Stainer

A Novel of the 'Me Decade'

By: Iolanthe Woulff

Narrated by: Christopher Boucher

Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

A coming-of-age tale set in 1975 New York during Tom Wolfe's "Me Decade", Stainer follows the misadventures of a naïve Jewish Columbia University student named Benjamin Steiner, who, on the night of his 21st birthday, meets not only the sweet girl of his dreams, a lovely young lady named Rebecca Glaser, but also an unprincipled drug-loving rogue from Princeton called P. T. Deighland. As the days pass, Ben's immature inability to resist temptation and an overwhelming need to be "cool" gradually cause him to fall under Deighland's malign influence until, at an impossibly glitzy Princeton party, he encounters and becomes spellbound by a ravishing but predatory high-fashion model named Anthea Montague.

When Rebecca returns from an unexpected overseas trip, Benjamin's unreasoning jealousy over her friendship with another boy casts a shadow on their budding relationship. A series of rashly imprudent decisions abetted by Deighland and the model leave Ben feeling guilty and angry. At an ill-fated summer barbeque, he wrongly explodes at Rebecca and soon plunges headlong into a reckless self-destructive downward spiral, culminating in a horrific confrontation with Anthea Montague that brings his life crashing down in ruins.

Against the background of a vanished period in American history, Stainer offers a bittersweet nostalgic trip back to a less complex world, during a time of incautious excesses that, while deceptively fun and carefree, in due course forced many unwary youngsters like Benjamin Steiner to learn some necessary - but terribly painful - lessons about growing up.

©2017 Iolanthe Woulff (P)2017 Iolanthe Woulff

Very good listen

A great insight in to what life would've been like as a young Jewish male trying to find his way in the gentile world of that era. I'm a sap and love all tied-up happy endings; so even though I didn't get the outcome of my desire, I like that the ending left open possibilities. Great job Ms Woulff.