A Weekend in New York

by Benjamin Markovits

Paul is a mid-ranking tennis professional on the ATP tour. His girlfriend Dana is an ex-model and photographer, and together with their two-year-old son they form a tableau of the contented upper-middle-class New York family. But Paul's parents and siblings have come to stay in the build-up to the US Open, and with summer storms brewing, several generations of domestic tension are brought to boiling point . . .

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Literary Fiction, Family

320 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2018

Reviews

[Oriana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up in a sweep of ARCs at the Strand -- idk anything about Markovits, but the cover is well designed and obvs I am a sucker for any and all New York books. But this turned out to be pretty disappointing.

So first: This is just a domestic drama. Which, fine, I don't have anything against those per se, although it does bug me that if this had been written by someone named, say, Bettina or Beth instead of Benjamin, it'd probably be considered chick lit. So that's annoying.

But moreover, a domestic drama really requires you to care about the characters in order to enjoy it, and there was pretty much no one in this whole sprawl whom I enjoyed spending time with. They're all wealthy, snobbish, narcissistic, angsty, overly enamored of their own intelligence, and unapologetically judgmental, of one another as well as most of the people around them. So really not a lot to grab on to, in terms of like- or even relatability.

And I think only some of that is intentional character development. Because it all just seemed like a neutral setting for personality, with everything else about each character (his or her history, marriage status, hopes and fears, physical appearance) glommed on top. Which left me pretty sure that Benjamin himself must be wealthy, snobbish, narcissistic, angsty, overly enamored of his own intelligence, and unapologetically judgmental, and that he sees everyone else that way as well.

The other main thing that drove me nuts is that every conversation is agonizingly over-choreographed, meticulously designed to have like three different layers of subtext. No one was ever just talking about the thing at hand; each character was specifically maneuvered into that conversation so that this guy asking that woman about their sister's infidelity was also a judgment on the first woman's own past transgressions, and her responses emphasized her thoughts on the guy's childrearing skills, not to mention each of their own childhoods, blah blah blah. It all felt like it was trying way too hard to be erudite and meaningful, and I just found it off-putting and boring.

Thank u next, I guess.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Paul Essinger is a tennis player who almost achieved greatness once upon a time and now continues to play in the lower levels of the professional circuit. He is successful enough to provide a comfortable life in New York City (no easy feat) for his girlfriend. Dana, and her young son.

Paul’s family has come to New York to watch him play in the U.S. Open. This reunion is the subject of the book. This is a book about family and the struggles they face even when they are (mostly) happy.

Paul’s father feels a mixture of pride and disappointment in his son. This is especially poignant on this weekend which will likely be the last of Paul’s professional career.

The story follows the events of this weekend with a focus on the relationships amongst Paul, his parents, and his siblings, as well as with Paula (his girlfriend).

Paul is planning to retire to his home town of Austin, Texas (a plan of which Paula knows nothing). The siblings have the typical resentments that siblings and children of a family have. The novel presents each of them (as it does with all the characters) both as individuals but also (and maybe more importantly) as members of a unit that has a life of its own. The characters all struggle with the balance of how to be themselves both outside and within this loving family.

One thing I missed in this book was a more detailed picture of the New York of the title. One of the reasons I chose this book was that, as a New Yorker, I am always interested in stories that take place here but there was no real sense of the city, which I found disappointing.

The writing itself is excellent, comfortable, easy to read, clear and insightful. The author’s intelligence and compassion for his characters are evident. The book beautifully presents the family drama that is both common to most families and unique to this one. I loved (and identified with) each individual’s struggle to define themselves both within and outside of their family. I identified with their struggles. Even if the details are specific to these characters, the balancing act of individuality and family roles was familiar and one I’m always interested in exploring. By the end, I cared about the members of this family and their futures. It is a satisfying family saga.

My thanks to LibraryThing.com for providing this book free of charge.

[Kiwiflora · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can imagine Woody Allen getting his teeth into this and making a movie of it - so much angst, so much naval gazing, so much pontificating on the earliest relationships we ever know - those with our families, and how we endlessly agonise and analyse them. Woody would be in his element with the Essinger family.

Every year in August the family gathers together in New York to support son Paul in his latest quest to attain glory at the US Tennis Open. Paul has been on the professional tennis circuit since his early twenties, he made it as far as the quarter finals at a grand slam, but since then has floated around the bottom two thirds of the top 100. Stalled. Is this going to be swan song tournament? He lives with his ex-model girlfriend Dana and their two year child. His parents, successful academics Bill and Liesl are trying to decide whether to retire and if so to where; eldest son Nathan also an academic is being wooed for his writings by those with far right tendencies; middle daughter Susan, married with children who gave up a promising career to be a mum, going through her own quandry of whether to have another child or not; and finally youngest child Jean in her late twenties, a film producer in London having an affair with her married boss. So much that can so wrong in all of these lives. How will it pan out over the course of three days when they are all thrust back into the bosom of the family cauldron.

I found it boring. Nothing happens, there is endless indecisiveness, endless niggling amongst the siblings, endless avoidance of issues. Very few of the decisions you think might be made are actually made. I didn't really like any of the characters, even the two year old child was needy and whiney - and probably the only one allowed to be. I thought this was going to be a novel about Paul's grand slam experience, but really the tennis was only a background against which to set the story. The city of New York was profoundly more interesting than the story and the characters as they all tried to deal with their various first world problems! Not one of my better reading choices.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an appalling book, one where after the first 100 pages I was thinking 'it's got to get better than this, it has to be building to something' and then after 200 pages I resigned myself to the fact that, yes, it really was that apoplectically bad and wasn't going to get any better.

The premise of the novel is a middle-ranking ATP tour player prepares for a first round match at the US Open, potentially his last hurrah, and his extended family descends upon New York to visit him and see him play. Seeing the Roth comparisons and liking the tennis idea (David Foster Wallace, anyone) I had high hopes for this. Alas, this book is not so much an ace as it is firmly in the 'double fault' territory. Indeed, I found myself silently uttering 'You cannot be serious' as the book dutifully trudged through low-stakes, badly described middle class middle aged family problems, embodied by a ludicrously large assembly of cardboard cutout characters, which never properly come to a head, and, even if they had, by the end of the novel I wouldn't have cared.

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I completely loved this which surprised me because I hated Markovits’s previous book. Here though he perfectly captures the Essingers’s family dynamic and his perspective shifts are divine. I’m also ready to watch some tennis!

[Bert Hirsch · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Weekend in New York by Benjamin Markovits

An upper middle class family gets together in NYC to support Paul who is competing in the USTA Open Tennis Championships. Nearing the end of his competitive years, aged 33, married with a baby son , Paul and his wife interact with 3 generations of his family.

The Essingers are well educated and employed, consisting of 4 siblings, 2 brothers and 2 sisters. The book is written in a breezy style, easy to read yet also revealing as it captures the rivalries and pecking orders of the family dynamics. Much of what is described and depicted ring true.

Both parents and siblings are drawn with a variety of self-doubts and neurotic characteristics; only the younger generation, 4 grandchildren appear untainted as they either ignore or critique the adults in this family.

An enjoyable read yet in the end of little substance. Reminds me of a TV series or light adult comedy of errors. I do commend Markovitz on his easy writing style and nailing the cultural and concrete landscape of the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

[Jonathan Pool · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis : The gathering of families for religious festivals, and for weddings and funerals, is a regular backdrop in literature exploring the dynamics of group behaviour. Ben Markovits choses the US Open tennis tournament as the focal point for the Essinger extended family as Paul competes for what might be his last time. Paul is the 82nd highest ranked player in the world.

Though the US Open is the ostensible rallying point (pun intended), tennis is entirely incidental to the story, and for me it was the weakest and least believable part of the writing. Paul’s ad hoc practice routines and his involvement in family shenanigans, and everyday life, during the immediate build-up to the USA "Grand-slam" tournament just couldnt be so casual for such an important event.

As a family dynastic account the book taps into stress lines that are very familiar, and it’s well written

• Half a dozen concurrent conversations taking place around a table
• Childhood sibling rivalry carried through into adulthood as each checks out real estate accumulation, career achievements.
• Assumptions and assumed roles based around gender, and age in a family.
• Looking askance at those who have married into the family.

