A Perfect Divorce

by Avery Corman

Karen and Rob are the well-intentioned parents of a teenage son, Tommy, who believe they can avoid the emotional fallout of their failed two-career marriage. Both are successful individuals who have pursued other personal relationships since their divorce, but have managed to stay connected through their son. When Tommy goes off the tracks, his troubles send shock waves through relationships on all sides. Staggering under the weight of his parents' expectations and need for denial, Tommy risks everything—and Avery Corman turns everyday life into a brilliant page-turning drama. Not since Kramer vs. Kramer , Corman's landmark novel and the basis for the Academy Award-winning motion picture, have truths about us—about marriage, divorce and parenting—been so accurately and emotionally dramatized.

Genres: Novels

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

Avery Corman (born November 28, 1935, in the Bronx, New York) is an American novelist.

He is the author of the novel Kramer vs. Kramer (1977) which created a sea change in attitudes toward child custody with the public and in the courts in the United States and internationally. Robert Benton wrote the screenplay and directed the movie of the same name Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. It won 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screen Play. A previous Corman novel, Oh, God! (1971) was the basis for the movie comedy Oh, God!, screenplay by Larry Gelbart, starring George Burns and John Denver. His other novels include The Old Neighborhood (1980), 50 (1987), Prized Possessions (1991), The Big Hype (1992), A Perfect Divorce (2004), and The Boyfriend from Hell (2006).

In a characteristic assessment of Corman's writing, critic Stefan Kanfer said in Time magazine about the novel, 50, "Avery Corman has a literary gift for dialogue and predicament. Sealed in a time capsule, 50 could tell future generations more about contemporary middle-aged mores than a library of sociological theses."

Foreign language editions of Corman's novels have been published throughout the world. He is the author of articles and essays in a wide number of publications, including The New York Times for which he has written for various sections of the newspaper.

He turned his attention to writing for the stage and collaborated with the composer Cy Coleman on a musical, The Great Ostrovsky, for which Corman wrote the book and also co-wrote the lyrics with Mr. Coleman. It was produced in regional theater in Philadelphia in 2004, a project curtailed with the passing of Mr. Coleman that year.

Reviews

[Frances Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Previous Avery Corman works I have read: Oh God! and Kramer vs. Kramer. I thoroughly enjoyed every one of them and I find this author to have a real sense of human interaction. I think I particularly liked this book because, as often seems to happen with me, the situation in many ways parallels what's going on in my own life right now. I have a 20-year-old son who is something of a lost ball in high weeds. A year of college and he quit, saying it's not for him. This after we shelled out many $$$ for private college preparatory schools. Although he does not assert the independence Tommy insists upon, I see a lot of similarities - including, I hate to confess, my own need to question my motivation in being uncomfortable with his not finishing college. Is my real issue that my son SHOULD BE in college but is not, and if so, in whose eyes? Am I really more concerned about what other people will think than what's in his best interest? Reading this book actually helped me crystallize and work through some of these issues. I hope mine lands on his feet and finds his niche, like Tommy. But I digress from the review. I think this author has a really good ear for dialogue and for creating believable, sympathetic characters. I loved Vickie (second wife of Rob, mother of two young children, stepmother to the beleaguered Tommy). Great character. I think this book deserves a much higher rating than its current 3.18.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karen and Rob Burrows are the well-intentioned parents of a teenage son, Tommy. They sincerely believe that they can avoid the emotional fallout that accompanies so many other divorces, when it comes to negotiating the demise of their own two-career marriage. Both are successful individuals and since their divorce was finalized four years ago, they have each pursued other personal relationships. However, they have managed to stay connected through their son.

When Tommy starts going off track academically, his troubles send shock waves through the relationships on all sides. Struggling under the weight of his parents' exorbitant expectations and need for denial, Tommy risks everything in order to take control of his own future. And Avery Corman manages to turn everyday life into a page-turning drama.

This is the second book by Avery Corman that I've read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I became completely engrossed in the story, and emotionally invested in the characters. The story was very well-written and believable; the characters were very much based in reality, and to me, their issues and family dynamics seemed universal. I give A Perfect Divorce by Avery Corman an A+! - If I could, I'd give this book an A+++!

[Adrienn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started to read this book with great expectations but unfortunately it was a total disappointment. The story itself would have been really interesting but the elaboration made it terrible to read. When you could finally follow a train of thought it suddenly ended and the focus shifted on something else. The introduction of too many characters made almost impossible to recognize them when they were mentioned for the second time. Moreover, the introduction of the characters reminded me of listing lots and lots of information without an end.
As for the characters, they were not lovable at all except for Tommy and Vickie. The sad thing, which I really, really missed from the story: Tommy's thoughts and the emotions. I had the feeling that the whole book is a list of information and we couldn't really read about their real feelings, only about the picture-like presentation of what they are doing. I also missed that we don't get to know much about Tommy's feelings and thoughts. The last few chapters tried to focus on him but it was only like a last and desperate kick to follow the story line.
To sum up, the book was a great disappointment to me.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know when you are reading a book and it is not terrible but you keep waiting for it to get good? This is one of those books. And it didnt get good until the last couple chapters. But not good enough for me to recommend to anyone. There were a lot of characters introduced right away. The main characters were very shallow. Not much depth as far as personality. I just couldnt get a good connection with them. They were just very much 'characters' and not 'real people'. I will say that finally at the very end the son did start to seem like a real person.

[Haylee Carpentar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very factual sounding. The writing style is a little odd and hard to get used to at first. I can appreciate a happy ending. Character development was great but WAY too much at the beginning. Almost drowns you. I’m not going to remember right at the beginning what everyone’s eye color is and what they’re wearing and how they style their hair. However, I can appreciate the detail to character. I think the characters all spoke the same way, I wish that was different and they had more personality when speaking. Everything else was fine. I liked the ending.

