---
product_id: 93653849
title: "Asymmetry: A Novel"
brand: "lisa halliday"
price: "₨325"
currency: SCR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.sc/products/93653849-asymmetry-a-novel
store_origin: SC
region: Seychelles
---

# Asymmetry: A Novel

**Brand:** lisa halliday
**Price:** ₨325
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Asymmetry: A Novel by lisa halliday
- **How much does it cost?** ₨325 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.sc](https://www.desertcart.sc/products/93653849-asymmetry-a-novel)

## Best For

- lisa halliday enthusiasts

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- Trusted lisa halliday brand quality
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## Description

Asymmetry: A Novel

## Images

![Asymmetry: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71wFxWithTL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    As readers, we are blessed that the author ignored Quiller-Couch's advice
  

*by G***R on Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2018*

I read a lot of books but I rarely choose one based to any large extent on its reviews. This book was an exception. After all, how often do you stand the chance to read a debut novel for which professional reviewers are literally at a loss to praise superlatively enough?Asymmetry is a popular word these days. I don’t believe the world is any more asymmetrical than it has ever been. Technology, however, in both making the world smaller, and the personal asymmetry of in your face news and social media, have given it new celebrity and relevance. And, of course, asymmetry is a problem specific to all of the algorithms (just now coming to light) that drive our digital lives.In this case the asymmetry exists at many levels, from the May-December romance of Alice and Ezra to the political, social, and humanistic asymmetry of the Iraq tragedy, and the very fact, as revealed in the closing interview with Ezra, that he, as a character, found passion and compulsion in the asymmetry of life itself. (I wouldn’t pretend to speak for the author’s ultimate intent, but I came away with a sense that it is the asymmetry of modern politics and it’s asymmetrical suppression of humanism that is the ultimate source of the title.)To be perfectly honest, I was immensely disappointed after the first twenty pages or so. The opening plot of the Alice/Ezra story was either fantastically unrealistic or all too predictable. I’m still not sure which. It didn’t take long, however, for Halliday to find her cadence and capture my attention.The writing is beyond superb. Yes, there are plenty of clichés, but they are used sparingly and always, perhaps with the exception of the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry, kept on a short leash.The prose, in fact, brought Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (1863-1944), the Cornish poet, novelist, and literary critic, to mind. He is perhaps best known for identifying the seven universal plots of all storytelling. He is also known, however, for warning authors, “Murder your darlings.” It was a piece of figurative advice, of course, built on the observation that writers often fall in love with a turn of phrase that otherwise adds nothing to the narrative.As a reader, however, I love the darlings and this book is filled with them. A cliché is a cliché but not everyone can do them equally well. Halliday is a master, or a maestro, as Ezra would be inclined to say. It’s a very entertaining story and the asymmetry it reveals is becoming more topical by the day.I can’t wait for her next work. Thank you, Lisa Halliday. (And all of those enthusiastic professional critics.)

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Layers of complexity and brilliant, observational writing
  

*by M***O on Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2019*

Even if you didn't know that this book was (semi)-autobiographical (about the author's relationship with Philip Roth), as I didn't when I read it the first time, it is a fascinating read. Brilliantly observed. The characters are multi-dimensional. The dialogue is sweet, easy, funny, and just lovely. And then there are the layers of complexity - the clues about how the sections are related - that make this just a terrific read.

### ⭐⭐⭐ 3.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    A Star Problem
  

*by M***E on Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2019*

This is a 5-star book with a 1-star problem.  The 5 stars?  It comes from the fact that the author, Lisa Halliday, can sure write well (see the middle section of the book), an achievement that is sadly missing from 95% of what passes for literature these days.  The 1-star problem is that instead of focusing on writing well she focuses on showing how she can write well.If you're reading this, there's a good chance you (like me) wanted to explore what all the fuss was about.  You heard (as I did) that there were two wildly different stories whose connection is revealed in a third section.  This connection was described in glowing terms by admiring reviewers--words like surprising, startling, wonderful, and brilliant tempted me to buy the book and enjoy this experience.  Had I not heard about the promised reward, however, I never would have finished, for the first section of the book left my eyes dry with boredom.  I kept wondering why I was being asked to care for these characters.  And then when I did get to the big reveal in section three, I actually missed it--not because of its subtlety but because it was so anti-climactic I didn't realize this was the big news.  I knew it was a connection (and there are several others too); I just thought the "brilliant" connection would be something original.Much of the critical fuss, it turns out, isn't about the story itself but about the people who write and publish such things, including Halliday herself.  (There's an interesting autobiographical twist to the whole tale too.)  It's a story about writers celebrating their writerhood.  To that extent, and perhaps unfairly, I'm responding as much to the reviews and reviewers of the book as to the book itself.  To enjoy the story, you would need to be at least one and hopefully more of the following: a) a feminist; b) a writer who thinks writing is the most important thing in the world; c) someone from New York who thinks the New York literary scene is the most important thing in the world; or d) Lisa Halliday and/or her friends.  Being one of these, however, is no guarantee of enjoying it, as evidenced by my own disappointment.  The first section in particular is especially difficult to work through, as it's effectively a set-up for the rest of the novel.  What substance there is includes mostly inside jokes about literature and the literary scene, but unless you enjoy being "inside" these things, you're left on the outside wondering what it is you're supposed to be enjoying.In the end I'd recommend you read the book if a) you want to see just how talented the author can be by reading the second section; and b) you want to test the big reveal for yourself.  Hopefully Lisa Halliday will keep writing--she's too talented to waste such skill--and her reviewers will do her the favor of admiring a book for what it is to all readers not just to their own circle of literati.  Perhaps my years of being an avid reader have left me spoiled, so the big connection was for me only another familiar literary maneuver.  If it's fresh to you, then there are some fine thoughts--even inspiring thoughts--to be found.  But for me finding them simply wasn't worth the effort; the reward of reading was simply finding out what the big connection was, and simply satisfying one's curiosity isn't the same thing as enjoying a satisfying read.

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*Product available on Desertcart Seychelles*
*Store origin: SC*
*Last updated: 2026-03-03*