Beginner's Greek: A Novel
by James Collins
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Book Summary Information
Author: James CollinsEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-01-09
ISBN: 0316021555
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Book Reviews of Beginner's Greek: A Novel
Book Review: Mr. Nice Guy navigates crosscurrents of the heart
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
In BEGINNER'S GREEK, Mr. Nice Guy is Peter Russell, a mid-level functionary in the Wall Street firm of Beeche and Co., pleasantly good-looking, above average in intelligence and education, polite, deferential to superiors, reasonably well-adjusted, financially sound, single, and endearingly awkward when it comes to women. Just the sort of Mr. Right that Any Girl seeks to marry and mother/change but who's reputedly hard to find. But, in the book's Prologue, Mr. Nice Guy meets Any Girl on a flight from New York to Los Angeles when Holly is placed in the seat next to Peter's. The two hit it off famously; for Peter at least, it's love at first encounter. On arriving in L.A., Peter asks for and is given Holly's phone number, which he promptly loses on the way to the hotel.
Fast forward four years. Improbable as it may seem, Holly has resurfaced and married Peter's best friend, Jonathan. In the meantime, Peter is engaged to Charlotte, a nice enough young lady, but not one that makes the former swoon with rapture. Peter and Holly are secretly in love with one another - always have been since the plane trip - but each will hardly admit it to self much less the other. Besides, Holly is now married, and Peter is too decent a chap to steal his best friend's wife. Conversely, Jonathan is a constant womanizer, who, on Peter's wedding day during the reception at a local country club, copulates with Charlotte's stepmother, Julia, on the fairway of the golf course's first hole. Almost immediately thereafter, a thunderstorm strikes and Jonathan is killed by lightning while leaving Julia pregnant. Holly is thus free to be romantically pursued. But Peter is now married to Charlotte, and he won't abandon his new spouse. Moreover, Peter's life is variously burdened with a vindictive and treacherous on-the-job department head, the fact that the immensely wealthy CEO of the company, widower Arthur Beeche, becomes smitten with Holly, and Peter himself is the object of the not unwelcome attentions of the stunningly sexy Isabella:
"So absorbed was he ... that it took Peter some time to notice that his inner left thigh felt strange. He thought about it for a moment, and then recognized the sensation of a hand stroking him there. He knew that the hand was a female one, for even through his trousers he could feel the fineness of its digits. He looked down and to the left, and then his gaze traveled from a bare wrist to a bare forearm, around a bare elbow, up a bare upper arm, over a bare shoulder, over a thin strap, up a long neck, around an ear (with a twirl), along a jaw line, then following the contours of a chin and mouth and nose until he was looking into two huge, liquid, glittering, chocolatey eyes. 'Penny for your thoughts,' Isabella said in a breathy whisper."
Things get, well, complicated.
Throughout this novel, author James Collins keeps the tone light and humorous. Except for Jonathan, nobody gets permanently hurt either emotionally or physically. Collins compounds even the most unlikable characters with a writer's affection.
BEGINNER'S GREEK is paramount Chick Lit. When Peter finally pours forth his true feelings for Holly, Any Girl (and perhaps the Sensitive 21st Century Male of popular mythology) will sigh deeply and tear-up. Since I believe that the author's purpose from the first sentence was to create a masterpiece of Chick Lit, I'm awarding 5 stars for its evident achievement with the caveat that any Real Man of legend will unlikely get through the first few pages, rather tossing the volume aside in favor of traditionally Neanderthal reading, such as the captions below the photos in Playboy's "Babes of the Pac 10" or some similar fare.
BEGINNER'S GREEK makes for excellent reading in the genre if you're so pre-disposed.
Summary of Beginner's Greek: A Novel
When Peter Russell finally meets the woman of his dreams he falls as madly in love as you can on a flight fromSo begins the immensely entertaining story of Peter and his unrequited love for his best friend's girl; of Charlotte and her less-than-perfect marriage to a man in love with someone else; of Jonathan and his wicked and fateful debauchery; and of Holly, the impetus for it all. Along the way, there's the evil boss, the desirable temptress, miscommunications, misrepresentations, fiendish behavior, letters gone astray, and ultimately, an ending in which every character gets his due.
Both incisive and wonderfully funny, this is a brilliantly understated comedy of manners in which love lost is found again.
"James Collins has written a romantic, funny and insightful page turner about love in modern times, missed opportunities and the wheel of fate (with a blow-out!) that is so engaging and real, you will find it impossible to put down. Peter Russell is an everyman filled with longing, lust and good sense. I promise you will root for him as fate throws him curves aplenty on his path to true love. BEGINNER'S GREEK and Peter Russell are keepers."
-- Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of Lucia, Lucia and Big Stone Gap (2007)
James Collins's Beginner's Greek is a tender tale of how love conquers all, even if it takes longer than some might be willing to wait. Chick Lit fans especially will appreciate the uniquely male perspective that Collins, who spent most of his career as a journalist and an investment banker, brings to this modern fairy tale.
When 27-year-old Peter Russell boards a cross-country flight to Los Angeles, he fully expects to sit next to the love of his life. As luck would have it, he sits next to Holly Edwards, with whom he falls in love instantly. A lost phone number leads to years of wondering "what if," until Peter's best friend Jonathan introduces him to his new girlfriend, who is of course the same Holly of Peter's dreams. After Jonathan and Holly marry, Peter settles down with Charlotte, a Francophile who Peter tries to tolerate, but mostly just evokes feelings of pity and hatred. Of course, as with any fairy tale, the possibility for a happy ending is never truly out of reach, and Beginner's Greek is chock full of twists and turns to keep the action going.
While some of the dialogue may make readers feel like they just stepped out of a Victorian novel ("Oh no! I had no idea it was so late! Poor Peter! I'm sure you were coming to fetch me!"), Collins's characters convey enough depth to keep readers engaged through some of the more fanciful stretches of this captivating novel. --Gisele Toueg
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