in-charge, while not giving a bad example or appearing wimpy to the kids. The stand-off ends in a surprising way. There are many other funny, even bizarre, scenes involving hapless Paul, as he tries to gain acceptance and approval. He even tries writing poetry and theater acting.

The writing moves along with only a few lags of over-telling. I'm still wondering the reason for interspersed chapters entitled "Nocturne for left hand," written in italics. Why couldn't these episodes have been incorporated into the other chapters? I think it is because these chapters had been included in one installment in a literary journal, and the author didn't want to bother re-writing, re-editing, and incorporating, so he left the four 'nocturnes' as written and set them off in italics.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautifully written but painfully boring.