“A family reunion, though who could say if they were happy to see each other”(256)

Ben Markovits writes thoughful articles in the national press, and conducts a truly cerebral interview (I saw him interviewing Richard Powers during the promotion of The Overstory in 2018.
By coincience I then bumped into him (outside the gents at Charleston, Sussex) two weeks later. He is the most polite author I have met (briefly), and impressed me very much when he made a point of introducing himself, and did not make the assumption..

A book to recommend? This should appeal to anybody who has experience of a large sprawling family. Paul’s patriarch father, Bill, is a reminder as to why it’s good to escape childhood and not have to dance to the ‘head’ of the family’s will.

[Yalan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Apart from the bland writing, what made me finally stop reading was the barrage of run-on sentences. I had to put myself out of my own misery.

[123abc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book (even if the first half was better than the second). This is a book really about nothing, just a (relatively) normal family „reunion“ but is also surprisingly deep and (occasionally) relatable.

[Maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

All imagery, no plot. Excellent and naturally flowing dialogue, though.

[Fabian M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This reminded me of a comment Schmidt makes in “New Girl,” something like “And then you’re watching it’s complicated. And it’s not complicated: it’s about a bunch of rich white people remodeling their kitchen.”

I feel like the story alternates between being very engaging and boring. It all takes place during one weekend when Paul, a tennis pro, is playing at the U.S. open and his whole family comes to visit. At times this leads to interesting reflections on everything from European vs American parenting and the moral ambiguity of the law. But at other times it’s just rambling.

I think the author does a great job capturing complex family dynamics and meet-ups, but the level of detail is just way too much.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Benjamin Markovits is excellent at developing characters by following their thoughts and interactions with other characters - in this case, members of the same family who have gathered in New York to watch their son and brother Paul play in the first round of the US Open tennis tournament. When I started the book, I was immediately gripped by characters, events and conversations that felt real. However, the book is too long. A slice of life can be very enjoyable to read but 346 pages of everyday life is not sustainable. The same book edited to half the length would get 4 stars. Also, the book could be made into a very good 90 minute film.

[Shaun Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love family dramas and as we’re heading to NYC this year, I was drawn to this book. I really enjoyed it. One of the joys of this book was how masterfully Markovits changed character’s perspectives and time; magical. I was a little frustrated with the ending, but that may have been because I wanted it to continue.

[Chloë Fowler · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of those books that make me realise how unfair publishing is.

A debut author would never get away with writing an inconclusive, rambling novel with no discernible plot or pace. Just characters, decently drawn, having a perfectly nice weekend.

I hate watching tennis, but I'd sit through a game instead of reading this again.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Borrowed from Four Seasons Sensei’s library. Honeymoon Book #5

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the fact that the setting of this book was nothing like my own family experience, I felt as if I was sitting with the characters, listening in to their conversation. Their different experiences of the same family life were interesting, irritating, familiar, strange and sad, as well as being a 'happy' family. It creates a little world all of it's own.

[Andrew Clover · Rating 4 out of 5]

It rivets your attention – that’s what I like most about this peculiar book. Occasionally sentences are so plain they are banal: ‘he emptied the rest of the dishwasher and stacked what he couldn’t find places for on the counter. ‘I like this kitchen,’ he said.’ The upside to this, however, is that you believe it all absolutely, you see the ‘linoleum counters, milky with age, a few burn rings,’ and you fully experience the subtext: in this case a brother is visiting his aging sister, and he’s worried about her dilapidation, and isolation. The plotting is similarly low in jeopardy, but high in realistic intensity. It concerns a family convening for a weekend, their gatherings in flats, coffee shops, and, eventually, at a tennis game. You experience their concern for each other, the interplay of revelation and discussion: one daughter is having an adulterous affair, the mother wants to move back to the city, the wife doesn’t know what to do with her life… Thus the book seemed to tune in to that most modern of conditions: that rootless, listless lost feeling – that sense that you’re at a tennis game, having the wrong conversation, which doesn’t seem to resolve, while someone else checks their phone, and you feel you should be elsewhere but don’t know where it is, and you feel lost as a crisp bag, blown by a gust of a modern, polluted wind… It seemed to address that condition most directly, and, subtly, to hint at an antidote: concentrate on the people around you, it whispers, notice all the signs of their behaviour, each burn ring, each cup, and, if you don’t want to feel so alone, just try reading. I read it during a time when I was maddened with grief and anxiety – a dog had cancer, and I didn’t know if I should be treating her, if she should die, and where – and I had only to open the pages of A Weekend In New York, and my attention would settle, and cool. Life matters, it seemed to say. Concentrate. If you watch carefully, a story is unfolding….

[Jill Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think everyone knows the old Leo Tolstoy saying about "happy families" and "unhappy families". (If you don't, then read the first lines of "Anna Karenina"). And if you've read "Anna" (and it's one of the few classic books I didn't get out of reading in high school), you'll know that the Essinger family of Austin, Boston, New York, and London, is a full-blown group of unhappy-people-who-are-related-to-each-other.

It's 2011 and the various members of the Essinger family are gathered in New York over Labor Day weekend to watch the second son - Paul - play in the US Open. If he doesn't advance past the first few rounds, he's planning to hang up his pro-tennis career at the age of 33 and, and...do what? He really doesn't know - he has an idea of moving to Austin, where he was raised - and, and do what? Paul's unhappy and you'd better bet his partner, Dana, mother of his child, is equally unhappy as the relationship seems to be floundering. Nathan the oldest son and a successful professor at Harvard Law, Susie, the oldest daughter and Jean, the younger one, are also nursing their own secrets, which get spilled during the weekend the family has gathered to watch Paul. The parents - Bill and his German-born wife, Leisel, are also having relationship and work problems. Everybody's sort of in their own pissy moods, and no one's relating to anyone else, except on the most superficial level.

Benjamin Markovits, the author of "A Weekend in New York", has put together an interesting crew of unhappy people. He uses the backdrop of the weekend before one of the world's Grand Slam championships. It's a hot weekend weather-wise and emotion-wise as the seven or so adults and four children reckon with each other. The reader can tell that the characters love each other, but do they like each other? And can't you say that about most families?

[MicheleReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 -- This compelling novel offers readers an intricate family drama set in New York City. While it did not reach my full expectations given the subject matter, I liked it and was drawn to this complex family which has gathered from all over to watch Paul Essinger compete in what might be his final U.S. Open. The parents, siblings and partners all wrestle with their own issues which makes for interesting storytelling and dialogue but after a while it became a bit depressing given their overall success and apparent love for one another. While one can’t expect a novel that knowingly takes place over one weekend to have any real resolutions, a few hints would have been more satisfying. I understand this is the first in a series of four books about this family so I intend to read the next one. Thank you Ingram Publisher Services for the DRC.

[Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Left me wanting...a pedestrian novel that came close to not finishing.

[Katie Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Take time to savour this one, it's good.

[Joanne Sheppard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Weekend In New York spans, as the title suggests, a single weekend in the lives of the wealthy family. Paul Essinger, a mid-ranking professional tennis player nearing the end of his career, and living in Manhattan with his partner Dana and their perpetually fractious toddler, Cal. As the Essinger family tradition dictates, his parents and siblings have descended on New York to watch him play in the US Open, and as the weekend unfolds, various low-key family tensions start to surface.

The person I feel the most sympathy for is, undoubtedly, Dana, who is relatively non-confrontational and a little unsure of her place.The Essingers are a large family and an argumentative one, and if I were Dana I would feel overwhelmed by them too. The first time she met them as a group, she says, she went into the bathroom and cried, and I honestly don't blame her.

The Essingers as a group grated on me throughout the book. I have a low tokey features of the Essinger family dynamic. The parents, Bill and Liesel (their adult children call them by their first names) are certainly well-meaning but never seem to listen properly either to their children or to one another - Bill, in particular, seems to think that confidently ignoring people's views is the best way to deal with them; he's one of those people who is utterly convinced that he knows better than others what's best for them. Nathan, the elder son, is unbearably full of himself and seems desperate to assert his intellectual superiority at the expense of anyone else's feelings (a scene where he insists on performing a complicated series of calculations to work out Paul's minuscule odds of winning the Open, despite knowing full well that it's upsetting other people, made me want to punch him). Jean, the youngest, has an attitude more like that of a difficult teenager than what she is, which is a successful, London-based TV production manager. Susie, a grown woman and already a mother to a precocious son, is inexplicably nervous about telling her family she's pregnant again for fear that they will accuse her of abandoning her career. Paul himself - the reason the whole family are assembled in the first place - is curiously bland, although we can perhaps attribute some of this to his pre-tournament self-absorption. We do get some insight in the peculiarities of life as a professional sportsman, particularly one who competes solo rather than in a team - I'd like to have seen more of this.

The character I found the most interesting was Liesel, who grew up in Nazi Germany and whom was never forgiven by Bill's Jewish parents for marrying their son. She's recently published a memoir of her Third Reich childhood, and is increasingly concerned with memory and storytelling. She gave up her culture to live in the States, she says, and I got the impression that her desire to retire to the cosmopolitan bustle of New York from the expansive emptiness of Texas was partly fuelled by her immigrant experience and her memories of Berlin.

The actual events of the novel are deliberately mundane. The family gather for meals, Bill and Liesel view some apartments despite Bill having zero intention of granting Liesel's wish to move, Paul goes to his tennis club to practise, Bill visits his housebound sister in Yonkers. Nathan has a business meeting. Not that this matters, as this is very much a novel about character and the family dynamic, and how they fit into the wealthy, liberal sector of American society as a whole: there's no real plot and there isn't meant to be and in any case, the Essingers manage to make everything unfeasibly complicated. They are talkers, we're told, not touchers, and nothing happens without debate, including the choosing of restaurants or whether to take a taxi there. There is not a moment during their weekend where nobody is fretting about something incredibly minor, nobody is arguing over a tiny triviality and nobody is talking over someone else. A dozen conversations happen at once, a consensus is never reached on anything and everyone over-analyses to the nth degree. By the end, I just felt slightly stressed by it all.

The characterisation in A Weekend In New York is excellent, as are the descriptions of New York as a city, and the depictions of the family tensions. Markovits is excellent at getting into his characters' heads and has a fantastic ear for dialogue. There are some vignettes in this book which are extremely perceptive, some which are touching and many that are almost wistful. But the Great American Novel vibe was quite self-conscious in this book, and it does feel as if it's trying to signpost its own literary credentials at every turn, which means it's occasionally dangerously close to parodying what it aspires to be.

[Zohar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering calling my year here and letting my 50+ reading challenge endure for the next go around. I’m tired. I don’t want to read any more inter generational narrative fiction. I keep falling asleep on the couch. I legitimately spent most of today avoiding speaking to my family. Half the books I read were recommended by my ex. I want to watch the gay hockey series before the internet spoils it for me. I am dangerously close to 17 year old levels of cranky. Anyway, I picked up this one by Markovits in lieu of the library not having his most recent which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Or maybe I can’t stay away from reading about New York City and over-involved Jewish families as if that isn’t my life every third weekend, with considerably less money floating in the background. The plot was honestly not interesting - it follows a family weekend in advance of Paul Essinger, a narcissistic mid-ranking tennis player, before his game in the U.S. Open. I genuinely want to give it a lower rating, but what really worked for Markovits’ is a constantly changing, omniscient perspective from every member of the OG 6-person Essinger family and Paul’s perpetually out-of-it girlfriend/mother to his toddler. By the way, the more I read the less I am convinced I’ll ever trust a man enough to get married. Where do you come up with these guys. 7 very different, complex perspectives on the same three kind of dull days- somehow weaving in a boatload of history, health issues, marital problems, and backstory. Super hard to pull off - what first impressed me was one scene with multiple overlapping conversations at the same table, written without separating them. I don’t know if I’m describing it accurately, but it felt like I was hearing it all on the fly as if everyone was talking in real time. So many scenes about food and family arguments and unspoken tension and eating off each others plates that felt almost too on the money. What was the freakiest experience for me, however, was knowing every. single. location. he described in excellent detail. From the walk from 86th on the UWS through Central Park, Union square, and the damn spot on description of the Yonkers train station…..For Markovits’ labor and uncanny skill in writing New York City (with a capital NYC)… +1. Anyway, if I don’t post another review until 2026 just know I’m (probably) at peace. Slowly drifting through some non fiction……

