The Plagiarist

Wit and pathos, so finely meshed they become inseparable, buoy the main events in this achingly funny first novel from the editor of his father's The Letters of John Cheever. Arthur Prentice, the only child of famous writer Icarus Prentice, wants more than anything to establish his own identity. Working in a dead-end job at his local newspaper in a New York City suburb, trapped in a marriage to a woman who never fails to remind him how badly he's doing (when he suggests that they make love one morning, she says, ``All right, but make it quick and don't be surprised if I throw up''), Arthur has just about abandoned hope when the American Reader offers him a job on its Manhattan copy desk. Soon enough, he has advanced to associate editor, earning a salary far beyond his wildest dreams, and in the process he has even become somewhat more attractive to his wife. So, what could be bad? Management at the American Reader , a ``reprint magazine'' and a wonderful satiric target, wants to get Arthur's father to write for them. Easier said than done, of course, since Icarus views the magazine as a bad joke. But with his personal success in jeopardy, Arthur realizes that he must do something , and therein lies the rest of this solidly written tale. Despite a marital resolution that may disappoint some readers, this is a touching, entertaining debut. (May)