What do you think?
Rate this book
Second Marriage
Book by Barthelme, Frederick
217 pages, Paperback
First published December 3, 1984
2 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Frederick Barthelme
56 books82 followersBarthelme's works are known for their focus on the landscape of the New South. Along with his reputation as a minimalist, together with writers Raymond Carver, Ann Beattie, Amy Hempel, and Mary Robison, Barthelme's work has also been described by terms such as "dirty realism" and "K-mart realism."He published his first short story in The New Yorker,and has claimed that a rotisserie chicken helped him understand that he needed to write about ordinary people.He has moved away from the postmodern stylings of his older brother, Donald Barthelme, though his brother's influence can be seen in his earliest works, Rangoon and War and War.
Barthelme was thirty-three year editor and visionary of Mississippi Review, known for recognizing and publishing once new talents such as Larry Brown, Curtis Sittenfeld, and Amy Hempel early in their careers.
Barthelme was thirty-three year editor and visionary of Mississippi Review, known for recognizing and publishing once new talents such as Larry Brown, Curtis Sittenfeld, and Amy Hempel early in their careers.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 27, 2007
This book should be read by every person who breathes air. My new life mission is to deliver copies to ailing cancer-victims in local hospitals so they can read this book before they die.
July 15, 2015
I hesitated to write a review because sometimes a book hits you on a personal level. This is one of them.
It is the tale of a second marriage where the previous wife comes in and sets up house with the current partner. It is a comedy and has been the best depiction of marital strife and breakdown in terms of me being able to relate.
This writing is a cross between Carver and Vonnegut. It seems unclear and understandable to the male protagonist why the marriage is breaking down but there is no hate or malice. It is so contrary to how most splits are portrayed.
The one that understands the most about relationships is the young girl who kind of leads the reader into the only exterior emotional depth of the book. But his confusion and apparent lack of emotion are betrayed by some of his actions and the small bits of activity he does...
I related. I liked the light humour.
It is the tale of a second marriage where the previous wife comes in and sets up house with the current partner. It is a comedy and has been the best depiction of marital strife and breakdown in terms of me being able to relate.
This writing is a cross between Carver and Vonnegut. It seems unclear and understandable to the male protagonist why the marriage is breaking down but there is no hate or malice. It is so contrary to how most splits are portrayed.
The one that understands the most about relationships is the young girl who kind of leads the reader into the only exterior emotional depth of the book. But his confusion and apparent lack of emotion are betrayed by some of his actions and the small bits of activity he does...
I related. I liked the light humour.
February 4, 2025
Second Marriage - Frederick Barthelme
I read this in a depressed mindset which might have affected my experience of it somewhat. My father has dementia and, living on the other side of the world, I only get to see him once a year, when his condition has considerably worsened from the previous visit. When I read Barthelme’s Second Marriage, I was soon after returning from my last visit, bearing the weight of the realisation in a year’s time, he might not recognise me.
This doesn’t have any thematic relevance to the novel, but I do think it contributed to how deeply affecting I found this novel. I’ve read a few Barthelmes before, his short story collections and his novel There Must Be Some Mistake. In my 20s he was one of my favourite authors and for whatever reason recently, I was compelled to read him again.
The pithy summary of Second Marriage is that it’s about a man whose second wife leaves him for his first wife. But Barthelme can’t really be summarised. His brilliance is in his details. How he omits almost all of his protagonists’ internal thoughts and feelings, opting instead to convey everything through action. We pilot Henry, the protagonist of the novel, like we’re staring out through glass windows in his head. We hear what he says and see what he sees, but we have no idea how he feels about all of it.
At a certain point, it becomes clear that Henry doesn’t know either. His second wife Theo begins digging a hole in the backyard. Henry enquires as to what she’s doing and Theo gives him a confusing responds, which Henry accepts. He goes back inside and watches TV while his daughter Rachel wonders what the hell is going on. But Henry doesn’t know either. And he tried to ask.
Soon enough Henry’s first wife moves in and he’s fine with it, and then Theo asks him to move out, which he does. I went through a cycle of emotions wondering what the hell Henry was doing, finding it sometimes funny, sometimes deeply sad, and sometimes just strange.
And really, since Dad’s diagnosis, I’ve felt much the same. Like I’m peering out through glass windows in my head. I’m still participating in all the things we do to fill our days, but inside everything’s disembodied, like I can’t connect two meaningful thoughts together to perform an action that makes sense to me. I feel like it felt to be Henry, and I loved this book because of it.
I read this in a depressed mindset which might have affected my experience of it somewhat. My father has dementia and, living on the other side of the world, I only get to see him once a year, when his condition has considerably worsened from the previous visit. When I read Barthelme’s Second Marriage, I was soon after returning from my last visit, bearing the weight of the realisation in a year’s time, he might not recognise me.
This doesn’t have any thematic relevance to the novel, but I do think it contributed to how deeply affecting I found this novel. I’ve read a few Barthelmes before, his short story collections and his novel There Must Be Some Mistake. In my 20s he was one of my favourite authors and for whatever reason recently, I was compelled to read him again.
The pithy summary of Second Marriage is that it’s about a man whose second wife leaves him for his first wife. But Barthelme can’t really be summarised. His brilliance is in his details. How he omits almost all of his protagonists’ internal thoughts and feelings, opting instead to convey everything through action. We pilot Henry, the protagonist of the novel, like we’re staring out through glass windows in his head. We hear what he says and see what he sees, but we have no idea how he feels about all of it.
At a certain point, it becomes clear that Henry doesn’t know either. His second wife Theo begins digging a hole in the backyard. Henry enquires as to what she’s doing and Theo gives him a confusing responds, which Henry accepts. He goes back inside and watches TV while his daughter Rachel wonders what the hell is going on. But Henry doesn’t know either. And he tried to ask.
Soon enough Henry’s first wife moves in and he’s fine with it, and then Theo asks him to move out, which he does. I went through a cycle of emotions wondering what the hell Henry was doing, finding it sometimes funny, sometimes deeply sad, and sometimes just strange.
And really, since Dad’s diagnosis, I’ve felt much the same. Like I’m peering out through glass windows in my head. I’m still participating in all the things we do to fill our days, but inside everything’s disembodied, like I can’t connect two meaningful thoughts together to perform an action that makes sense to me. I feel like it felt to be Henry, and I loved this book because of it.
August 15, 2018
SPOILER FREE
I stumbled across this guy in an issue of Granta (Dirty Realism) and on the strength of that short story, bought this novel. A clue to how much I liked this is the fact that I have 4 more in my Thriftbooks shopping cart now.
What I like about this guy's writing, as experienced in this book:
-dialogue. I have to admit that fairly often I'm not sure what's transpiring between people based on their sometimes very brief, apparently meaning-packed comments to each other, but I don't mind that too much. Sometimes I think it's just people being flip. Other times though, wow, it can really pack a punch
-he shows, doesn't tell. In one of the examples of the above, he manages perfectly, indirectly, to convey something painfully tender, and also manages to convey (on a larger scale; via multiple examples within a story) how common and maybe unnoticed those moments are in real life. his people, who seem sharp, prickly, distant, aloof, etc expose their pale, quivering insides; they show courage
-there's a delicious lack of judgment. people do what they feel like doing, and other people react to it. it's so simple. there isn't a lot of agonizing about things. he may well have agonized over the writing, but like a ballerina, you only see the simple-looking, lovely result
I stumbled across this guy in an issue of Granta (Dirty Realism) and on the strength of that short story, bought this novel. A clue to how much I liked this is the fact that I have 4 more in my Thriftbooks shopping cart now.
What I like about this guy's writing, as experienced in this book:
-dialogue. I have to admit that fairly often I'm not sure what's transpiring between people based on their sometimes very brief, apparently meaning-packed comments to each other, but I don't mind that too much. Sometimes I think it's just people being flip. Other times though, wow, it can really pack a punch
-he shows, doesn't tell. In one of the examples of the above, he manages perfectly, indirectly, to convey something painfully tender, and also manages to convey (on a larger scale; via multiple examples within a story) how common and maybe unnoticed those moments are in real life. his people, who seem sharp, prickly, distant, aloof, etc expose their pale, quivering insides; they show courage
-there's a delicious lack of judgment. people do what they feel like doing, and other people react to it. it's so simple. there isn't a lot of agonizing about things. he may well have agonized over the writing, but like a ballerina, you only see the simple-looking, lovely result
April 28, 2021
Another classic of suburban ennui by one of my favourite under-appreciated American novelists. Weirdly disjointed at times in the dialogue but that’s part of its charm.
December 28, 2010
I bought this book thinking that it was by Donald Bartheleme (I know, airhead move). So, Frederick is Donald's brother and tends to write in a very realistic manner, not at all the dryly humorous post modern writing style of his older brother. I enjoyed this book, but I felt it was a bit awkward at times, I think this was his first novel and it kinda of shows. Still it was an ok read, I especially identified and liked the protagonist's laid back way of responding to the world around him, he was pretty passive about his lot in life, which in this case is admirable because the other characters (except for his daughter) make strange decisions about life.
March 20, 2008
Apparently I give everything four stars. Still. I mean it. Four stars. Weird little book that ambles along, and I honestly can't remember much about it except for the fact that I enjoyed it. I'm just dredging up some of the more unusual things I've read & enjoyed, and this definitely qualifies.
May 28, 2015
A good book involving people who like to chill
July 30, 2016
Brief depressing saga of love gone sour
with quirky characters and dialogue.
with quirky characters and dialogue.
December 2, 2022
So beautiful in such a mundane way.
Although, I am not quite sure I will ever fully grasp the magnitude of Barthelme's infatuation with writing about people eating chicken.
Although, I am not quite sure I will ever fully grasp the magnitude of Barthelme's infatuation with writing about people eating chicken.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews