Outtakes from a Marriage

A Novel

By: Ann Leary

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Julia and Joe Ferraro are living the good life in Manhattan now that Joe's finally made it; he's the star of a hit TV show and has just been nominated for a Golden Globe award. After many lean years, they've got a grand Upper West Side apartment and an Amagansett beach house, and their two kids go to elite private schools. Even better, Julia and Joe are still madly in love.

Or so Julia thinks, until the fateful evening when she accidentally hears a voice mail on Joe's phone - a message left by a sultry-sounding woman who clearly isn't just a friend.

Suddenly, Julia is in a tailspin, compulsively checking Joe's messages, stalking him in cyberspace, and showing up unannounced on his sets, wondering all along if she should confront him. Julia's search forces her to consider the possibility that in the long process of helping Joe become something, she has become a bit of a "nothing", as her daughter once described her to her class on career day. A big husband-stalking nothing.

When Julia and Joe first met, she was an edgy East Village girl who wrote music reviews for the Village Voice and threw famed parties in a gritty downtown loft with her friends. Joe was a shy, awkward drama student who followed her around like a lovesick spaniel. After he won her heart, Julia helped Joe evolve into a roguishly handsome charmer who became increasingly obsessed with his looks and his career. Julia, meanwhile, settled into doting motherhood and a new life of comfy clothes and parenting associations.

Now, faced with the looming awards show and the possibility of a destroyed marriage, Julia embarks on an accelerated self-improvement routine.

A unique take on the perennially popular issue of women trying not to lose themselves in matrimony and motherhood, Outtakes from a Marriage is expertly and humorously set against the Manhattan preschool mafia, the Hollywood machine, and the ticking clock of a waiting red carpet.

©2008 Ann Leary (P)2008 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"The prose is sprightly ... you'll keep reading." ( Entertainment Weekly)

Views of a marriage from the inside.

First, the narrator was SUPERB - just perfect. And since the voice in the book is the first person - a New York wife - she felt alive. Just beautifully done. Julia is married to a TV actor and in the very beginning she picks up a strong hint that he is unfaithful. The rest of the book she is dealing with this as things go back and forth from present to past. The "spine" of the story is this possible infidelity issue and everything else hangs on that. She is a totally devoted mother - those sections are so real and true to life - and in great personal doubt - also well done. So how does she deal with this. It completely holds your attention. I highly recommend it. I want to read more by Ann Leary.

Funny and insightful

Have you ever longed for the spotlight of fame ? This book might change your mind. Although it's fiction, Ann Leary makes some not-so-flattering observations on the public scrutiny of celebrity. This is also a touching and intriguing look at a celebrity marriage. Great writing, excellent narration.

Hated ending!

I loved another book from this author and thought this would be a good story. I felt for Julia and how much her life had changed, but didn’t really understand why she wasn’t doing anything with her life. I hated the ending!

Blue Ears, Man

This is the second Ann Leary book I've listened to, the first being The Children. I enjoy her writing style. The narrator was the perfect choice to voice Julia. Although Julia could've dug way deeper than simply snooping on her husband's voice messages, I forgave that one glaringly obvious flaw. The ending, though, felt rushed, and incomplete. All that build-up, then... blue ears.

Loved it!

Fantastic narration, good story. I really liked Julia and could relate to her struggles as a mother. Cassandra Campbell is one of my favorites!

great book

Love the book, the story. It was a tad dark and yet funny and intelligent at the same time.

A simple story

While the story of Joe and Julia is pleasant enough, there was nothing remarkable to be found.

Not much of a story

The reader did a great job with some very mundane, simple material. I kept waiting for a plot, but it never did appear. Entertaining at it's core, but needs more of a story.

Tedious celebrity NYC novel UNLIKE her other books

I'm so glad I read The Good House and The Children before this one. If I had read this first, I never would have read/listened to another book by Leary and would have missed out on two really great books.

While I found this to be a boring read, if you're interested in NYC, Hollywood, celebrity culture, and what it might be like to be married to a TV star, you'll probably like this. For me, all of those things detracted from the story rather than adding to it. Though there wasn't that much of a story in the first place.

The most telling thing that equals "no story"? At one point in the novel, after--what is it, 15 or 20 years of marriage, Julia (main character) seems truly surprised to "realize" she has done nothing during her marriage to Joe--she doesn't work, and the nanny cooks and takes care of the kids. This is actually presented as a surprising realization. I found this ridiculous. Like you don't realize you don't have a job? You don't realize the nanny is watching your kids while you're out doing...what? Apparently Julia has no hobbies. She doesn't really DO much of anything and almost all her mental energy goes to whether her husband is cheating on her or not.

I will say, the writing is good and, always, so is Campbell's audio performance.

Very drawn out

Would you try another book from Ann Leary and/or Cassandra Campbell?

Absolutely. I had just finished The Good House, which was excellent. I just thought this book had way too many flash backs. The main story was good , but getting through the flashbacks took away from the story, in my opinion.

What was most disappointing about Ann Leary’s story?

The ending to the main storyline. It just left you hanging with no resolve to this large issue.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Anger and then boredom