Finished Tu 1/17/12
ABOUT SCHMIDT is a very well-written and intriguing novel which relates the actions and observations of a deeply flawed, and ethically challenged individual. Albert Schmidt is one of the most well-defined fictional characters that I have read in a long time, and reminded me of John Updike's captivating portrait of Harry 'Rabbit' Angstrom from many years ago. Both novelists examine White Upper Middle Class Males who are forced to evolve, and try to find their proper place in a world that seems quite different from their youthful aspirations and dreams. And, the reader is presented with very real ethical dilemmas, and not one single easy moral answer is provided.
Albert is widowed. Mary was his wife
He cheated many, many times. Corrine the babysitter.
Charlotte is their adultdaughter. She is engaged to Jon Riker (Jewish). She is a public relations executive, and defends Big Tobacco, etc.
Albert now lives on Long Island near Sag Harbor in a big house which he wants to give to Charlotte as a wedding gift.
Albert is retired senior partner in a law firm in NYC. He mentored Jon as a Jr. partner.
Late in the novel Albert has an affair with a waitress in his favorite restaurant...Carrie
Antisemitism
Loneliness
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