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Close-Up: A Novel
A story about the ties that bind us, Close-Up explores what makes, drives, complicates, and undermines our most important relationships.
In this artful, expansive novel, we follow five protagonists―Jacob, Martin, Caroline, Jeanie, and Jill―through love, marriage, parenthood, and the romance of friendship as they struggle to make sense of themselves and each other and of what makes for good art, good magic, and a good life. What follows is a story only Michelle Herman could one of missed connections and old grievances, of loneliness and longing, of rifts and reconciliations and redemption. Close-Up depicts the fraught entanglements of the relationships we’re born into and those we choose―carefully or with abandon―with the precision and nuance that has characterized her work over the last thirty years.
In this artful, expansive novel, we follow five protagonists―Jacob, Martin, Caroline, Jeanie, and Jill―through love, marriage, parenthood, and the romance of friendship as they struggle to make sense of themselves and each other and of what makes for good art, good magic, and a good life. What follows is a story only Michelle Herman could one of missed connections and old grievances, of loneliness and longing, of rifts and reconciliations and redemption. Close-Up depicts the fraught entanglements of the relationships we’re born into and those we choose―carefully or with abandon―with the precision and nuance that has characterized her work over the last thirty years.
- GenresFiction
376 pages, Paperback
Published March 15, 2022
9 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
Michelle Herman
22 books34 followersMichelle Herman‘s newest book is If You Say So, her fourth collection of essays/memoirs. You can read her parenting, family, and relationship advice weekly in the Sunday Care and Feeding column at Slate.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Michelle has lived for many years in Columbus, Ohio, where she lives in a 120-year-old house with her husband, the painter Glen Holland.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Michelle has lived for many years in Columbus, Ohio, where she lives in a 120-year-old house with her husband, the painter Glen Holland.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 16, 2023
I’m not sure exactly how I feel about this book. At first, I didn’t care for any of the characters. As the book progressed, and as the characters developed, I discovered that I liked them all. Very similar to life, as you learn more about someone’s past and motivations, you like them more.
April 22, 2022
Loved the relationships that unfolded in CLOSE-UP. Jacob and Caroline cobbled together family as best they could, the best magic trick anyone could pull off. Teared up reading Jill reflect on teaching. Loved the scene where Caroline breaks big news to Jeanie and then their relationship begins to thaw. Really enjoyed the snippets of everyone's writing, even Jacob's magic show in the end, which really did have me on the edge of my seat, imagining the disappearance of an origami phoenix. Oh, and I'm not sure I'd ever seen a young child given so much dialogue before, and—sweet Harry!—it worked. CLOSE-UP reminds us that everything seems inevitable after the fact, like a bird that flew the coop (or didn't), like two old dogs that learned new tricks (or didn't), and I'm sad it's over. Also, half the book took place between parentheses or em dashes, and a fifth of the book was in italics, and—you know what?—I loved it.
September 18, 2022
A struggle to finish. I skipped large bits of it at a time. So many characters that I never cared about any of them, except maybe the young couple.
The time jumps were jarring, reducing the continuity of the novel.
Wouldn't it be great if academic writers were able to set their novels in non-academic settings?
The time jumps were jarring, reducing the continuity of the novel.
Wouldn't it be great if academic writers were able to set their novels in non-academic settings?
May 17, 2022
I enjoyed this novel but that is not surprising as I have enjoyed every book of Michelle's that I have read. Perhaps I am a little biased as well having interviewed her and interreacted with her in person at book signings, etc.
Here is what I had to say about Dog, the novel of which this is a sequel of sorts:
"And I think this is what makes her writing interesting – outside of the obvious skill she brings to description, inner dialogue, etc. – her writing is almost emotional and psychological cartography. It is something everyone can relate to and wrestle with and yet, because Herman’s characters are just different enough from us, the exploration is fresh and new."
Close-Up is more complex, more characters and more voices, but it is this quality that continues to shine through. You explore life through the eyes of the characters but not plot driven actions, although there is some of that, but the emotional and psychological journey we take in our families, relationships, etc.
And that is what the book is about in the end: what does family mean and how does the unique experience of our own families shape and impact our lives and relationships. And isn't that what literature and art is about: explore what it means to be human.
Here is what I had to say about Dog, the novel of which this is a sequel of sorts:
"And I think this is what makes her writing interesting – outside of the obvious skill she brings to description, inner dialogue, etc. – her writing is almost emotional and psychological cartography. It is something everyone can relate to and wrestle with and yet, because Herman’s characters are just different enough from us, the exploration is fresh and new."
Close-Up is more complex, more characters and more voices, but it is this quality that continues to shine through. You explore life through the eyes of the characters but not plot driven actions, although there is some of that, but the emotional and psychological journey we take in our families, relationships, etc.
And that is what the book is about in the end: what does family mean and how does the unique experience of our own families shape and impact our lives and relationships. And isn't that what literature and art is about: explore what it means to be human.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews