The Odds

October 3, 2011
Marion and Art, on the brink of divorce and bankruptcy, head back to Niagara Falls, where they spent their honeymoon decades earlier. This compact novel unfolds over Valentine’s Day weekend, culminating with the couple’s determination to gamble what money they have left at the roulette wheel in the hotel casino. Taking the metaphor for all its worth and then some, the two risk “throwing away their savings chasing the high not of money but of sheer possibility.” At his best, O’Nan (Emily, Alone) nails the persistence of betrayal long after wrongs have actually been committed; their desperation has become as routine as ordering dinner. The kitsch of the falls is effectively rendered, though the plot eventually devolves toward cliché, perhaps inevitably in the trappings of the setting. Rooting for the couple becomes more of a challenge once the language begins to feel as predictable as the Maid of the Mist ride. Learning that “he was more comfortable with the rose as the badge of their love, being both natural and ephemeral, than the ring, which seemed binding and permanent” doesn’t so much explain Marion as reveal a dependency on symbolism that at times interrupts an otherwise tender tale of imperfection and commitment.

November 1, 2011
An emotional richness permeates this short novel about a couple on the verge of ending their marriage while pondering whether they can salvage it. In recent years, O'Nan (Emily, Alone, 2011, etc.) has emerged as an accomplished chronicler of the bittersweet mundane, the everyday stories of characters who are no better or worse than their readers, but simply human, suffering through lost jobs, disintegrating families, dashed dreams, while showing a resilience in the appreciation of whatever blessings their lives afford them. Marking their 30th wedding anniversary, Art and Marion prepare for their impending divorce by taking one last trip together, a re-creation of their honeymoon at Niagara Falls. It's a splurge they can no longer afford, as they've both lost their jobs and they're about to lose their house, but Art hopes that going for broke at the casino with what little they have saved can reverse their fortunes. And though they've both had affairs that neither have been able to forget and at least one has found it hard to forgive, they still love each other. Or are comfortable with each other. Or at least used to each other. She recognizes that she has "succumbed to the inertia of middle age" while he worries that "without Marion he wouldn't know what to do or even who he was." So they spend their weekend drinking and gambling, grumbling about the tourist attractions, attending a Heart concert with a bunch of other middle-aged fans (a hilarious set piece), stumbling toward making love, complaining about uncomfortable shoes and going to the bathroom (a lot, for such a compact narrative). Each chapter title gives the odds on something to do with the novel ("Odds of a married couple making love on a given night: 1 in 5," "Odds of Heart playing ‘Crazy on You' in concert: 1 in 1"). Given the novel's subtitle, A Love Story, the odds of it not ending tragically are pretty good. A Valentine to marriage as it is actually lived in troubled times.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

September 1, 2011

Art and Marion Fowler are jobless and facing foreclosure, even as their marriage teeters on the brink. So what do they do? Head to Niagara Falls, book the bridal suite at the area's fanciest casino, and risk all at the roulette wheel. Another from the beloved O'Nan, who so sensitively makes the everyday hurts of everyday people real and important. This book will resonate profoundly in today's strapped environment; great for book clubs.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2011
A more or less spare novel from what we have come to anticipate as the verbally generous O'Nan is still a gift. While setting aside his customary interest in rich detail, he arrives here at a pin-sharp narrative that, importantly, retains his natural empathy for people worn nearly raw by life's cares. Even this potentially bleak story about a middle-aged couple's declining marriagewith all the relationship's fibers and filaments under obvious strainis warmed to a palatable temperature by O'Nan's sensitivity. The novel opens with an alarming phrase: This final weekend of their marriage . . . Both dexterity and understanding are required for a writer to pull a story up from such an apparent page-one nosedive. We get the backstory quickly: Art and Marion are spending Valentine's weekend at Niagara Falls, where they honeymooned three decades ago. Their finances and marriage are in ruins. Frequent shifts in point of view emphasize the difference in Art's and Marion's current thinking: Art hoping for reconciliation, Marion accepting what's what. How O'Nan saves his story from debilitating darkness or cringing sentimentality presents an impressive reading experience. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Author tour, considerable review attention, and a national radio campaign round out publicity measures.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

November 1, 2011

Their 30-year marriage stressed to the breaking point by financial troubles and infidelity, Art and Marion Fowler take one last trip together, to Niagara Falls, the site of their honeymoon, to make a desperate gamble with their remaining money and perhaps save their marriage. In this spare and engaging novel, O'Nan (Snow Angels) deftly interweaves the perspectives and memories of husband and wife, drawing a believable portrait of a long marriage, with its private jokes and rituals intermingling with half-buried resentments and miscommunications. Some incidents, particularly Marion's brief affair with a woman, could have been more fleshed out to give readers a better handle on the characters and what has kept them together. VERDICT Readers of contemporary literary fiction should enjoy the subtle dry humor and a story that gains momentum and pitches toward a satisfying, if somewhat ambiguous happy ending. [See Prepub Alert, 8/1/11.]--Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.