On Broken Glass: Loving and Losing John Gardner

Aspects of Thornton's memoir of her tortured, passionate love affair with the charismatic, macho--and alcoholic--American author John Gardner (October Light, which won the National Book Award, etc.) read like a novel. Thornton describes a fraught on-again off-again connection with Gardner that lasted three years, starting at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference in 1979 when Thornton, herself a writer, was his student, until Gardner's fatal motorcycle accident in 1982. According to Thornton, their relationship was both exhilarating and dysfunctional, the two qualities frequently feeding each other. During their entire relationship, for example, Gardner maintained an intense intimacy with his wife, Liz, frequently calling her to tell her of his undying love. Thornton, now married and a mother, describes the difficulty in leaving this chapter of her life behind and in working through her idealization of Gardner. Her prose is careful and, at times, plain, bordering on banal; but she also exhibits flourishes of grace and originality, though she is reluctant to reveal much about herself. For instance, she mentions her own abuse of alcohol but gives few details, preferring to detail Gardner's addiction, and she offers little in the way of explanation for the extent of the masochism clearly present in their relationship. Despite the unevenness of her writing, Thornton has rendered an absorbing work; moreover, she contributes to literary scholarship by citing letters of Gardner's that, largely because she herself kept them private after his death, have not been available until now. 8 pages b&w photos not seen by PW. (Dec.) Forecast: Major review coverage will bring attention to this book, which will be appreciated by fans of Gardner's work and those interested in the dark side of an artist's life.