Attachments

I went hunting for this book after I read The Girls by Lori Hanssen, also about conjoined twins. I almost couldn't find it! I knew it was by one of the important women who wrote in the seventies, but which one? Marilyn French? Lois Gould? Not Erica Jong, it was too good to be by Erica Jong. I finally hit on "whoever it was who wrote Looking for Mr. Goodbar." Yup, Judith Rossner. Nadine, the narrator, craves attachment as a result of being raised by sort of archetypically disattached California parents. Her neurotic, hectic account of her youth is shot through with her obsessive interest in the Smith Boys, handsome young Amos and Eddie, who live a life of biologically enforced togetherness in the suburb nearest hers. Spying leads to meeting, meeting leads to mating, and soon she has convinced her best friend to join her and the twins in a very unusual marriage. None of the characters would be particularly easy to like, except for the deeply affectionate irony Nadine uses to tell the story (in first person, a POV that works beautifully in this). She is aware of how ridiculous this situation is, and her humorous eye turned to this coupling of four is just hilarious, even though some of the subject matter is painful. Taking place mostly in the sixties and early seventies, the immediacy and relevance of the story amazes me. We still are drawn to what's unusual, and we all still have to figure out who we are.

Judith Rossner was most famous for "Looking for Mr. Goodbar." She started writing this book before that one, wrote "Goodbar," then went back to "Attachments." "Attachments" was not the smashing success that "Goodbar" was, but the paperback edition did reach number 5 on the bestseller list of "Publishers Weekly," and I believe it was a million-seller in paperback. "Attachments" tells the story of Nadine, who, in the 1950's, gets romantically involved with a pair of Siamese twins. She lassos her best friend Dianne into this arrangement, and the two women marry the two men. This is the story of these four characters but particularly of Nadine, who narrates the story. The character of Nadine has both a raw emotionalism and sense of humor (and self-deprecation) that keep the narrative going. Ultimately, whatever it was that drew Nadine to the twins loses its mystique for her -- to put it very mildly. One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is how authentic it feels, as if Rossner really lived this. But, of course, she never did, and I assume that she never knew anyone who had married Siamese twins, either. She must have put bits and pieces of herself and of people she knew into Nadine and the other characters -- or maybe more than just bits and pieces. The book is really a very compelling read and should definitely be reissued.

ATTACHMENTS has the dazzling impact of the 4-million-copy bestseller LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR - and breaks new emotional ground all the way. It is haunting story of an obsessive love relationship, physical, spiritual, and sexual bonding; jealousy and eroticism, tenderness and exploitation; a woman who draws her closest friend into a bizarre union; the two men who marry them - want them, need them - despite their own inevitable attachment; and wildly sensuous fantasies that suddenly come true.

It's 1956 in Beverly Hills. Nadine has known about conjoined twins Amos and Eddie for six years but has never met them. She and her best friend Dianne have been off to college, Dianne to get her law degree and Nadine in psychology. Each woman has a failed marriage behind them. Nadine drops out of college with only six credits left for her degree. Dianne continues and gets hers. When Nadine meets the twins, she literary drives into their driveway, introduces herself through an open window, and asks if she can come inside and talk. Nadine begins a romance with Eddie and Amos, until friend Dianne comes to visit and is introduced to them. Only then do the twins become exclusive, Dianne choosing Eddie, Nadine's favorite. In a double ceremony forced by Dianne's pregnancy, Dianne marries Eddie and Nadine marries Amos. It's a marriage of Four. The four pack up and leave Beverly Hills for rural Bootville in New Hamshire. When Carly is born, Nadine is extremely jealous, but then overjoyed that Dianne shows no interest in little Carly and Nadine gets to be the "mom". Until Nadine herself becomes pregnant and Carly begins to interfere with Nadine and her son Philip. Dianne goes back to work at a law firm, and Nadine becomes the stay at home mom taking care of the babies, the house, and the twins. When the issue of separation surgery come up, and Nadine has her second child Daisy, the little family suddenly becomes famous. Nadine feels intruded upon, the twins don't mind - they actually enjoy it, and Dianne is engrossed in her work. The film crews and newsmen don't actually come around until after the separation surgery, driving Nadine into hysterics, which she's been prone to since childhood. Nadine becomes more and more unhappy being the "stay-at-home" mom, and becomes more jealous of what she conceives as Dianne's "freedom". One the twins are separated, it becomes increasingly obvious that their personalities have swapped; Amos having been the heavy drinker and Eddie never touching liquor, and now its Eddie who drinks while Amos avoids the stuff. 'Attachments' is a comfortable book simply about the lives of these four people living together as a whole family. The story is told by Nadine, so it's her we get to know best, though the rest of the characters are fully fleshed-out individuals. The story, while not a thriller, is still a drama of everyday life in a unique circumstance. Rossner's writing is as impeccable was it was in 'Looking For Mr. Goodbar', her more famous novel. I recently read another story of conjoined twins called 'The Girls' by Lori Lansens, and I highly recommend that book along with 'Attachments'. They're very different books but each entertains in its own unique way. My only problem with 'Attachments' is the abrupt ending. You're left knowing what will happen but there is no concrete closure to the story. I highly recommend this book. Enjoy!

Judith Rossner is one of my absolute favorite authors and part of her talent is an incredible scope of imagination. This book is about a woman who falls in love with a siamese twin--at the beginning she is 9 months pregnant, has gained 75 pounds and is over 6 feet and her husband and his friends catch her doing housework in the nude and horror flickers across their faces so that she realizes she can't stay there with her husband any longer and hops on the back of a much younger man-stranger's Harley Davidson--sounds way too bizarre to connect with and yet that is the power of Rossner--she has such a deep level of understanding of the human condition that the weird circumstances and events soon become things we don't even question because the characters are so well drawn and complex and believable. If you can get your hands on this book do--my 3 favorite Rossners are this, Emmeline, and Looking for Mr. Goodbar--all so vastly different you would not even believe one woman could have such breadth of skill and yet she does.