The Destructive Element

For twenty years, overweight Franny and her repressed husband Harley have somehow kept their marriage together, in spite of Harley's lack of sexual desire for his frumpy wife. The broken state of their marriage eventually leads to Franny's many infidelities, which in turn create mostly psychosomatic ailments that bring about a slow shattering of her health. When, ultimately, Harley leaves her for another woman, Franny wallows in self-pity, until she finally decides to change her life. She goes on a "health" kick and gets plastic surgery and, over time, transforms herself into a sexy slim chick, attractive to both sexes and willing to indulge herself with either or both.

Harley has his own guilt problems that weigh him down. The fact that his lust for Didi (the other woman) has made him abandon an ill wife preys on him and he becomes a functioning alcoholic who becomes wildly jealous of his mistress's roving eye. Ironically, his health begins to decline, while Franny's life "flourishes"-at least for a while. A literary lion on par with Don DeLillo, Duff Brenna exposes the dark underbelly of the American obsession with sex and the fear of aging. According to the Washington Post Book World, "Brenna sees his larger-than-life creations with an unflinching eye, but also with measures of love."