Date Jacksonville

Last Tango In Jacksonville

Description

Last Tango in Jacksonville tells the story of Paul Sommers whose wife, Cordie, has walked out on him and their twin boys for a man she met in rehab. Upon discovering his wife's infidelity, Paul initiates an affair with her oldest friend and confidante, Laura Chambliss, a beautiful and promiscuous divorcée who lives in Jacksonville, Florida. During a week-long tryst, Paul and Laura not only consummate and explore each others deepest sexual desires, they also test the darkest, most forbidden boundaries of human eroticism. When Cordie learns of her friend's betrayal, Paul and Laura's long distance affaire de coeur begins to unravel and Paul becomes progressively unhinged in ways that are alternately humorous, heartbreaking, and ultimately tragic.

Reviews

Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2010-09-01
Summary: "Sex Meets Dark Humor"

Last Tango in Jacksonville is like your first "Bad Boy" lover----unruly, sexy, exhausting and somehow unforgettable. The sex is fairly relentless and graphic though only initially ---until you're utterly spent by the numerous escapades. The lead character, Paul, you fall in like with, even sympathize with until you secretly began wondering if maybe his wife has the bonafide goods on him. After all, you keep saying, "Who wants a self-involved martyr even if he does pick up the kids from school?" It's then when the lights and flares start going off in your head. Is this guy for real or is he losing it in a very for real situation? There are moments of absolute hysterical black humor here, riveting images, and seconds where you simply know this is not going to end well. It is quite long and more a beach read than a treatise on relationships. But the truth is one can't help but relish the possibility of a movie version. You can simply see it all topedoing toward multicolor full screen demise.

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-08-26
Summary: "Last Tango in Jacksonville Review"

Last Tango in Jacksonville is a wild, fun, and in some spots somber read.

I really enjoyed the main character, (Paul Sommers).His Character has many layers; Father of Twin Boys, husband of an alcoholic cheating wife, and a man having an "affair" with the wife's best friend.

In the first few chapters of the book I was a bit shocked by how sexually explicit the book was, but later I was unable to put it down. I love all the twists and turns the book takes.

What a great Read.

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-08-11
Summary: "Schadenfreude"

Poetic and intense, Last Tango in Jacksonville tells the story of a failed romance at one end and a long lost lust at the other. While some may consider it graphic, don't be fooled into thinking this is erotica as it's so much more.

You'll find yourself breezing through the book after the first few chapters until you realize you're 700 pages in. At times it is poignant and beautiful; at others, epicaricacy is in full effect.

This book is for lovers, divorcees, music obsessees, and is a must-read if you've ever lived in Jacksonville.

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-05-10
Summary: "Tour De Force of Lyrical and Profane Intensity"

Can a book be lyrical, funny, poignant and profane? William Rue's tour de force of obsessive love gone very wrong is one wild ride. An adroit maneuver of fiction merged with nonfiction techniques, I recommend this wonderful book. Also let it be known the Mr. Rue writes extremely well about sex, but don't let that dissuade you from reading on. There's a lot more meaty textures and layers to this book than meets the eye.

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-05-03
Summary: "The Many Faces of "Last Tango in Jacksonville""

This book fits easily into no category that I can think of. Erotic tragedy? Darkest comedy? Meditative psychoanalysis? Well... sort of... and not exactly.

The book is part porno... part melodrama... part police procedural. Parts of this book are erotic. Parts are quite disturbing. A lot of it is sad-- from vaguely melancholy to deeply tragic. That being said, those with a dark sense of humor may also find some of it amusing. There are definite elements of noir fiction here, though the protagonist is more disturbed than criminal, and the love-affair, less about love than fantasy... and less about fantasy than trust.

There is a great amount and variety of sex in this book... I'm not even going to try to list all the kinds. For that quality alone, the book would be remarkable... though, of course, not all of the sex is erotic. Don't leave this book around your children, unless you are prepared to have some extremely frank and/or convoluted discussions with them.

(On the other hand... if we had a few more frank discussions with our children, and discussed more complicated issues, the world might be a very different place...)

The plot revolves around a man, Paul Sommers, whose marriage has recently imploded due largely to his wife's alcoholism and infidelity. Paul seeks solace in the arms of Laura Chambliss, a woman he has long desired-- and who is also a close friend of his ex-wife. Laura and Paul embark on a kind of exhaustive exploration of all their sexual fantasies... and the rest, a complex and painful devolvement incorporating documents of numerous kinds, I'll leave to the reader.

Much of the writing is really quite beautiful. Mr. Rue deftly portrays his characters with a succession of subtle touches, capturing both their human frailties and more noble impulses, both beauty and ugliness of spirit.