

The Scenic Route
A Novel
Author: Binnie Kirshenbaum
Narrator: Gwen Hughes
Unabridged: 8 hr 42 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: HarperAudio
Published: 02/08/2012
Categories: Fiction
Author: Binnie Kirshenbaum
Narrator: Gwen Hughes
Unabridged: 8 hr 42 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: HarperAudio
Published: 02/08/2012
Categories: Fiction
Binnie Kirshenbaum is the author of An Almost Perfect Moment, On Mermaid Avenue, A Disturbance in One Place, Pure Poetry, Hester Among the Ruins, and History on a Personal Note. She is a professor at Columbia University's School of the Arts, where she is chair of the Graduate Writing Program.
I loved how the format of this novel reflects its overarching theme. The book meanders through time (literally taking "the scenic route," just as the two main characters take the scenic route through Europe). Along the way, pieces of the past are revealed through flashbacks in seemingly random order......more
When I read reviews like "witty and poignant," "a brilliant creation," and "a most virtuoso performance," my interest is peaked and I give a book try. Review fail. Kirshenbaum's protagonist is hardly witty -- in a rambling narrative filled with non sequiturs, she loses her job, travels Europe and ta......more
Binnie Kirshenbaum's new novel looks like another year in Provence or another romance baked under the Tuscan sun. It begins with a recession fantasy: A middle-age, divorced woman gets laid off but uses her severance money for a trip to Italy. There, as usually happens, she strikes up a conversation......more
2.4 This book lacks a definite purpose. It meanders physically across Europe and winds through an emotional journey of the baggage of life. The title is apt but disappointing in it’s follow through. I was excited to travel through Italy but each stop is barely mentioned let alone described. It is al......more