Tomcat In Love

The only other Tim O'Brien novel I read was the very dark In the Lake of the Woods. Tomcat In Love is a horse of a different colour - still lots of angst but with a farcical twist.
Tomcat is Thomas Chippering, professor of linguistics and wannabe ladies man. He spends much of the book trying to exact revenge on his faithless wife, the tycoon for whom she left him and her brother with whom she has a suspiciously cozy relationship. When he's not playing the avenger he plays the lech with many young women, all of whom are manipulators in their own right who consistently make the hapless Chippering pay tenfold for his lustful advances. It's funny, he's an amusing character but I thought it ran on too long in parts and could have benefitted from more disciplined editing. Every time I was tempted to set it aside I'd read some particularly witty bit and had to continue on. Chippering is a ludicrous character, very over the top, but he grows on you. I felt he got his just desserts when he was spanked by his enemies in front of his students yet I was pleased when the resolution seemed to be a positive one for him.