[Amanda D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book to read with a good storyline. I liked how it followed the lives of the parents after the divorce as well as the life of the child. No divorce is ever perfect, but this one was pretty good. Both parents seemed to really work hard to make it work for their son, but they had no idea how much it really affected him or how it would affect all of them as the years would go on.

[Sanja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cijelu knjigu sam cekala nesto, ne mora to nuzno biti nesto grandiozno, neki vatromet dogadaja, ali nesto, bilo sto da se pomakne s te mrtve tocke na koju me knjiga dovela i nazalost i ostavila.
Reci da je ovo los roman ili lose napisan bila bi velika laz, ali cjelokupni dojam mi je praznina. Kao citanje liste dogadaja doduse sa dobrom dozom elokventnosti

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be a very dry story. More a reporting of facts in a family's life than actual story.

[Walter Santome · Rating 3 out of 5]

Para pasar el rato. Creo que es el primer libro que leo en el que se indica la altura de todos los personajes.

[Ana Paula Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta interesante la temática pero no es un libro muy emocionante

[Antonella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un libro re tranquilo pero lindo y llevadero, te mantiene enganchado, pero sin salir mucho de una vida cotidiana.

[Stefanie Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this one because it's by the author of Kramer vs Kramer - although I haven't read that book, I did like the movie many years ago when I watched it.

The story centers around a couple who splits up and how they desperately try to have their divorce not to have an impact on their teenage son, which is of course impossible. It's interesting to me how many of these types of books feature couples where both of them are not only highly career driven but successful to the point their lives seem almost totally given over to their business. In this case, their son's life choices are not what they want for him and I really saw this going in a different direction for a time...but just as the end of the tale is coming up, everything is worked out to the satisfaction of all. I generally appreciate happy endings and everything all wrapped up but in this case it felt somewhat forced and unlikely. Oh, the typical college thing wasn't for him, but all of a sudden it turns out he has this talent neither he nor anybody else anticipated or saw before...!?! Just seemed a little pulled out of the air to me...all of which sounds as though I didn't enjoy the book, which isn't the case. There were some some very true to life portions about the nature of mature relationships and difficulty in balancing your life.

[Isshi69nikkei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Książka zaczęła się interesująco, by w 1/3 przygasnąć i zacząć nudzić, odłożyłam ją, wróciłam i... utonęłam. Chociaż były momenty kiedy dawałam w myślach 'słabe 3 gwiazdki', to ostatnie kilkadziesiąt stron zasługiwało na 5 i w efekcie daję 4 (a w myślach 4+).

Rozwód Doskonały jest napisany... nieco zbyt prostym, ale dowcipnym językiem i chociaż rozbija się momentami o szczegóły, to dotyczą one wydarzeń a nie kilkunastostronicowych opisów drzew - zdecydowanie na plus. Polubiłam bohaterów za ich prawdziwość i zwyczajność, wciągnęłam się w historię i trzymałam kciuki, by wszystko się ułożyło. Wczułam się w tę ksiażkę na płaszczyźnie emocjonalnej i westchnęłam z ulgą na widok happy endu. Całość daje nadzieję, bo chociaż nie wszystko się układa, a życie nie jest usłane różami, to jednak rzeczy potrafią iść w tym właściwym kierunku - mimo wszystko.

Styl nie był porażający i, jak wspomniałam, bywało nudnawo, lecz przesłanie całości po prostu do mnie przemówiło, a ostatnie kilkadziesiąt stron przeczytałam jednym rzutem. Obym w najbliższym czasie trafiła na więcej pozycji w podobnym hm.. nastroju fabularnym? Bardzo mi tego obecnie potrzeba.

[Natalija · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. Not so much a 'divorce manual' as a good insight into 'how to deal with your teenagers' and their search for themselves, decisions about college, education... Some say it's a predictable book without much things happening but I disagree - at least, it helped me enormously in facing my and my kids life choices (being a single, divorced mum whose twin daughters just started college, had some doubts about it... apparently, this book is just a story of my life). If you face similar situation in your life, read it - it might help you understanding that what you expect from your kids (young adults) does not have to be the only and/or the best option. And it might help you to cope with such situation. I recommended the book to some friend who were in such position and it helped them a lot.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a handbook on divorce so no one get that idea. It is fiction!! It was an interesting book on the effects of divorce on a teenager and when the big decisions of life come how one copes or not with them. It was also interesting to see how a parent's expectations for their children can smother a child and they will shut down. And furthermore, it talks about why some people get a divorce and how being selfish in a marriage will cause it to fall apart for no reason than that. It has a nice ending and its not depressing.

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was a little difficult to get into - the author introduced way too many characters in the first 20 pages or so and it was hard to remember who was who. But I stuck with in and by the end I was hooked. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who is a child of divorced parents or who is divorced themselves, because I think they would identify with the emotions of the main characters much more easily than I did.

[Sheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story about a divorced couple and thier teenage son's attempt to cope with his parent's divorce. The book illustrates the struggle of 2 professional and successful parents who grew apart due to their careers and their micro-management of their son's life to MAKE him extraordinary.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It's interesting reading a book from so many years ago that cell phones were not a thing, where people actually left messages and had to wait for people to get home and return their phone calls. I enjoyed the author and the book definitely held my interest.

[Kate Nadeau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really slow to start, lots of character development; but it turns into a great read that you will not want to put down.

[Jackie Simons]

Read 11/04

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as impactful as "Kramer vs Kramer", but still a sensitive look at the fall-out from divorce, however "well" planned and managed between the adults.