A GOOD SPORT

by Julia Whedon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 1980

A zippily ephemeral little tale, half satiric, half serious (romance/identity crisis)--narrated by Manhattan-acerbic Jan Derby, the justifiably irritable wife of TV sports-newscaster Frank (whom she met at a Norman-Mailer-for-mayor party). Frank, you see, is a super-selfish super-pig: his idea of entertaining-at-home is having some athletes in to exchange ""broad-banging"" stories over ribs and Coors. So Jan is turned off jocks. . . till she meets basketball star Nat Spaeth, sensitive and funny and sexy. She teaches him to cook (for a TV morning-show appearance). She watches him play. He demands a rendezvous, the inevitable happens, but both lovers remain cautious. Then, however, when Jan catches hubby attempting adultery during an ecology party (Jan's been tagging along with a Robert Redford-ish couple who are into natural air, food, and Native Americans), she walks out. And so it's off to the Redford type's Colorado snow retreat--where Jan resists a gentle pass from the movie star himself, has some outdoor thrills, and decides that she can leave Frank, love Nat, and not lose herself. Piffle--but, especially in the nicely nasty opening chapters, Whedon (Girl of the Golden West, 1973) supplies enough hip zingers and ironic mutters to keep this very slim novel coasting painlessly along.

Pub Date: Feb. 6, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1980

Categories: FICTION