Having Everything

L'Heureux describes the characters so well, you feel by the end of the book that you really know them. The relationship of Maggie and Philip has you angry, sad, frustrated, and then happy for them. You are secretly hoping that they can figure it out as they nurse Maggie through her alcoholism. Hal's character is so real, you realize that you have met someone like him in real life, whether you know it or not. This book is suspenseful in a way, as it describes the relationships of two married couples, their problems in their marriages, and the problems that they deal with inside themselves. This book is a must read.

What a find this novel turned out to be. I have read and admired several of L'Heureux's novels and short story collections. The prose is written with a poet's precision and the characters are developed with a minimum of words. I highly recommend this novel to anyone, particularly those readers who are tired of 700 page novels that go nowhere.

It's almost become a cliché, the story of the suburban man who has it all, but upon closer examination, has nothing. Such is the premise of "Having Everything," by John L'Heureux, a relaxed storyteller who never lets his tale wilt into predictable boredom. At 45, Philip Tate has just received a prestigious chair position in the psychology department at Harvard. Not-so-furtive whispers at university dinner parties say he's next in line to be dean. And his wife, what a beauty. Sure, she drinks too much, and she's got a stash in her shoe closet that would rival the stock of most pharmaceutical salesmen. But she's a gorgeous blonde and has produced two gorgeous children, who are sprouting their own successful careers. Although he's a psychiatric genius who specializes in manic depression, Philip can't seem to figure out what's wrong with his deathly depressed wife. She alternately loves and hates him. He can only stand by and watch her self-destruct. Such shattering revelations reawaken an old, dangerous habit in Philip. As a boy, he liked breaking in to his neighbors' houses. He never stole anything; he just liked the thrill and naughtiness of the deed. As a man - a man with seemingly everything - he goes thrill-seeking once again. What he finds is that his beautiful and smart friends are just as messed up as he and his family. L'Heureux is a subtle, character-driven writer in a time when the phrase "over-the-top" describes most of contemporary fiction. "Having Everything" is a deliberate read, not sexy but solid. L'Heureux, a college professor himself, tells these ironic tales with an insider's wit. Reading the book is a good reminder that a simple story is good enough; we needn't be subjected to a "tour de force" to be entertained.