REVIEW 'Alice Thrift' is comedy of botched romance

A socially inept med student hooks up with a sleazy charmer.
By DONNA LIQUORI
ASSOCIATED PRESS
"The Pursuit of Alice Thrift," by Elinor Lipman (Random House, $23.95)
Alice Thrift is a self-described wet blanket. Socially inept, the first-year medical student is more comfortable with textbooks than with people. But she wants to be a plastic surgeon, and that involves -- well, people.
Enter Ray Russo, a gregarious fudge salesman who believes he needs a nose job. Alice talks him out of the rhinoplasty and the pursuit begins.
"The Pursuit of Alice Thrift," Elinor Lipman's wry novel about a romance gone awry, begins with Alice reminiscing about this odd consultation. Ray, whose motivation is dubious, is a charming sort, who seems to wrestle with the truth. Nevertheless, Alice is appreciative of the attention and encourages the pursuit, which ends in a wedding, a fact that is revealed in the beginning of the novel.
At the same time, knowing she has to change the way she interacts with people, Alice begins a self-improvement campaign with help from her roommate, Leo. Ray lends a hand as well. Only it's not going all that well.
Always serious
"I confirmed that I was and always would be: a serious infant, a serious child, a serious teenager, a serious student, a serious adult," Alice tells Ray during their first "date," a cup of coffee at the hospital cafe, followed by a meal at a nearby restaurant.
They embark on a relationship, and Lipman is at the top of her game.
Alice confides that Ray isn't perfect and wishes he were more grammatical; however, she's not sure that she could do better.
"'So how about a kiss?' [Ray] asked.
"I waited, shrugged, switched my pocketbook to the opposite shoulder, announcing finally that a kiss would be acceptable. I closed my eyes.
"Nothing happened. I heard him step away, and when I opened my eyes he was three respectful paces back, tightening the knot in his tie. 'You know what?' he said. 'I'm not going to force you. Your expression is like a kid biting into a fish stick when he was expecting a French fry. I have more pride than that."'
Career in jeopardy
Alice, whose goal is to perform plastic surgery on deformed people living in Third World countries, soon finds her career in jeopardy and begins contemplating her future. Leo, her parents and a woman she befriends try to steer her away from Ray, but it is too late.
Ray has the perfect combination of sleaze and everyman sensibility, while Alice is portrayed with a mix of self-deprecation and soulful insecurity.
Lipman's one-liners and one of the more ridiculous couplings in recent fiction are enough to keep any reader giggling long after the story's end.
But "The Pursuit of Alice Thrift" is about more than laughs. It goes to the heart of what makes us fundamentally human: our insecurities, desires and dreams, and the intricate relationships we forge to hold all of it together and face ourselves each morning.