Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - Venus Envy

Venus Envy
Venus Envy
Author: Rita Mae Brown
At thirty-five, Mary Frazier Armstrong, called "Frazier" by friends and enemies alike, is a sophisticated woman with a thriving art gallery, a healthy bank balance, and an enviable social position.  In fact, she has everything to live for, but she's lying in a hospital bed with a morphine drip in her arm and a life expect...  more »
Info icon
PBS Market Price: $7.89 or $3.99+1 credit
ISBN-13: 9780553564976
ISBN-10: 0553564978
Publication Date: 1994
Pages: 400
Rating:
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 63

3.6 stars, based on 63 ratings
Publisher: Bantam
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

DesertShaman avatar reviewed Venus Envy on + 203 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Fantastic! I kept laughing out loud. Rita Mae Brown surely knows how to keep a story flowing.
tish avatar reviewed Venus Envy on + 384 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
i really think that you have to be a RMB fan to really enjoy this one.being a big fan i did.the story revolves around Frazier who thinks she is dying,tells everyone she is gay and thendoes not die...set in the south as most of Ms.Brown's are it is very funny and yet sad.
mpmarus avatar reviewed Venus Envy on + 133 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
From Publishers Weekly
The risible title is arguably the best thing about Brown's latest comic novel, the tale of a woman who unwittingly comes out of the closet in midlife when she is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Under the impression that she is on her deathbed, wealthy North Carolina art dealer Mary Frazier Armstrong mails a series of brutally candid letters to her kith and kin, only to discover that she isn't dying after all. Brown delivers some nicely sketched southern characters: Mary Frazier's imperious mother, Libby, whose long-simmering anger has poisoned her daughter's life; her sensitive brother, Carter, an alcoholic redneck whose lifelong self-destructiveness is partly a response to Mary Frazier's success; her closeted lover, Ann, who is made uncomfortable by their claustrophobic secret life; and her dazzlingly outrageous gay friend Billy Cicero. But this gallery of character sketches cannot save the story from predictability and a deeply unconvincing resolution. Arch dialogue, lack of plot and an overall inattentiveness to nuance are the distinguishing features here. Fans of Brown's previous books ( Bingo ; Rest in Pieces ) may enjoy this story, but first-time readers are bound to be disappointed.

I quite agree with this review.
Read All 15 Book Reviews of "Venus Envy"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

Readnmachine avatar reviewed Venus Envy on + 1472 more book reviews
A successful art gallery owner, under the impression that she is dying, writes letters to family and friends, opening her heart (and coming out of the closet). The only problem is ⦠she's been misdiagnosed. The resultant storm, aided and abetted by a mysterious painting of Roman gods and goddesses, makes for an entertaining and occasionally thoughtful read.
MyLikeIt avatar reviewed Venus Envy on + 450 more book reviews
Enjoyable.
JoJo46580 avatar reviewed Venus Envy on + 65 more book reviews
Although I found small parts of this book
disilusioning, it was a good read overall
and kept me entertained.
jojo46580 in Indiana
reviewed Venus Envy on + 241 more book reviews
What happens when you think you are dying and write letters telling your innermost thoughts to those around you...only to find (oops!) you are NOT dying after all!


Genres: