In this novel O'Nan explores the last-ditch effort of a middle-aged couple to save their house and their marriage. They are empty nesters with poor finances, and have decided on a second honeymoon to Niagara Falls to try to gamble back enough money to stay afloat. Art has learned a system, Marian is along for the ride. If they fail they have already decided to legally divorce. Each is angry at the other for past transgressions, but they are both very hopeful that these scheme will work.

Interesting and unusual, believable and totally not believable at the same time. ( )

I've had this book for a long time so decided to finally read it. I am a big Stewart O'Nan fan and this is really a novella. I certainly am glad I read it but not as good as I was expecting. My first book by him was Emily, Alone and that's a hard book to beat! ( )

Art and Marion Fowler, hapless victims of the Recession of the early 80s, are desperate people. Too young for Social Security, both laid off their jobs, their retirement funds eviscerated by the market plunge, and facing foreclosure on a house whose mortgage is so far underwater that it might as well be located in Atlantis, they have maxed out their credit cards and liquidated everything possible for one final shot at redemption, via the clattering roulette wheels of a Canadian casino at Niagara Falls.

This portrait of two people who are too battered by circumstance to even put up a good fight for a marriage that has simply run out of steam, lies at the heart of O’Nan’s small and beautifully-written novelette. Over Valentine’s Day weekend, the couple re-visits the site of their honeymoon as they prepare for their casino challenge at its heart. There’s really not a lot of action here – they eat in various restaurants, wait in line for attractions that turn out to be over-hyped or unavailable, and generally tread emotional water while waiting for the moment of truth. But where this work glows is in its finely-wrought and dead-accurate portrait of a marriage slowly running out of steam. There’s no big cathartic battle and no soaring rededication to their relationship, even though a hopeful final scene suggests they just might make it as a couple.

The backup plan is for divorce – as much a financial maneuver as an emotional one; though “while Art saw the divorce as a legal formality, a convenient shelter for whatever assets they might have left, from the beginning she’d taken the idea seriously, weighing her options and responsibilities – plumbing, finally, her heart.” And as they move through the weekend, it becomes clear that Art desperately wants the marriage to survive, and he’s clearly wooing a woman who mostly just wants everything settled so she can begin arranging the rest of her life. Both are carrying baggage from past infidelities, though it’s never really clear that Art is as aware of Marion’s dalliance as she is of his. There’s no real dislike here, but there’s a ton of ennui, and there are probably few long-married readers who won’t recognize themselves in one scene or another.

Go ahead – spend the weekend with the Fowlers – odds are you’ll be glad you did. ( )

I picked this one up after catching an NPR review; this is the first of O’Nan’s works that I have read, but based on this reading, it will not be the last. In this short novel (under 200 pages), O’Nan follows a middle-aged husband and wife on their final vacation as a married couple. Marion is reluctantly going on this trip with Art as a final concession before they split and file for bankruptcy; their house is about to be foreclosed upon — a house that Art knew they could not afford when they bought it, but went along with to please Marion. The couple’s trip to Niagara Falls via bus runs in to a few hitches, paralleling their life story together, which is told through reflective flashbacks from their differing perspectives. Allusions are made to extra-marital affairs, although this is not made explicit. Their vacation takes place over Valentine’s weekend, prompting memories of the early days of their relationships.

Each chapter is headed with a statistic, such as the odds of getting sick on vacation, of a U.S. citizen filing for bankruptcy, of being served breakfast in bed on Valentine’s Day, or some other number roughly associated with the chapter’s content. The novel is very readable, and paints a realistic picture of a couple in today’s American society — dealing with joblessness, financial troubles, and trying to keep at all together. A charming novel without being overly cloying or dramatic. ( )

Subtitle: A Love Story

Art and Marian Fowler travel to Niagara Falls for a sort of second honeymoon. Their thirty-year marriage is in shambles. They’re facing financial ruin, the loss of their home, and a divorce, though they’ve kept all this from their adult children – so far. Art’s plan is to liquidate all their savings and gamble big at the roulette wheel. So they book the fanciest suite at the fanciest casino/hotel and try their luck.

Oh, I love O’Nan’s writing! This is the third book by him that I’ve read and I’m about to add all his works to my TBR.

O’Nan gives us wonderful characters – warts and all. In the course of their trip and throughout the weekend, the two reflect on their years together – what drew them to one another, what irritated them, the affairs that nearly broken them, the secrets they’ve kept from one another, the joys (and heartaches) that they’ve shared.

Laid off and with little hope of finding a new, meaningful job at his age, Art is desperate for a “win.” He knows he’s made mistakes, in his life and in his marriage. He’s certain that his main fault has been to be too cautious, to NOT take risks. Not now. He’ll win big or he’ll go down in a blaze of glory.

Marian is tired – of the lies, the secrets, Art’s relentless efforts to please her and make amends. She just wants this to be over with. And yet, she cannot help but feel a bit giddy and happy once she lets herself succumb to the experience, the thrill, the sheer romanticism of Valentine’s Day at Niagara Falls.

Over the course of the weekend they’ll share memorable meals, a stomach virus, a romantic horse & carriage ride, an awkward visit to Ripley’s Believe or Not Museum, a memorable rock concert, more than one bottle of champagne, and the thrill and terror of betting it all on the spin of a wheel and the croupier’s flick of a wrist, sending that little ball spinning.

At the end I’m rooting for them … no so much that the roulette wheel is in their favor, but that they win the marriage game. I’m betting on THEM. ( )