Last Tango in Brooklyn

By Kirk Douglas

Book Overview

In this, his most satisfying novel so far, Kirk Douglas exhibits the brilliant versatility that he has showcased so vividly in his many decades as an actor. Here he tells the story of two ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances - circumstances that wait right around the corner for each one of us. Ellen, a small-town girl from upstate New York, is trying to make it as a modern woman in the big city. She is doing well in her career as the librarian of a large Brooklyn hospital, but her personal life is a mess. Her boyfriend, Richard, a world-renowned heart transplant specialist, is unfaithful. Her roommate has moved out leaving her with a mountain of unpaid bills. She is broke. Then she meets Ben at a screening of Last Tango in Paris. Ben, a fitness instructor, is twice her age, but he is a vigorous man able to challenge and out-perform men young enough to be his sons. A recent widower, Ben is frantically scrambling to find a temporary place to live, because his house in Flatbush has sold much faster than he expected. Ellen rents Ben a room, but what begins as friendly business relationship slowly turns into something more. Ben feels a surge of vitality in which passion knows no age and no limits. Ellen, full of life spirit, and mischief, seems his perfect match. Yet Ellen and Ben's startling and consuming affair faces a gulf even wider than the gap that separates May and December. Ellen's best friend is appalled, Ben's daughter, a psychologist, condemns their relationship as a Freudian nightmare. A terrible accident and then a mysterious death - which could be murder - threaten to doom their love. Soon, life's expectations shatter on the rocks of the unexpected. Roleschange in astonishing ways. Yet, ultimately, Ellen and Ben's love will prove stronger than reason - in a powerful finale than will haunt the reader long after he or she has closed the book.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446516953
• ISBN13: 9780446516952
• Release Date: July 1994
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

TANGO, TANGO, TANGO!!!!

I read this book many years ago but I remember it very much. Aside from being written by a romatic lead star, Kirk Douglas, the love story he tells warms your heart. I was very surprised with the pain of the love story and what these two lovers had to go through.It was sad that these two lovers had a very short time together before the end came. He was older than his love interest but she was seriously ill. They resolved their differences by going to the end together in Brooklyn.

As beautiful as it gets

This is a wonderful book full of passion and desire, of love and the unexpected. It's delightful to read, and you wouldn't be able to put it down once you started reading. You'll get to feel the writer's work, and you'll live the moments as though they were your own, wishing you can make them true at some point in your life.

A Beautiful Story

This is a beautiful story written by an excellent writer. It has mystery and romance between 2 people you wouldn't expect it from. The best he has written!