Unexpectedly suspenseful, but written with all the fluency and dark humor of Tom Perrotta's The Wishbones and Joe College , Little Children exposes the adult dramas unfolding amidst the swingsets and slides of an ordinary American playground. Tom Perrotta's thirty-ish parents of young children are a varied and surprising bunch. There's Todd, the handsome stay-at-home dad dubbed "The Prom King" by the moms of the playground; Sarah, a lapsed feminist with a bisexual past, who seems to have stumbled into a traditional ...
Read More
Unexpectedly suspenseful, but written with all the fluency and dark humor of Tom Perrotta's The Wishbones and Joe College , Little Children exposes the adult dramas unfolding amidst the swingsets and slides of an ordinary American playground. Tom Perrotta's thirty-ish parents of young children are a varied and surprising bunch. There's Todd, the handsome stay-at-home dad dubbed "The Prom King" by the moms of the playground; Sarah, a lapsed feminist with a bisexual past, who seems to have stumbled into a traditional marriage; Richard, Sarah's husband, who has found himself more and more involved with a fantasy life on the internet than with the flesh and blood in his own house; and Mary Ann, who thinks she has it all figured out, down to scheduling a weekly roll in the hay with her husband, every Tuesday at 9pm. They all raise their kids in the kind of sleepy American suburb where nothing ever seems to happen--at least until one eventful summer, when a convicted child molester moves back to town, and two restless parents begin an affair that goes further than either of them could have imagined. Perrotta received Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for best screenplay for t he film adaptation of Little Children , which was directed by Todd Field and starred Kate Winslet and Jennifer Connelly.
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 355 p. May show signs of wear, highlighting, writing, and previous use. This item may be a former library book with typical markings. No guarantee on products that contain supplements Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. Twenty-five year bookseller with shipments to over fifty million happy customers.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 355 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 355 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fair. This copy has clearly been enjoyed-expect noticeable shelf wear and some minor creases to the cover. Binding is strong and all pages are legible. May contain previous library markings or stamps.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fair. Shows signs of wear. Jacket may be torn cover may have creases pages have some writing and highlighting. May have some water damage. May be a former library book.
I liked the movie. It was clever, amusing, and touching. Bought the book after I found out that the movie was made after it. I'm glad I did. As often is the case - the book is better than the movie, in all aspects - and the plot, though quite close, is not identical to that of the movie. Easy to read, clever, funny, sexy. Worth every penny of the $ 2 it costs.
Ellyb
Mar 19, 2008
Pointed absurdities
I've heard this book described in many places as a comedy, and while there are elements of the absurd at work in "Little Children," I think it would be misleading to label it this way. The comedy here is of small, human inanities. Most people's lives are a variation on a basic tragi-comedy theme, and this is what Perrotta portrays, albeit with heightened circumstances that many people will not encounter, at least not all at the same time. This novel defies "aboutness." I suppose it's "about" an affair between two married parents, and "about" a community's reaction to the presence of a pedophile in their neighborhood, but really the book is more than that. It's about the failure of many contemporary adults to actually become adults. In our "advanced" times, with our freedom to choose a spouses, academic paths, and whether or not to have kids, we've come to expect fulfillment in every area of our life. Whoops. Looks like having options or having no options has very little to do with long term happiness or fulfillment. Perrotta is gentle but absolute in highlighting the absurdity of our expectations.
Ferret
Aug 22, 2007
Satisfying
Little Children was a fun read. It was funny and sad all tied up together in one easy to read bundle. The ending seemed a little awkward to me, but with an finishing line like this book has, I'd definantly say it's worth it. The best way I can describe the book is beautiful tragedy.
greebs
May 10, 2007
We are all little children.
This book falls more into the "character-driven" category rather than "plot-driven," and folks who need a hard, tight plot might get frustrated. But it's there. The loose structure focuses on a very suburban neighborhood, and how various individuals react when a child molester moves in. To say that this is the dominant thread is incorrect, however - one mother begins an affair by jokingly kissing a strange man in a park and finding instant chemistry; another person is addicted to Internet porn, while another mother schedules sex with her husband for 9 p.m. on Tuesdays. The little children are, of course, not the three and four year olds that dominate all of their lives and thoughts (well, almost all their thoughts), but the parents themselves. They act childishly, they have hierarchies in their friendships that mimic the playground, and leave bags of burning dog poop on front porches as an act of spite.
The book is often very funny, at times acutely sad, and most importantly, it's true.
