Pearlman, Ann
Description
Product Description Infidelity is the story of one family and three marriages. It is also a story that resonates in many American marriages. In seamle
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ss prose and a mesmerizing voice, rich scenes move characters across the span of the twentieth century and three continents. Pearlman mines a universal vein in her bluntly honest memoir of infidelity, which tells the tale of the effects of marital infidelity across three generations of American women: her grandmother, her mother, and herself. As the women coped with the intensity the father and grandfathers adulteries added, Ann learned of the wisdom, pain, and female strength the mens behavior provoked. As the 1960s rolled in with the sexual political revolution, Ann lived "la dolce vita" in Europe. Following the construction of the Berlin Wall, she returned to the US to complete her studies. She fell in love with Tyrone, an African-American professional football player and artist, and together they took part in the civil rights movement. They helped each other obtain graduate degrees and forged dual careers, raising adopted and biological children. Tyrone became a University professor teaching painting and Ann became a psychotherapist and marriage and family counselor. She wrote a book on the joys of sexual monogamy and embarked on an authors tour appearing on TV talk shows (Oprah, Donahue, Sally Jesse Raphael) as an expert on marriage. Then, as the twentieth century was drawing to a close, their ten-year-old daughter discovered her fathers affair with a married Japanese woman from a distinguished family. Once again, Ann was forced to revisit infidelity, an echo from the previous generation. Infidelity: a Memoir is the book every married man and woman should. Ann Pearlman is on her way to becoming a major literary voice. From Publishers Weekly An unusually vivid and striking account of the effects of men's affairs on their wives and daughters, this memoir spans three generations of the author's Jewish family. The women are close and discuss the gambling, alcoholism and "Don Juanism" of their men, even with the younger girls present; they encourage the girls always to remain able to support themselves and their children. Pearlman's gift for characterization shines through in her portrayal of her intelligent and charismatic father, who explains Freud to her and her brother at family dinners, which are often served late because he secretly visits his mistress after work. Following the sage advice of her female relatives, Pearlman travels, takes lovers and earns her M.S.W. to become a therapist/counselor. "Determined not to redo my mother's marriage," she eventually marries an African-American football player and artist she is certain will remain faithful to her and to whom she can be faithful. After 30 years with him, and after having published a book on keeping the passion alive in a long-term marriage, however, Pearlman discovers her husband's affair with a married Japanese student in one of the university art courses he teaches. While the experiences of her clients in therapy hauntingly reflect her own, Pearlman gives herself one year to either save her marriage or end it. In compact sentences and chapters, Pearlman uses the present tense to bring scenes from all stages of her life to full-color vitality. This collection of vignettes coalesces into an immediate, personal story of depth and power, as gripping as a good novel. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review Here are the inner dynamics of family lore, periodic joy and the roots of tragedy: memories are old identities. --Michael S. Harper, Professor of English, Brown University; author of Songlines of the Michaeltree and Dear John, Dear Coltrane. About the Author Ann Pearlman grew up in Chicago and Pittsburgh the privileged daughter of the Jewish radical intellectual class. As a young woman, she went on archeological digs, worked with prostitutes in London, hung out
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