New Zealand Listener – August 24, 2019

AUGUST 24 2019 LISTENER

and film-makers, name-drops titles of

contemporary songs and artists (there’s

even a playlist for one drive) and voices

opinions and ideas in expository passages.

Many seem superfluous and appear

anxious to be relevant and resonant.

Cliff, who became interested in St

Joseph while on the University of Iowa’s

International Writing Program in 2013,

presents a catch-all novel that closes with

an unexpected leap into the mystic that

some may find unconvincing. l

NAILING DOWN THE SAINT, by Craig Cliff

(Penguin Random House, $38)

Graham Reid’s 2009 travel writing collection,

The Idiot Boy Who Flew, took its title from

a story about his visit to St Joseph’s birthplace,

Copertino, the nature of saints and the industry

around them, and Italian culture.

biased jury. He keeps his marriage, job

and teacher-of-the-year award. Maggie is

jeered at in the street, her bright future

diminished to waitressing jobs.

Lina has two children and a husband

who won’t kiss her. His continual

rejection drives her to seek out Aidan, the

boyfriend she had as a teenager. They split

after Lina was raped at a party that Aidan

didn’t attend. Lina and the now-married

Aidan start an affair. It’s a casual only-

when-he-can-be-bothered arrangement,

but for Lina, his kisses are “the only thing

she ever wanted”. Aidan calls the shots,

the only power Lina has is when she

“‘pretends there is something in her life

beyond him”. Her lodestar is movie The

Princess Bride; she drives aimlessly around

the empty suburbs in her big car, her

silent toddler in the back, obsessing about

a childhood sweetheart. Always alone and

under-occupied, she is uninvolved in the

wider world – Betty Draper without the

50s wardrobe.

Aristocratic New Englander Sloane

owns a restaurant with her chef husband

Richard. Richard likes her to have sex

with other people while he watches (and

sometimes participates). It’s hard to tell

how much of it is her choice. She loves

Fifty Shades of Grey, a book that makes

her feel normal. When something bad

happens, she takes the blame to protect

Richard.

Although her book is lively, impeccably

researched and eye-wateringly authentic,

Taddeo’s writing can get a little florid. And

although it was eight years in the making,

the book might have felt more up-to-date

if it had widened its focus to include some

reference to feminism and the Me Too

movement (which had started by the end

of Maggie’s story, in 2018). What effect,

if any, have the gains of feminism had

on these women? It’s a question, not a

criticism.

The book is strongest in its account of

Maggie. The powerful

exploiting the

vulnerable and getting

rewarded for it. Desire?

It’s the last word you’d

associate with Maggie’s

story. l

THREE WOMEN, by Lisa

Taddeo (Bloomsbury,

$34.99)

On a wing and prayer: Craig Cliff.

The book might have

felt more up-to-date if it

had widened its focus to

include some reference to

feminism and the Me Too

movement.

NEW

ZEALAND

SYMPHONY

ORCHESTRA

PODIUM SERIES

Book at nzso.co.nz

NEW

ZEALAND

SYMPHONY

ORCHESTRA

PODIUM SERIES

Book at nzso.co.nz

Asher Fisch Conductor

Louis Lortie Piano

Rachmaninov 

Piano Concerto No. 2

Richard Strauss 

Death and Transfiguration

(Tod und Verklärung)

Wagner 

Overture to Tannhäuser

Transfi guration

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Sat, 14 Sep, 7.30pm

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