Product Description

They met as children, innocents from two different worlds.And from that moment their lives were fated to be forever entwined. Timothy : Abandoned at birth, he finds a home--and a dazzling career--within the Catholic Church.But the vows he takes cannot protect him from one soul-igniting passion. Daniel : The scholarly son of a great rabbi, he is destined to follow in his father's footsteps.And destined to break his father's heart. Deborah : She was raised to be docile and dutiful--the perfect rabbi's wife--but love will lead her to rebellion.And into world's the patriarch would never dare imagine.

Reaching across more than a quarter of a century, from the tough streets of Brooklyn to ultramodern Brasilia to an Israeli kibbutz, and radiating the splendor of two holy cities, Rome and Jerusalem, here is Erich Segal's most provocative and ambitious novel to date--the unforgettable story of three extraordinary lives...and one forbidden love. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

Very pleased
The book was a gift for an elderly relative.It arrived quickly and was in great condition even though listed as used.The large type really helps and she has enjoyed the book a great deal.Thanks.

Cheap and Entertaining Romance Novel
This is a stupid, corny story, infested with trite cliches, but it's an entertaining read, especially if you're not fond of reading.

A Rabbi's son rejects his "duty" and chooses a career in finance, then gets disowned by his father. His sister, the Rabbi's daughter, smooches with the Irish "Shabbos Goy" and gets sent off to live with an abusinve family, then the Irish street-thug "Shabbos Goy" goes to a catholic college, becomes a Priest, knocks up the Rabbi's daughter, nearly becomes the Pope, and the saga continues.

This would make a great mimi-series on the Lifetime Network.

Unfairly reviewed??
Eric Segal'sACTS OF FAITH is noted to receive some very harsh and negative reviews here. I disagree with them.Although I have not finished this novel I give it high marks.Segal teaches, Segal focuses onreallife dilemmas, Segalintertwines( in Doctors also )historical time pieces and events.His truly enormous intellect shows in his ouvre.This novelbrings one to tears,evokes great emotions, and engenders a desire to learn more and more. More books like this one would be a blessing.

Thank you Segalforthe BIG TALENT you are.

GMG..................los angeles.

Baseless relationships & ridiculous ideas of Catholicism
When I first read this book 13 years ago, I thought it was great. Re-reading it with a more mature and educated mind, I found it insulting.

First, the eternal burning love between Deborah and Tim has almost no basis for the power it has over them. A few late-night conversations and their love spans time and distance? Give me a break.

Then, there's the Catholicism. I can't speak to the authenticity of the Judaism in the book, but as a Catholic journalist, I can speak with some authority on that.

The idea that a man can go from priest to monsignor to ARCHBISHOP in 15 years, and before age 40 is insulting. Currently, the youngest U.S. bishop was ordained at age 47. Pope John II was ordained a bishop at age 38.

Far-fetched ideas aside, Segal's writing is definitely easy to read, until he tries to show us how well he researched this book, with his overly frequent italicized used of Yiddish, Hebrew and Latin.

Looking for an intelligent, realistic love story? Stay away from Segal's novels and check out Audrey Niffeneger's "The Time-Traveler's Wife"; Sue Monk Kidd's "The Secret Life of Bees"; or Anita Shreve's "All He Ever Wanted."

A heart-wrenching love story
This is my favorite book of all time.I have read other books by Segal but this is the novel that stands out.The story of interfaith relationships is very poignant in today's world.The expectations of one's family, the relationship to one's relgious community, these situations are relatable which makes this story touch home.This novel stuck a chord within me and it is one of few books I can read over and over (and cry every time!). ... Read more

Product Description

The Phenomenal National Bestseller
and Enduring Classic

Customer Reviews (3)

One of the best love stories of all time
I read this for the first time in college.The book is short, but Segal does so much in so little space.His characters, dialogue, and narration are top notch.You can read this for fun, or for an exercise in critical theory.If you're a nerd like me, you can do both.

Best The First Time Around....'Sorry'
"Love Story" by Erich Segal, is a romantic andfunny, yet a tragic story, that over 35 years ago had an entire generation in love, in tears, and spouting "Love means never having to say you're sorry".

It is the story of 2 young college grads, who's love was stronger then any of the tests life threw at them. Oliver Barrett IV, a rich(very rich), big Harvard jock, heir to the Barrett fortune and legacy. Jennifer Cavilleri, daughter of a Cranston, Rhode Island baker, with not much money, but lots of love. Oliver was expected to follow in his father's huge footsteps, Jennifer, a music major was to go on and study in Paris. Both from very different worlds. But when they met, the sparks flew, and we get involved with them as their love grows deep and strong.

Oliver turns his back on his family and fortune to marry Jenny. Jenny gives up her dreams of Paris and being a musician. But to each other, there is nothing as important as the other in their lives. When life throws them a tragic turn, they find solace in each other arms, and the reader can not help but feel their pain and their deep love as well.

It's a moving story, and if you have a hankerin' for a real romance, you want to laugh and cry, and have never read this one before, you should go for it. It will definitely leave you sighing. 5 stars the first time around. Having read this for the first time in about 30 years though, I have to say 'sorry', I just didn't love it as much as I did the first time around. After this time, I wished I had just stayed with the memories of how it felt after the first read.

A good read,and a fast one, just doesn't have the same sentimental punch over time. Highly recommended to romantics who have not read it yet. You'll smile, you'll cry. Be sure to have the Kleenex on hand.

Enjoy the read and the New Year...Laurie

Greatest Love Story Ever!
I saw the movie before I read the book, so when I found out the movie was based on the book, I had to check out the book cause the book is always better than the movie. Well, luckily, I guess, the book is a relatively short read, so the movie keeps all the important stuff. This to me is the greatest love story ever. People are turned off by the cheesy, overquoted phrase from this movie, "Love means never having to say you're sorry," but it's the context behind the quote that is meaningful rather than the quote itself. I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever had a glimpse of true love.It's a modern-day tragic romance. I say give it a try. ... Read more

Product Description
Oliver Barrett IV found the love of his life in Jenny Cavilleri. And though the time they spent together was brief, it was enough to last a lifetime. Or so Oliver told himself. Living without her for two years now, he still believes he will never love again. Until the day he meets a beautiful and mysterious woman, and suddenly the future seems very different than Oliver thought it would be.

Customer Reviews (13)

Oldie but goodie...
Once in a blue moon I pick up an old paperback and think, I've read this before or I've seen the movie made from this book, but something grabs me and I find myself hitting the recliner for a swift afternoon read, probably when it's raining to beat hell outside and I can't find anything else to do for a "change-of-mood". A good book always fixes that for me. I was a big fan of "LOVE STORY", but I really enjoyed Segal's follow-up and Oliver's life after losing Jenny. I think it's when I got to the end and read Oliver's opinion of the "sweat shops" in China, realizing now just how many of the U.S. jobs have gone in that direction, that I guess I wished I hadn't even read the book. Segal can't help it, but the U.S. is in a mess and it's largely because of this situation. Maybe the next time I pick up an old paperback, I'll try to remember a little closer what the entire story was about. Other than that, Segal never failed to write a good one, or if he has, I haven't had the chance to read it yet.

Erich Segal writes people really well!
This book isn't quite as good as Love Story. However the main character, Oliver, is still incredibly likeable and it makes for a good quick read.

Our poor Oliver
I read Love Story over and over and over as a young teen. I still read it often today. For years though I sat with my mother's original version- lime green hardback- never knowing there was a sequel until I stumbled on it at a flea market with my mom and aunt. They were shocked to find that I did not know about it- knowing how much I loved "Love Story". My aunt prepared me for disappointment....but she was wrong.
Oliver's story is a gut-wrenching story about the pain and the empty life we often lead after a loved one leaves us too soon. Oliver's Story has no pretense of a happily ever after, and does not leave you with the rain clouds departing. Oliver lives the life we all might lead, absent the glowing Hollywood ending. He struggles a lot in this book, and although you are tragically sad for him, you know the ending is right.

Good Book
Its a nice book, cant give it 5 because its a sequel to the greatest book ever written... Love Story!!

Oliver's Story
I bought this book because I am a big fan of the Love Story. However, I was quite disappointed after reading the book.Oliver started another relationship with Marcie two years after Jenny¡¦s death.That was too soon. If you ever truly love someone in your life, two years only means 5 minutes.I was glad to see Oliver and his father made peace with each other.The last few pages of the book make it well worth reading.You can skip some paragraphs in some chapters, but you have to read it over and over again in the last few pages.It were very well written.

Another things draw my interest to read this book were the economic development and comparative advantages between the US and Asia thirty years ago.(I majored International Econ in grad school.)The sweatshop conditions are common in developing economies.A lot of labor-intensive industries were forced to shut down in the last two decades and moved to Asia.This book was more focus on one side of the story.A lot of jobs moved to Asia because the US was moving from one advantage to another advantage.From labor-intensive products to technology-driven merchandises.When you look at those hi-tech companies in Silicon Valley, you know what I mean.

The major reason makes me interest in this book was my Dad.The movie "Love Story"
was shot before I was born.When I was a little girl, I saw Dad watching this movie every time when it was shown on TV.My Dad is kinds of the action movie type.I was surprised why he loved watching this movie.So, when I was in the video store one day, I decided to rent the DVD to see what made my Dad to watch a love drama.Just like my father.I am totally devoted to the movie.I bought both "Oliver's Story" and "Love Story" and finished reading in one afternoon.For me, I like the Love Story more than Oliver's Story.The 3/4 part of the Love Story was a pleasant story.Both of them loved each other very much and would like to sacrifice for each other.For Oliver's story, it's all sad and how Oliver couldn't forget Jenny. ... Read more

Product Description

Lose your heart to the novel that defined a generation then...and now.

Customer Reviews (127)

A Modern Fairy Tale
Love Story, by Erich Segal

This is Oliver's story about his love and life with Jennifer. Oliver is a smart Harvard student who is on the hockey team; he is from a wealthy family and had all the advantages. Jennifer won a music scholarship to Radcliffe; her father is a baker in Rhode Island. They meet in a library and fall in love. Does the difference in background affect them? No, they are influenced by the style and culture of the Ivy League. Oliver's father objects to the marriage, but they go ahead. After graduating with honors from law school they move to New York city and live in the upper East Side. But Jenny has a problem, it turns out to be incurable. The best doctors can do nothing. There is a sad ending to this story. Is it a throwback to some of the movies of the late 1930s, like "Dark Victory" or "Pride of the Yankees"?

The story of Cinderella ends with them living happily ever after. Was that realistic even then, given the life of the Medieval and Renaissance eras? This was a very popular novel in the early 1970s, perhaps because its ending defied popular conventions. Erich Segal wrote a simple tale that is sparse in details. Its as if he outlined the story to arrive at a predetermined ending. "Fairy Tales" were stories that taught some lesson to listeners. They have been banned and lost to the modern generations. If you ever see the opera "Hansel and Gretel" you will see how scary and gruesome they were. Or the other Grimm Fairy Tales. They warned children that the world wasn't perfect. Note how the story avoids the real problems of that era. Both Oliver and Jenny seem to have no prior involvements before meeting.

Not a real love story
I didn't enjoy this book at all, of course the end was sad, but this does not make it a good book or any deeper than what i was expecting it to be. Not a good book.

Made an impression that has lasted nearly 40 years
Coincidentally, I was thinking of Love Story right around the time I heard Mr. Segal has died; I was thinking how many different ways we love each other, and what a true Love Story is, in light of Valentine's Day. I loved the book and the movie as a young girl, and while I am wiser now and some of the ideology I don't agree with perhaps anymore, I do believe in a love that is as strong as Jenny's and Oliver's. [...]

Liked but did not love this story
In just a few words (like the story), this was too short. I did not feel a connection to the love between the characters or the characters. I thought it was a good story line, but it was so fast paced and short I felt no loss or sadness, nor romance. I liked it though, and wished it had been more detailed.

Tear jerker
It has been a long time since I was able to pick up a book and read it in a day (not necessarily a lack of shorter novellas in my library, but a lack of peace in the household and the freedom to just read).Love Story by Erich Segal broke my streak of 3 weeks spans between book completions.

Yes, it is a story of love, and I am a chick and cried at the end. But not only is it filled with pain, it is filled with a true sense of love that makes the pain that much more difficult to bear.Given that the opening line of the novel is a huge spoiler to the rest of the story, and that within the last 20 pages, it is obvious what the ending will entail.I still found myself completely wrapped up in Oliver and Jenny's love, their banter with one another, though. ... Read more

Product Description
He gave us Love Story cherished by millions. Now, New York Times bestselling author Erich Segal presents a new novel of remembrance and reunion--an unforgettable testament to the power of hope and love...

Dr. Matthew Hiller is about to face the most difficult moment of his life.

The brilliant neurosurgeon has encountered desperate people. But his next case is not simply a suffering patient for whom he is the last hope. It is Sylvia--his only love. Now married to one of the richest men in the world, she can still evoke the same feelings in him that she did so long ago in Paris and Africa. Even after all this time, he has not recovered from her unexplained disappearance on the eve of their marriage--and thoughts of her have haunted him ever since.

As a doctor, he must try to help her. As a spurned lover, and a married man, he must try to forget the past. And he dares not think about what might happen if he actually succeeds in saving her life... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

How i was cheated...
Do you want me to write out how i was cheated? I've received another book ("Mercy") with the book cover of "Only Love" . Is it some kind of a "New wine in the old bottle" joke.

Sorry, no love for this book
I am Erich Segal's #1 fan; I've read and re-read all of his other books so many times, my husband laughs at me. But this one is an absolute dud. Instead of involving us in what's happening, (much less involving the characters), Mr. Segal just reports what happened, many times covering years of time in one paragraph. It reads like a college application essay. The writing feels stilted and unemotional, even though he's describing something very emotional. I hate to say it, because I've loved all his other books, but skip this one. Re-read "Love Story" instead for a love story you will truly love!

Nice!
This was my first book by Mr Segal. I'd heard a lot about his other books but somehow this one isn't as popular as his other books. The book is well written (later I realised that it is a typical "Segal style of writing", nevertheless a pleasure to read) and the characters are adorable. One can argue that it is not really a love story, which is true to some extent, but the emotionality with which the charcaters and events are sketched makes it a touching story if not a "love story".
This is one of the best books from Mr Segal and I would recommend it for people who enjoy reading fiction. It makes a good and light read.

Definitely worth the time!
Not Erichs best book.....not on the level of Love Story....but books like love story don't come around everyday...that's what makes them special. Only Love is a great story and has deep pain in it. A quick read and a nice story I guarantee you won't forget it!

Only Love is only a book
The promise of Segal as a novelist from Love Story is unfufilled in this book. The backdrop is fine with Paris, Ethiopia, and New England ... but Only Love falls short of making a compelling case for undying love.Better off with Anita Shreve and The Last Time They Met. ... Read more

Product Description
Segal's most successful novel since Love Story returns to Harvard to tell the powerful and moving story of the making of doctors. From the merciless training through the demanding hours of internship and residency, Doctors brings to life the people who seek to heal.#Bantam. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (42)

Masterful and inspired
Of all things, predictable it's not. It's packed with plot twists that really open one's eyes to true human nature. I'm still wiping my tears from reading the last chapter. It's definitely one of the best novels I've read in my entire lifetime.

Fantastic Read
Every Pre Med and Medical Student should read this book! The book was as educational as it was entertaining. I could not put it down.

Great reading
I really enjoyed the story and the style it is written in - the story flows quickly,the plot is interesting, you learn a few interesting historical details about medicine development as well as what it must be like being a doctor and I felt very attached to the main characters. Highly recommend.

One of my favorites!
This is my second favorite Erich Segal novel, after "The Class".I found the characters and their stories very interesting and wanted to get to know them more.I felt like I was in medical school with each one. Segal's attention to detail is excellent.

The doctors
It took me quite a while to finish this book.While the writing was very good, the story was very scattered and predictable.At the end of the book, it still felt very incomplete to me. ... Read more

Product Description
Five members of a fictional Harvard class are traced through 25 tumultuous years, culminating in a dramatic reunion at which they confront their classmates and their own lives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

GREAT FICTION AND FACTS
Erich Segal takes you through the lives of five Harvard men from 1958 to 1983.Andrew Eliot creates a diary during these years, detailing his life and his four classmates and their families and experiences with trials and triumphs, with what they believe is expected of a Harvard graduate andsome surprising results when they have their class reunion.This book is so wellwritten with the lives of each man and includes historical facts during this time period.You didn't have to attend college to enjoy this novel, and I highly recommend it for all ages.

Read something else...
One needs to judge popular fiction with lower standards than great literature.Even so, this book is bad - really, really bad.

The plot is predictable, to the extent that I spent much of my time playing "let's guess what happens next".The dialogue...well, no real people I know talk like the characters in this novel.And Dr. Segal couldn't write a realistic female character if his life depended on it (not that he does such a great job with the male characters).

There is a "Forest Gump"ishness to the book with the occasional dropping in of famous people.I suppose that they are famous prevents them from sueing.

Why did I read this?It's required summer reading for my daughter (may god have mercy on her soul).

Highly enjoyable read
This book chronicles the lives of five members of the Class of 1958 of Harvard University. It begins as the members of the Class enter Harvard from many parts far and wide - their first heady, promising days as freshmen in the autumn of 1954, and ends with their 25th year reunion, in June of 1983.

The book is a very enjoyable read, chronicling the fictional lives of the characters while weaving their lives into the important events of the world in the 1960's and 1970's. There is the tennis champ from Long Island, who wishes only to be 100% American, but can never be due to his Jewish heritage. There is the son of the immigrant, growing up literally in the shadow of Harvard itself, but who is too poor to afford campus housing and thus maintains an outsider status through his college years. There is the musical prodigy, who pines for the adulation of his father. There is also the immigrant from Hungary, escaping after the Soviet crackdown in 1956, and finally, the diarist, who is unremarkable in every way except that he is the latest of a very, very long line of Harvardmen. It is he whose letters intersperse the story and provide key clues into the lives of his fellow classmates from an outside perspective.

This book is a very nice read, I highly recommend it.

Not bad...
But it was better when it was originally written as "The Last Convertible" by Anton Myrer.

Wonderful
Truly, Erich Segal at his best. Its a must read. Takes you back to the college days...and as you read through you really can empathise with the characters. Its simply wonderful. ... Read more

Product Description

In a grand tour of comic theater over the centuries, Erich Segal traces the evolution of the classical form from its early origins in a misogynistic quip by the sixth-century B.C. Susarion, through countless weddings and happy endings, to the exasperated monosyllables of Samuel Beckett. With fitting wit, profound erudition lightly worn, and instructive examples from the mildly amusing to the uproarious, his book fully illustrates comedy's glorious life cycle from its first breath to its death in the Theater of the Absurd.

An exploration of various landmarks in the history of a genre that flourished almost unchanged for two millennia, The Death of Comedy revisits the obscenities and raucous twists of Aristophanes, the neighborly pleasantries of Menander, the tomfoolery and farce of Plautus. Segal shows how the ribaldry of foiled adultery, a staple of Roman comedy, reappears in force on the stages of Restoration England. And he gives us a closer look at the schadenfreude--delight in someone else's misfortune--that marks Machiavelli's and Marlowe's works.

At every turn in Segal's analysis--from Shakespeare to Molière to Shaw--another facet of the comic art emerges, until finally, he argues, "the head conquers and the heart dies": Letting the intellect take the lead, Cocteau, Ionesco, and Beckett smother comedy as we know it. The book is a tour de force, a sweeping panorama of the art and history of comedy, as insightful as it is delightful to read.

Customer Reviews (2)

Question extreme reviewers
Readers considering themselves well-versed in a subject are often overly critical of works that sacrifice a little depth for breadth of discussion.When someone is attempting to cover such a broad topic as comedy, it is impossible to escape some generalization and sketchiness.This is the case with Segal's text.It makes concessions to space (I doubt a 10,000 page text would please many publishers) and to readers with little background (supplying needed summary and biographical information).This background, including the authorial, increases one's understanding of the topic.Of course, analysis should move beyond this (as it does in Segal's work), but we shouldn't ignore these preliminaries completely just because we've learned of the 'biographical fallacy' in our introduction to literary criticism.If the reviewer from Oakland doesn't want this kind of text, perhaps he should check out some of Segal's scholarly articles, and perhaps he should give them more time and consideration than he did this book.Reading and judging a critical work of 600 pages within hours of receiving it might miss the bulk of its depth.A skim can pick out a lot of summary and background, can find plenty to criticize (especially if a mind is already made up after reading through the table of contents), but is likely to miss much of the worth.The same reviewer, quick to be critical, after calling the work flip and superficial, criticizes it again when it goes into greater depth concerning Roman comedy.Segal just can't win.

So read Segal for your self.This book is interesting and informative, though it is unable to cover all or be without mistakes.It proves readable for a variety of backgrounds and is at least a good start on the subject.Fellow educators have recommended this text to me, and I would recommend it to others.

The Death of Criticism
What a disappointment.I ordered this well-reviewed book from Amazon and just received it today.I was eager to read it,hoping for a well reasoned exegesis on the history of comedy, which is one of my favorite subjects.Instead it's a flip and superficial discussion of some famous comedies, heavy on the Roman side and hit-or-miss on comedy after that. Most essays seem to be plot summaries, heavily larded with quotations and not much else. The discussion of Moliere, for example, is scatter-shot, and unashamedly wallows in the biographical fallacy, offering cheap readings of the playwright as the protagonist of all his works (Moliere as Jourdain? as Tartuffe?). Cute chapter titles warn of the cliches that will be offered within.The translations of texts I'm familiar with, like "Se vuol ballare" from Mozart's *The Marriage of Figaro*, are sheer travesties of the originals. This from a classicist? Doesn't he know Italian?The varying conventions of comedy and what they imply for our humanity is such a fascinating and important subject matter. What a shame that Segal is completely unaware of the possibilities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Awesome!!
The book arrived in a timely manner and was delivered in great condition. It was exactly what I was looking for and was glad to find it. I've been looking for this book for awhile and was thrilled to have found it here. It makes me want to shop on amazon more often. Thanks! I'm very happy! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Intellectual Voyeurism
This is a book I have read, repeatedly, because I enjoy reading about intellectual people who succeed brilliantly.The book is about three exceptional people who have succeeded in their chosen areas of expertise.The story covers their life struggles and triumphs.Unexpected twists and turns add color and enjoyment to the novel's narrative, especially the life that is depicted as Isabel Da Costa's complicated life story.As I have written in other reviews, it is fun to read about fictional, brilliant people and this book is an excellent addition to that book list.

I find of all Mr. Segal's fictional books, that I have read (which is almost everything that he has published), this is his best!This book displays a maturity and more depth compared to his other books--especially better than `Love Story.'This book displays an amazing and enjoyable insight into individual psychology--it is almost voyeuristic.Mr. Segal's talent is making the reader care for his characters, and he is a master at accomplishing this.

Absolute Segal-quality literature
Brilliant read, not as fundamental as Doctors or The Class, but still something worth occupying a book shelf.

A PRIZE WINNER
Erich Segal proved that he knows how to pull our emotional chains as well as any contemporary writer in Love Story and Oliver's Story.He may well just have done it again in Prizes, the engrossing tale of three brilliant individuals.Their professional quests plus their lives and romances make for rapt reading.

Child prodigy Isabel da Costa has made a significant discovery, creating a formula that Einstein was unable to piece together.Sandy Raven, his personal life bordering on destruction, has capped his dedication to research by reversing the aging process in cells, and Adam Coopersmith, a physician, has developed an almost miraculous drug to help women who have been unable to become pregnant.His already full life is further complicated by his marriage to a career-minded lawyer and his introduction to Anya, an irresistible Russian emigre.Beckoning all of them is the ultimate accolade, a Nobel Prize.

A compulsively readable tale.

- Gail Cooke

Magnifico!
First, the characters are great.Their descriptions are very thorough.You can almost see them, as if they really are true persons.Second, the plot of the story is very well-defined.Third, the flow of the story iswell-timed.

Review of Erich Segal's "Prizes"
Prizes is an truly terriffic book.It has a plot similar to that of a daytime soap opera, however, it is much more sophisticated and realistic. Although very exciting with many interesting twists and turns, the bookdisplays a strong theme of man's selfish nature, and causes one to take aserious look at the ethics of the world today.The themes of great humanachievment and perseverence are also prominent.I enjoyed"Prizes" thouroughly, and I strongly recommend it for readersseeking a well developed, entertaining story. ... Read more

Product Description
From Eric Segal comes an unforgettable story oflove....the drama of a father and the son he neverknew... And a marriage that must stand thegreatest test of all. Man, Woman AndChild. Bob and Sheila Beckwith had everything:rewarding careers, two wonderful daughters, and a perfectmarriage... almost perfect. for what Sheiladidn't know was that Bob has once been unfaithful-onlyonce, ten years ago during a business trip toFrance. What Bob didn't know was that his brief affairproduced a son. Now a tragic accident-and onefateful phone call-will change Bob and Sheila's lifeforever...< ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Cunning
Segal can write a cunning novel in so few words. In this book the gripping idea of a marriage rocked by the discovery that a single infedilty led to a child being born several years ago. With the death of the child's mother the father discovers the child, and struggles to combine his family under one roof. The ultimate question of what we would do, and what we can do to forgive those we loved is the heart of the matter here. Beautifully written as all Segal novels are.

Love and other bruises
This book by Eric Segal speaks of a huge sacrifice by a
woman. Man, Woman and Child touches upon the right emotions.
He brings out the characters into life-like forms.

The story protrays a very difficult situation brought about
on a family but a mistake in the past. It takes us on a
journey through this situaion as the family faces it. Eric
Segal goes on to describe the frustrations felt by each
member of the family, and how they overcome the problem.

All in all, it's a very touching story which brings out a
host of emotions in its readers. A great story about the
forgiving capability of a woman to save her family.

I thoroughly enjoyed each page and by the end I was emotionally drawn out by the book.

It's a page-turner, but...
Though this story was interesting and kept me turning pages, I found Bob, the protagonist, difficult to sympathize with. He deeply loves his wife, yet he gives no good reason for having been unfaithful to her. Segal seems to want the reader to believe that Bob is a good man who has only been unfaithful this one time (an interlude that lasted for a few days rather than a more excusable single crazy incident), but how is the reader supposed to reconcile his supposedly honest nature and passionate love for his wife with his actions? Perhaps this novel is supposed to draw sympathy and understanding for human weakness, but what it actually ends up doing is chipping away at the reader's faith in true love by saying that even the most in-love of couples would cheat if it were unlikely they would ever be caught.

It's a page-turner, but...
Though this story was interesting and kept me turning pages, I found Bob, the protagonist, difficult to sympathize with.He deeply loves his wife, yet he gives no good reason for having been unfaithful to her.Segal seems to want the reader to believe that Bob is a good man who has only been unfaithful this one time (an interlude that lasted for a few days rather than a more excusable single crazy incident), but how is the reader supposed to reconcile his supposedly honest nature and passionate love for his wife with his actions?Perhaps this novel is supposed to draw sympathy and understanding for human weakness, but what it actually ends up doing is chipping away at the reader's faith in true love by saying that even the most in-love of couples would cheat if it were unlikely they would ever be caught.

Man, Woman and Child
Erich Segal was not my favorite then, but when i got to read this book, he became first on my list. He really imparted the feelings of a man torn between his family and his other son. The realism of the story hit me and iwas moved into tears after finishing this novel... I tell you, you got toread this book or forever miss the opportunity of reading one GREAT story! ... Read more

Product Description
From Love Story in 1970 to Prizes, his most recent bestseller, Erich Segal has created a body of fiction that testifies to the importance of traditional values and virtues in contemporary life. To drive home his views, Segal revitalizes the sentimental novel, which evokes emotion to assert moral precepts. This study, the first full-length examination of his work, explores the development of his art and analyzes each of his seven novels in turn. Pelzer shows how Segal's novels explore the parent-child relationship, the price of success, the importance of love, marriage, and human commitment, and the temptations and pressures that make it difficult for the individual to live rightly. ... Read more

Product Description
He is Oliver Barrett IV, a rich jock from a stuffy Wasp family on his way to a Harvard degree and a career in law. She is Jenny Cavilleri, a wisecracking working-class beauty studying music at Radcliffe. They are opposites in nearly every way. But they fell in love. This is their story. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

First Love, But Last?
When the love ofyour life disappears literally or by death, ther is no getting over his importance inyour life and heart.He'd met Sylvia in Paris twenty years earlier when he was obsessed with her abilities and caring manner.When she disappeared, he married a sensible woman he had known before on the rebound.Many marriages happen this way (we hardly ever marry our first love!); some last, but most end in divorce.

Matt hailed form Michigan where his father was a professor of literature, so he did have an educated background.He majored in music in college where he met Eve, but she chose to marry her master-class instructor.While working on a project in Ethiopia, he was severely injured and is airlifted out.But, as his recovery progressed, he is heartbroken to discover that he can no longer play the piano which had given him much pleasure.He moved to New York where he became a neurosurgeon and is able to research brain tumors.

Eve enters his life again as a divorced mothre of two, and she proves to be a good helpmate, not the passionate love he had shared with Sylvia.When things are moving along smoothly and he has some semblance of normality and happiness, Sylvia enters his life again with (you guess it) a brain tumor.She was married to a rich man who could afford to secure the best medical intervention, but she still felt some twinge of sexual attraction to Matt.He'd never been able to get hr out of his thought or his heart.As a doctor (Hippocratic Oath), he must do his best to save her life.

It's a heartbreaking tragedy when we lose the person we loved first and foremost. My first love turned out to be a Cherokee Indian (but I didn't know it at the time); I had dinner with him in Norfolk once (the last time I saw him) but, after he relocated to Pittsburgh, PA, he mysteriously dropped off the ends of the earth.Al Curtis told me that he is either dead or in Florida.Eric Segal had written LOVE STORY which was made into a sad, mushy movie (didn't the girl have a brain tumor in that one as well?).In this one, Matt is a brilliant geneticist who discovered a breakthrough cure.Can he cure his own heartbreak -- only love can tell.Love, after all, makes the world go round and humans to replicate themselves through their offspring.May is the month of love; I was born in May. ... Read more