Menage by Alix Kates Shulman

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Synopsis

Heather and Mack McKay seem to have it all: wealth, a dream house in the suburbs, and two adorable children along with the nannies to raise them. But their marriage has lost its savor: she is a frustrated writer and he longs for a cultural trophy to hang on his belt. During a chance encounter in LA, Mack invites exiled writer Zoltan Barbu-once lionized as a political hero, now becoming a has-been-to live with him and his wife in their luxurious home. The... more

Heather and Mack McKay seem to have it all: wealth, a dream house in the suburbs, and two adorable children along with the nannies to raise them. But their marriage has lost its savor: she is a frustrated writer and he longs for a cultural trophy to hang on his belt. During a chance encounter in LA, Mack invites exiled writer Zoltan Barbu-once lionized as a political hero, now becoming a has-been-to live with him and his wife in their luxurious home. The plan should provide Heather with literary companionship, Mack with cultural cachet, and Zoltan himself with a pastoral environment in which to overcome his writer's block and produce a masterpiece. Of course, as happens with triangles, complications arise-some hilarious, some sad-as the three players pursue a game that leads to shifting alliances and sexual misadventures. Shulman pokes fun at our modern malaise (why is having it all never enough?), even as she traces the ever-changing dynamics within a marriage. Ménage is a bravura performance from one of America's most renowned feminist writers. less

About Alix Kates Shulman

Alix Kates Shulman is the author of the feminist classic Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen and three other novels; two previous memoirs, including the award-winning Drinking the Rain; and two books on the political activist Emma Goldman. She lives in New York City.