[Edwin Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Essinger family has gathered in New York to watch Paul, the tennis pro of the family, compete in the US Open. In A WEEKEND IN NEW YORK, by Benjamin Markovits, this family gathering exposes all of the intricate family relationships of the Essingers; the positive and negative relations and how each person's actions has ripple effects that are felt by the rest of the family.
Markovits creates a family, the Essingers, that are fascinatingly very close and the same time very distant. They have loved and supported each other through the years, financially and emotionally, and yet they don't really listen to or sympathize with each other. This fractured approach to family relations was set in place by the Essinger parents, who from their own unique and rigid upbringing, approached parenting more as a job than a loving, supportive home that encouraged happiness and success in life. Markovits jumps around into each family members over the weekend leading up to Paul's match on Monday. The pacing and emotionally intensity rises and falls and sometimes mundane moments become suddenly intense and vice versa. The book attempts to mirror how family interactions are and how they span from completely trivial to overwhelmingly intense. The story has a constant trajectory toward the tennis match, but really doesn't give much resolution to any of the family members. While that could have been the point of Markovits, it left me unresolved and therefore yearning for a resolution that wasn't there.
Markovits takes care in creating the Essinger family and delightfully delves into each of the psyches, and yet the reader feels there are infinitely more layers within each of these characters. While I feel like the book kind of stumbled to the finish, I really enjoyed getting to know these people and I want to find another Benjamin Markovits book in the future.
I received a copy of this book as part of the Librarything Early Reviewers program.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Faber Faber for this ARC.

I wanted so much more to like this book. This family had their own personalities, their own problems, living in different places who come together over a weekend in NY to see the youngest son/brother play in the US Open. When they got together, what an overload of conversations and talking over each other and for me, one big headache following it all.

The parents, Liesel and Bill were annoying to me. Leisel was German born (sort of a hard woman to me), Bill the econ professor who had his own ways of thinking and he annoyed me with his idiosyncrasies. The oldest Nathan was successful and I couldn't understand his intellectual talk. His wife Clemence who was lucky to miss this whole reunion but he did bring his 2 daughters, Julie who was 10 who acted like a grown up and 5 year Margot, a typical 5 year old. Then there's Susie, the 2nd oldest, living with her husband and son, then Paul (the tennis player) and his live in girlfriend and their 2 year old son Cal. Then last but not least, Jean, the "baby" at 29 who is single and having an affair with a married man living in London. No idea what Jean does for a living or even if it was mentioned. If it was, I don't remember what is was.

The book obviously focused on Paul and his tennis game and how he was thinking of retiring at the end of this match due to his rankings mostly falling. I didn't like that he didn't associate much with the family when it was he who they were coming to see since he had to practice and get ready for the game and how he never told Dana how if he retired, he wanted to move to TX, where he grew up. I think there was problems with that relationship.

The last scene ended with the whole family watching and waiting for the outcome of the match. Who knows what the family did after that if if Paul and Dana moved to TX or what.

[Carla Burns · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I would have persevered to the end of this book but for the fact that a friend lent it to me and it would've seemed rude not to. I am also being generous in awarding three stars, which I have done on the basis that writing a novel - any novel - is an achievement worthy of some degree of respect.
That, however, is where my generosity wears thin. This is a novel in which absolutely nothing happens apart from some mild bickering over where to eat and how to travel. Each character runs along in their own little tram-line of personal self-obsession - and even the dilemmas with which they claim to be grappling are neither compelling nor ultimately resolved.
What I did enjoy were the brief glimpses of life in New York - mainly centred on where to eat and how to travel - and the occasional perceptive comment on human psychology, particularly those regarding the various siblings' positions in their respective families.
However, what I found most off-putting of all was the peculiar way it was written - run-on sentences, comma splices, sentences without verbs, and constant head-hopping; almost an example of how not to write a novel. Perhaps that is the norm in American literature, but it certainly didn't work for me.
For anyone who enjoys tennis and is interested in the dynamics of a group of rich, privileged people spending a weekend together, I would heartily recommend The Tennis Party by Madeleine Wickham - a book I have returned to time and again. Sadly the same will not be true for A Weekend in New York .

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book disappointed me as I expected more of a story than an introspective about family dynamics. Much of this tale hinges on whether our hero, Paul, plays well in the U.S. Open. Family members from around the globe descend on New York to watch him play. Does he win? The book ends with him playing his first round, so the reader never finds out.

Each family member has his own story, each of which we learn in depth. This detail went too far for me – I enjoy tennis and anticipated more of a game centered tale than a family centered saga. But even their stories are incomplete and left this reader unsatisfied. The author uses the names of some real players to lend authenticity to the text, but it doesn’t work when you know that Paul is a fictitious character and never played any of them.

I cannot argue that this is a poorly written book, because it does the job of bringing this caring, but disjointed, family to life. But it is very slow moving and I could not make myself read very many pages at one sitting.

Thank you to the LibraryThing Early Reviewers for the complimentary copy I received in a giveaway. There is no requirement to review and the opinions expressed are my own.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suspect this book won’t appeal to everyone, but I went from being slightly unsure at first to being quite engaged. I know that “quite engaged” probably doesn’t sound that enthusiastic but there was a lot to admire in Markovitz’s dense domestic tale about a Jewish family coming together for the opening of the US Open in which Paul, middle ranking tennis player and younger son of Bill and Liesel Essinger, is competing, for the last time (possibly) before he retires. The book reads somewhat like Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, dipping in and out of the various protagonists’ heads as their thoughts riffle through present dilemmas and the past they share. What I admired most about A Weekend in New York was the way the layers of thought and observation were woven together by the author. The final tapestry is rich and textured. Did I “like” the characters? I’m not sure, but I certainly enjoyed the writing. That said, there were occasional moments when I was pulled out of the story by what seemed to me to be a jarring choice of tense but the oh so deft observations and beautiful phrasing more than made up for it. If you love an angsty family drama that never lets up, then I’d recommend A Weekend in New York.

[Richard Bon · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I read, initially, I thought the story took place in 2017. I assumed the Essingers were caught up in all of their own bullsh*t during Trump's first year in office, Nathan Essinger considering helping the Trump administration make a legal case for their dirty work. When Hillary Clinton is mentioned as likely to run and win in 2016, and I realized they were in the early part of Obama's second term, the Essingers made a little more sense to me as a family of brilliant, but clueless, spoiled American brats who didn't realize how great they all had it before someone started talking about making America great again.

Nonetheless, I looked forward to reading this book every night and found the characters interesting and believable. Intelligent writing, fun to read. I wondered how Paul Essinger's first round US Open match would end, then started to think the novel might finish before its first serve. I was pleased with the ending the author chose. I can see how Dana could be considered a weak character, but I thought she was written perfectly in her role.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A contemporary novel about family dysfunction (yawn), an upper middle class American family (yawn), in New York City (I’m falling asleep). I had little interest. But a reputable authority (the esteemed Jordan from Browser Books in San Francisco) recommended A Weekend in New York, so with a holiday break afoot, and a need for fiction of the less challenging sort (I just finished Lispector’s The Chandelier so cut me some slack!), I gave it a go. I’m glad I did.

While the style and subject matter may not be the most innovative or surprising, Markovits does so much, so well, with seemingly so little. The craft and detail of this book that transcends its familiar, almost banal subject matter make it as impressive an achievement as a more flashy, boundary-pushing novel. Despite its white-people-problems trappings, New York is rich with real characters, feeling real things, speaking about them in crackling real dialogue. Humanity shines through in ways rare for a novel of this sort, or any sort really.

Am I getting soft in my own age? You tell me, but read it first before you do.