USA edition 1980
British edition
William Collins Sons & Co Ltd, Glasgow Fontana paperback 1981

Corman's work is new to me, but since some of his books were made into movies, let me just say this: To make a movie of this, you'd have to put the whole first half of the book under the opening credits. It's a very quiet book, with the narrator protagonist just telling the whole thing, recounting how he got to where he is now.

There are a couple of funny bits (eg, his wife's parents, Jewish horsepeople from Sacramento) and a few party scenes (including one that almost culminates in an infedility) but that's about it for excitement. It's simply a book that questions the truth of the maxim 'You Can't Go Home Again.' And it's 'women's fiction' (a la' [a:Elizabeth Berg|3529|Elizabeth Berg|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1267571795p2/3529.jpg]) even though it's written about a guy.

The only thing I think I've read like it is [b:The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry|13227454|The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry|Rachel Joyce|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335816092s/13227454.jpg|18156927] - but that is *much* better. ( )

Steve Robbins easily rose to the heights of his career from advertising copywriter to partner of a successful agency. But the fulfillment was limited and cynicism came to a breaking point, as did his marriage. He found new fulfillment in his past. When he rose again, it was in nostalgia.

I suppose some find fulfillment there. While I enjoy connections to my past, even to my ancestors. I do not find fulfillment in nostalgia. ( )

Steven Robbins, advertising executive, has reached the top of his profession, as has his wife in hers, and the couple has the perfect life - or so they thought, until the pressures of their careers drive them apart, and they undergo a trial separation. During that time an unhappy Steve remakes his life, resigning from his job and starting a new life in the old Bronx neighborhood he grew up in, eventually recreating a less stressful and more satisfying life for himself. This novel by the author of "Oh, God" and "Kramer vs. Kramer" is lesser known than those two books which were made into fine movies, but it is a good story all the same, with a life-affirming ending that would give hope to anybody trapped in a similar struggle for filthy lucre. I also envy Steve the eventual career he created for himself. ( )