One Woman, One Time
Ido has all that a middle class urban male could desire: a cute little daughter, a wife he loves, a manageable mortgage, and a career as an attorney. But when his wife, Nurit, comes home from a dentists’ convention in Spain and tearfully confesses to a one-night stand with a dental specialist, everything changes. Ido does not want a divorce. Their love is too great. But neither can he just let the matter go. He proposes a solution that only a lawyer could think up: retribution that would leave their marriage intact. Ido too would have a one-night stand and after that, his and Nurit’s life would get back on track. At least, this is what they think.
Ido sets out on a journey that will change his life. It’s not every man that gets permission from his wife to go off with another woman, and Ido really doesn’t want to waste the opportunity on just anyone. But he soon discovers that women are not actually lining up to go to bed with him. When Nurit discovers that he is having a hard time with his end of the bargain, she decides—behind his back—to help him, anything to save their marriage.
One Woman, One Time is a humorous and biting novel about Israeli masculinity and a sort of open-heart surgery on the institution of marriage. Shutan-Goshen dares to write about love and sexuality in a blunt yet endearing manner, and offers his readers romance sans kitsch, stemming from honest observation of his characters.
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“There are many books about infidelity, but nothing quite like this one. One Woman, One Time is original and insightful; it takes a surprisingly fresh and a terribly funny stance on marital relationship in a crisis. There is no doubt that the book will sweep many a reader off their feet. ”
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“A book that deals with an important psychological and sociological issue – women’s infidelity … [The title’s] advantage, as opposed to other books in the genre, lies mainly in humor that is woven in throughout the plot … The humor of Shutan-Goshen’s work ... adds to the lighthearted tone in which the book is written …The solutions that the betrayed man finds are quite creative.”
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“A page-turner … A book that is a lot of fun to read.”