The Kept Man

September 24, 2007
In this lugubrious first novel from Brooklynite Attenberg (Instant Love
), Jarvis Miller is a young, pretty “half-widow” in the Williamsburg neighborhood. For six years, her brilliant painter husband, Martin Miller, has lain in a coma in a nursing home, while Jarvis rarely leaves the apartment for more than her once-a-week visit to see him. With frequent musings such as “Waiting for Martin to wake up is a different kind of waiting than waiting for him to die,” Jarvis slowly takes steps to go on with her life, and in the process, begins to suspect that her picture-perfect marriage may have been something else entirely. She finds little solace in Alice, Martin's glossy, possessive art dealer, or in Davis, Martin's louche artist friend. What helps the most is a serendipitous friendship with three married men she meets in a Laundromat, “The Kept Men Club”; the three are financially supported by their wives just as Jarvis, former party girl, was supported first by Martin, and now by his legacy. Attenberg gets the Williamsburg cityscape correct but builds almost zero tension with Jarvis's depressive brooding over Martin, his continued hold on her and the decisions she faces. Not for a moment in this airless dirge does Jarvis or her marriage feel credible.

Starred review from October 15, 2007
Short story writer Attenberg ("Instant Love") successfully demonstrates her talent and experience in her debut novel. Her heroine is Jarvis, a dark-haired young woman of Irish descent whose offbeat beauty gets her noticed everywhere. Even rising art star Martin Miller has to have her, and their marriage is one of funky, punk-rock counterculture bliss in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY. And then the unthinkable happensat the brink of fame, Martin suffers a fall that leaves him in a coma. As the months turn into years with Martin suspended in time, Jarvis's devotion to him continueseven as her life moves forward without him. Her serendipitous meeting of new friends through a local Laundromat widens Jarvis's horizons and leads her to delve into the history of Martin's work. What she finds shakes her world and the foundation of their happy (but dormant) marriage. An engaging and innovative first novel for all fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 9/1/07.]Beth Gibbs, Davidson, NC

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2007
In her first novel, Attenbergtells the story of former party girl Jarvis, the young wife of a famous artist, Martin Miller, who has been in a coma for six years. During that time, Jarvis has drifted through life, trying to cope with her grief as best she can while living a primarily solitary existence in her Williamsburg apartment. As she delves deeper into the past, she is forced to confront bitter truths about her marriage; Alice, her husbands brittle publicist; and Davis, his lascivious friend. Through it all, she is supported by a group of men she meets at a local laundromat who are financially supported by their wives just as she is supported by Martin and his paintings. Although Jarvis lack of direction and passivity weigh things down, Attenberg does have a keen eye for detail and weaves an intriguing tale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)