TAMING THE VINEGAR GIRL

Anne Tyler's Vinegar Girl, the Pulitzer-Prize-winner's take on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew is an absolute delight, the best of Hogarth's series of modern takes on the Bard's plays, at least in my opinion. The other two, so far, are Jeanette Winterson's The Gap of Time and Howard Jacobson's Shylock Is My Name; my review of Winterson's novel is at http://morning-glory-garden.blogspot.com/2015/11/from-problem-play-to-challenging-novel.html. I haven't written a review of Shylock . . .  yet, but it's a close second to Vinegar Girl, which means it's very, very good.

Tyler's Kate is smart, stubborn, working at a job that doesn't seem to fulfill her potential, and indispensable to her scientist father - almost as indispensable as his research assistant, Pyotr, whose visa is about to run out. To Kate's dad, there's a simple and elegant solution: Kate should marry Pyotr and Pyotr should move in with the family, so Kate can continue to run the household and Pyotr's immigration status can be stabilized. Kate, quite understandably, is not thrilled by this proposition.

Throw into that mix Kate's younger sister Bunny, Bunny's probably-too-old-for-her Spanish tutor/boyfriend, who lives next door, and assorted relatives, co-workers, and friends, and the stage is set for a funny, touching, and ultimately satisfying re-imagining of one of Shakespeare's most entertaining plays. For those who are concerned that the play, like others of Shakespeare's, has been criticized as misogynistic, Tyler's updating neatly deals with that plot problem, in a way that makes me smile just to think of it.