The Blue Angel
I liked the premise of a writing teacher dealing with his own writer’s block and the fact that one of his students is more talented than he is. I don’t know if I’ve ever read a convincing novel where the author writes inside the head of a character of the opposite sex, though.
Have you read She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb? The most extraordinary look into the mind of an emotional female written by a male. I was floored when I realized that it was written by a man.
I have to say, I think Alexander McCall Smith does it, both in the Ladies #1 series and the Isabel Dalhousie books.
Funny, I clicked through from the RSS feed to make the same comment that lisa did. She’s Come Undone is perhaps the only novel I’ve ever read that fits the “convincing novel where the author writes inside the head of a character of the opposite sex” description.
Ugh, I hated this book, sort of for the reason you mention. I mean, god help me if I have to read another novel about a has-been/wannabe (male) English professor who sleeps with one of his (female) students and then (surprise!) pays for it. Yawn. Plus it really irritated me the way the guy in this book was the hapless victim — the evil woman was deceitful and remorseless, using him up and spitting him out. Again, yawn.
Yeah, Robin, exactly. Stale.
I’ve never read the Lamb book, I think when it came out — did Oprah hype it? There was some reason I avoided it. Maybe I will reconsider, though.
I will “third” She’s Come Undone. There was ample Oprah-hype, yes, but I think it’s still worth a read.
I wish Wally Lamb would write more books, actually.
Caroline, have you read I Know This Much is True? It’s dense but another Wally masterpiece… though not a feminine POV this time.
Somebody beat me to it. Read She’s come Undone by Wally Lamb. Great book.
Iris Murdoch did a remarkable job of writing convincingly from all points of view (different genders, ages, social positions), especially in A Fairly Honourable Defeat and The Sacred and Profane Love Machine. (Though I can’t pronounce authoritatively on the male characters, natch.) Not all her books have such totally tripped out titles, btw.
Wallace Stegner wrote some amazing female characters in Angle of Repose. And of course, Joe Eszterhas has a keen insight into the female psyche.