One or Another

I was lured to this novel after seeing the painter, playwright and novelist Rosalyn Drexler on a 1970 episode of The Dick Cavett Show. One or Another is stylistically engaging, written in bursts of vignettes that more often than not go off on flights of fancy. The story is simple enough, about a 39-year-old New York woman married to a gym teacher who has an affair with one of his students. But this is a high-concept effort, much more than a simple plot summary would suggest. It is also appealingly frank. The imaginative mind here is impressive, but this novel is more self-expression than communication: a true painter's book.