A comic novel of ambition and infidelity in the suburbs by โthe funniest serious writer to be found either side of the Atlanticโ (Kinglsey Amis).
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Harking from the golden age of fiction that skewered the middle-class American dreamโthe school of John Updike and John Cheeverโthis novel by the author of Slouching Towards Kalamazoo looks with laughter upon the lawns, cocktails, and creature comforts of suburbia, as well as the antics and anxieties that lurk just beneath its manicured facade. De Vriesโs classic situation comedyย The Tunnel of Loveย follows the interactions of a socially insecure, pun-loving family man, an officious lady caseworker from an adoption agency, and a chauvinist pigโall of whom are neighbors who know far too much about one anotherโs private lives.
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In this farcical tale of marital quibbles, De Vries employs his verbal fluidity and singular gift for wordplay to offer readers โhis Scarlet Letter, in which adultery leads not to a consciousness of sin and repentance but to a neurotic guilt and the delicious enjoyment it affordsโ (D.G. Myers, from the introduction).