I love Elinor Lipman. She writes comedies with heart. Her characters are good intentioned amd smart. The language is lovely. I would wholeheartedly recommend any of her books. She is one of those authors that when you find her, you now have that lovely problem of having a bunch of books to read.
The Family Man falls under the category of "Not My Favorite of Her Books, But the One I Just Read." In their latest works, two of my favorite authors, Elinor Lipman and Carl Hiaasen, have addressed the issue of celebrity bearding. In both instances, it has not been as successful as their other creative ventures. Hiaasen in Star Island made me miss his itelligent outrage over political and environmental issues. Lipman tried to hard to make the notion of celebrity bearding seem like a well-meaning career opportunity, but that aspect of the story never seemed that believable to me.
I was still happy to read the book. I loved the hero, the family man, Henry Archer, who starts out this story relatively alone and gradually accumulates a tribe around him. He is resourceful and kind and someone you would want to succeed in life. It made me want to go back and read all of Lipman's books again She is that good.
