Goldsmith's debut novel "The First Wives Club," touched a national nerve in 1991. Since then, her funny, on target, social commentary has continued unabated. Each of her works focuses on a different aspect of women's reality.
"Flavor of the Month" describes how Hollywood uses and discards women. "Fashionably Late," attacks the fashion industry, My favorite, "The Bestseller," conveys the difficulty of a woman's being heard in the publishing industry. Then, there's "Marrying Mom," a touching tale detailing aging and what a 70-year-old mother goes through when she ditches her Florida retirement home. "Young Wives" revisits and updates the territory that "The First Wives Club" started. The list of successes goes on, and "Bad Boy," is destined to become another bestseller. Paramount snapped up the film rights, and Literary Guild lists "Bad Boy" as an alternate selection.
"Bad Boy," is a modern day Pygmalion with a twist. The story deftly portrays women's conflicted attitudes towards men as friends and lovers. This is social satire on the foibles of modern dating and gender roles. Tongue in cheek, it shows both what it takes to be a bad boy today and why women can't resist them.
Whether we like the premise or not, Goldsmith presents life for the singles among us in the 21st Century as it is, not as we wish it to be. I saw the protagonist, Tracie Higgins, as a self- destructive individual with a penchant for men who need high maintenance and give low commitment. Tracie is a feature writer for a newspaper, but her weird editor gives her only the assignments no one else wants.
Jon Delano is Tracie's best, strictly platonic, friend. He's a hi-tech nerd, wears all the wrong kind of clothes, is sensitive to women, but couldn't get a date if they were handing them out on a street corner. Women love
him but not "that way." He works too hard, tries too hard to be the nice guy. After several failed attempts at a real relationship, he asks Tracie to turn him into a "Bad Boy." She's delighted, but doubtful that Jon has what it takes to make such a drastic change. However, if she were successful, she could use him as the lead for a great newspaper feature. If her boss wouldn't let her do it, she could always free-lance the article. With this thought in mind, Tracie sets out to change the "Good Guy" into a really "Bad Boy."
Laura, Tracie's friend since childhood, is a chef who moves to Seattle after a failed affair with a lowlife who didn't deserve her. Laura is a breath of fresh air in Tracie's sordid existence. She's six feet tall and not skinny ("only God knows her true weight").
Then, there's Phil, the king of the freeloaders, an unkempt, half-hearted musician who writes terrible prose only when the inspiration hits him. He's also Tracie's current lover.
Molly, the English waitress at Tracie and Jon's favorite cafe "Java, the Hut," is a great character and Goldsmith gives her some of the best dialogue in the book. She's impertinent to the nth degree when she offers Jon advice after his make over. "You're still you underneath these bad boy clothes. Think about what you Americans call your inner child.' Isn't e weeping?" Then, on another occasion, ". . . at some point your inner dweeb is going to start fighting with this outer wild one . . ."
Half way through the book I decided a major generation-gap existed between myself and Tracie. If the girl had half the brains of a master-degreed journalist, she'd drop Phil on his pointy head. He's not only uncommitted, he's disgusting in appearance as well as personality. Can you spell "jerk?" I agreed with Molly, Tracie's ". . . good. Sick as a parrot, but good."
Goldsmith delivers her usual confection of naughty dialogue, over the top characters, and general good cheer as she sweeps old-fashioned morals under the rug. You have to remember this is simply a romantic comedy. Actually, I think it's Goldsmith putting a mirror up to our faces and saying, "look at yourselves; sex on a first date, multiple partners, bad boys ruling! Get a grip. Love isn't meant to be cruel and unusual punishment." Those are my observations of the author's intent. She proves me right by ending this frantic paced tale with just the correct amount of bait and switch. Not exactly a red bow ending, but close enough to satisfy my "inner-child."
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(Jones is a published writer & literary critic)
COPYRIGHT MAY 17, 2001, PATRICIA A. JONES, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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