cover image IDEAL MARRIAGE

IDEAL MARRIAGE

Peter Friedman, . . Permanent, $24 (176pp) ISBN 978-1-57962-100-1

Friedman's slim, puckish first novel chronicles the life of high school student Andre Schulman and his quest to lose his virginity in 1957 New York. Having discovered his parents' copy of H. Van de Velde's 1926 book, Ideal Marriage , 16-year-old Andre takes it as his guide as he navigates the treacherous landscapes of teenage romance and lust. His true love is Jessica, a girl from Massachusetts he meets while she is vacationing with her family in Manhattan. Her return home forces him to practice his seduction techniques on others, including an NYU student and Gloria, a 27-year-old woman he meets during his stint as a pillow salesman at Bloomingdale's. Scenes from Andre's everyday life lend substance to the novel—Andre attends a lefty private school and rebuffs the dogged advances of a student Christian association—but seldom does Friedman stray from sex. A visit to the dentist inspires erotic musings about the dental hygienist; a school trip to Philadelphia offers an opportunity for fumbling with a classmate in the back of a darkened bus. Friedman's tone is relaxed and humorous, and Andre's first-person narration is intelligent and engagingly self-deprecating ("On rainy days I held only half my umbrella over me, preparing for holding the other half over Jessica"). Gracefully skirting the pitfalls of his well-worn subject matter, Friedman crafts a light, airy novel with charm to spare. (Mar.)