This is, I suppose, a fairly obscure 1980s novel. Yglesias, author of the wonderful "A Happy Marriage", is a terrific writer who can really drill deep down into his characters and skillfully fashion complex psychologies. In "Only Children" he wrote about two wealthy New York City couples who fit the Yuppie mold of the time. Today you might just call them wankers.

Diane, a corporate lawyer, is married to Peter, an independently wealthy arts funder. Diane intentionally becomes pregnant without clearing this with Peter, who informs her that if she thinks he's going to play daddy, she's sadly mistaken. He sticks to his promise of non-involvement until Diane's ferocious drive to mold a genius toddler drives her to a breakdown after she slaps the two year old boy full in the face in public after he failed to perform at an IQ testing. Peter then steps in fairly adequately, although when Diane suggests having a second child (since this child raising thing is going so swimmingly and all) he responds that he doesn't think that's a good idea, since he neither loves her nor their son.

At least they have a fabulous apartment and a competent nanny.

Nina comes from a wealthy old Boston family but doesn't really do anything professionally herself until a tacked-on development near the end of the novel. Her husband Eric is a wealth manager who fantasizes about becoming the "Wizard of Wall Street". Nina's family is dysfunctional and loveless, and having a baby gives her something to finally lord over them. Eric is embarrassed by his parents because they were never able to make a lot of money. Their child raising actually goes quite a bit better than Diane and Peter's. Their son Luke has a genius IQ, and all the best private preschools in New York City fight to get him enrolled. They don't get carried away though and display genuine love while dealing with some tough baby and toddler issues.

Okay, honestly, these people pretty much suck, so why would you want to spend hundreds of pages reading about them? The problem with reading it as satire of 1980s Yuppiedom, which I believe was its aim, is that it's not at all funny. Granted, satire doesn't always have to be funny to work, but if it is not then it really needs to sock it to you hard, force your eyes open, make you gasp. I wouldn't say this novel did any of that.

Maybe this novel is just too much a product of its time. Maybe it would have done that in 1989.

In 2012, the only thing I can offer is that Yglesias really is an excellent writer, and he does offer his characters some redemption in the end. ( )