How I Got the Idea:
The War of the Roses
This entry is part of Warren
Adler's series called "How I Got the Idea," which
traces the origins of his best known works of
fiction.
It's
been 30 years since the novel
The War of the Roses was published and 21 years
since the movie version with Michael Douglas
and Kathleen Turner was released.
In that time this cautionary tale about the
perils of divorce and the destructive power of
materialism which burst upon the public
consciousness, has not only become part of the
world-wide zeitgeist, but it has morphed into the
nomenclature of divorce, both as a legal description
and a symbolic description of a marriage breakup's
ultimate consequences.
Ironically,
the peak statistic for divorces in the United States
was the same year that the book was published, 1981.
In that year the divorce rate in the United States
had soared to 5.6 divorces per 1000 marriages. In
2005 the rate was 3.6 and continues to drop, a
situation that is mirrored throughout the world.
Astonishingly,
The War of the Roses continues to garner
traction in terms of name recognition in every
corner of the globe.
 It would, of course, be false modesty to suggest
that this cautionary tale about divorce contributed
to the impetus for this declining divorce rate. But
one most note the impact of the publication of this
novel which germinated a movie, a play and a sequel
novel is still bouncing higher and higher in the
public consciousness. Perhaps it is part of
something bigger, but facts are facts, the divorce
rate, for whatever reason, is in decline.
To learn more about "how I got the idea," see
complete story.
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