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Jayne's Reviews > The Anatomy of Desire
The Anatomy of Desire
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Theodore Dreiser must be doing somersaults in his grave.
THE ANATOMY OF DESIRE is a "retelling" of Theodore Dreiser's AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY.
Dreiser's book was based on a 1906 true crime boyfriend-kills-impoverished girlfriend story. The working-class girlfriend gets killed when Clyde, Dreiser's protagonist, develops an interest in a wealthier girl.
In THE ANATOMY OF DESIRE, Cleo, a successful bisexual health/fitness Instagram influencer. ends her affair with her lesbian girlfriend Rebecca (Beck) for a more socially acceptable partner --a wealthy Instagram influencer male named Sandy.
Following Dreiser's storyline, Cleo's decision to sever ties with her girlfriend does not end well.
PROBLEMS WITH THIS BOOK: The authors worked too hard to "modernize" this story. Also, I had a major problem with the way the authors portrayed the LGBTQ community and the bisexual MC. Friendly reminder: this is 2021, not 1906.
But it was the lack of compelling character development that set this book apart from Dreiser's classic.
Dreiser's "the curse of the poor is their poverty" messaging and his brilliant portrayal of class struggle was absent. Even though I was not on "Team Clyde" when I read Dreiser's classic many years ago, Dreiser's strong character development was so poignant that I remember feeling Clyde's angst, frustration, and "no way out" despair.
Not so with THE ANATOMY OF DESIRE's Cleo. The author's character development was lacking and I had absolutely no "connection" with any of the MCs.
I listened to the audiobook. I usually love it when a book has multiple narrators. This book had many narrators but to fully "modernize" this retelling of Dreiser's classic, the authors reveal the evidence in "true crime docuseries" segments. Unfortunately, this formatting did not work and made the "retelling" choppy and disjointed.
One star, rounded up. Soooo disappointed!
THE ANATOMY OF DESIRE is a "retelling" of Theodore Dreiser's AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY.
Dreiser's book was based on a 1906 true crime boyfriend-kills-impoverished girlfriend story. The working-class girlfriend gets killed when Clyde, Dreiser's protagonist, develops an interest in a wealthier girl.
In THE ANATOMY OF DESIRE, Cleo, a successful bisexual health/fitness Instagram influencer. ends her affair with her lesbian girlfriend Rebecca (Beck) for a more socially acceptable partner --a wealthy Instagram influencer male named Sandy.
Following Dreiser's storyline, Cleo's decision to sever ties with her girlfriend does not end well.
PROBLEMS WITH THIS BOOK: The authors worked too hard to "modernize" this story. Also, I had a major problem with the way the authors portrayed the LGBTQ community and the bisexual MC. Friendly reminder: this is 2021, not 1906.
But it was the lack of compelling character development that set this book apart from Dreiser's classic.
Dreiser's "the curse of the poor is their poverty" messaging and his brilliant portrayal of class struggle was absent. Even though I was not on "Team Clyde" when I read Dreiser's classic many years ago, Dreiser's strong character development was so poignant that I remember feeling Clyde's angst, frustration, and "no way out" despair.
Not so with THE ANATOMY OF DESIRE's Cleo. The author's character development was lacking and I had absolutely no "connection" with any of the MCs.
I listened to the audiobook. I usually love it when a book has multiple narrators. This book had many narrators but to fully "modernize" this retelling of Dreiser's classic, the authors reveal the evidence in "true crime docuseries" segments. Unfortunately, this formatting did not work and made the "retelling" choppy and disjointed.
One star, rounded up. Soooo disappointed!
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
Finished Reading
Finished Reading
(Hardcover Edition)
May 13, 2021
– Shelved
(Hardcover Edition)
May 13, 2021
– Shelved
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JanB
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May 13, 2021 06:15PM
I just clicked over from your message and see you hated it! You’re not alone. I see another GR friend dnf’d it. Too bad!
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JanB wrote: "I just clicked over from your message and see you hated it! You’re not alone. I see another GR friend dnf’d it. Too bad!"Thanks for liking my review, Jan. I not only hated this book, I hated it intensely. Many of my GR friends liked this book and that was one of the many reasons why my expectations were so high. What a letdown!
Such a shame, Jayne. Could have been good. This is the same synopsis as a old, excellent movie with Elizabeth Taylor called, A Place in the Sun. Sorry this book was so bad. 🌸
Kat (Books are Comfort Food) wrote: "Such a shame, Jayne. Could have been good. This is the same synopsis as a old, excellent movie with Elizabeth Taylor called, A Place in the Sun. Sorry this book was so bad. 🌸"Thanks for liking my review, Kat. The Elizabeth Taylor movie was based on Dreiser's book, too. Dreiser's book had such a compelling premise and it was too bad that the two authors who wrote this book was not able to pull it off.
Yikes! Sorry to hear this was such a miss for you Jayne! Needless to say I enjoyed this more than you, but you've made some very valid points.
Thanks for liking my review, Regina. I read "An American Tragedy" when I was in high school and it was one of the first books that I liked that I was supposed to like. Even though I read Dreiser's book many years ago, I remember the book and I was very excited to read the "retelling". Unfortunately, the "retelling" was a HUGE disappointment.
Thanks for your heartfelt review, Jayne. I was riveted when I read a retelling of An American Tragedy was being published. But very wary. I can remember in this very moment the depth of joy and perfection in art I felt when I discovered this book at 15. It opened up gateways to things unconsidered yet in my coming adulthood, and of course it’s theme is brilliant and timeless. The telling flawless. I so appreciate you doing the work for me and sparing me the disappointment of trying to cram a square peg in a round hole for the sake of a memory. Your word poignant is just right, I loved it.
BTW, I felt like you did about Great Expectations, a book I ended up loving that I looked upon as a chore when assigned Dickens!
Karen wrote: "BTW, I felt like you did about Great Expectations, a book I ended up loving that I looked upon as a chore when assigned Dickens!"Karen, thanks for liking my review. Dreiser's "American Tragedy" was the first book that I liked in high school, that I was supposed to like! Even though I read the book many, many, many years ago, I remember all of the details vividly and that is why I was so disappointed with THE ANATOMY OF DESIRE. I remember being riveted by the trial in Dreiser's book. BTW, another great Dreiser book is "Jennie Gerhardt".
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
I read that book after I graduated high school and it was amazing. It had me in tears throughout most of the book. It was very different than AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY but shared the same "the curse of the poor is their poverty" premise.
I have not read the original but this sounds like it really missed the mark! Great, honest review Jayne!
Derek wrote: "I have not read the original but this sounds like it really missed the mark! Great, honest review Jayne!"Thanks for liking my review, Derek. I loved Dreiser's AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY and I was excited that a "retelling" had been published. Yes, this "retelling" definitely missed the mark and was very disappointing.
