Heather and Mack McKay seem to have it all: wealth, a dream house in the
suburbs, and two adorable children along with the nannies to raise them.
But their marriage has lost its savor: She is a frustrated writer and he
longs for a cultural trophy to hang on his belt.
During a chance encounter in LA, Mack invites exiled writer Zoltan
Barbu--once lionized as a political hero, now becoming a has-been--to
live with him and his wife in their luxurious home. The plan should
provide Heather with literary companionship, Mack with cultural cachet,
and Zoltan himself with a pastoral environment in which to overcome his
writer's block and produce a masterpiece.
Of course, as happens with triangles, complications arise--some
hilarious, some sad--as the three players pursue a game that leads to
shifting alliances and sexual misadventures. Shulman pokes fun at our
modern malaise (why is having it all never enough?), even as she traces
the ever-changing dynamics within a marriage. Ménage is a bravura
performance from one of America's most renowned feminist writers.
