Helpful Score: 2
Not as funny as I had hoped. Some spots were a bit slow and some were really funny. If you've had some dysfunction in your life, especially with your parents, this book brings a little humor to it all.
very honest character
This book unfolds 7 state-of-my-life addresses a hapless high schoolteacher writes to herself on consecutive birthdays.
This book was laugh-out-loud hilarious. Similiar to Bridget Jones's Diary.
This book was laugh-out-loud hilarious. Similiar to Bridget Jones's Diary.
good fast read.
Very funny, sarcastic. I liked it.
funny, sarcastic book
A single woman in L.A. celebrates seven of her birthdays with annual journal entries (beginning on her 36th) recounting her yearly endurance test a.k.a. her sure to be dreaded birthday "celebrations" with her dysfunctional family. Many singles will relate to the hilarious encounters with her series of "Mr. Wrongs" and some may think it over the top. If you relate to any it you will not only LOL but cringe and thank your lucky stars these things didn't happen to you. I've given this book as a b-day gift for a single friend that enjoys a cynical wit.
I enjoyed this book although I found it hard to understand the main character's reluctance to stand up to her emotionally abusive parents. I should think that by the time one is 36, one would be able to tell the parents where to get off.
So the main character is a bit of a pushover but despite that, her story was interesting and a little bit amusing and, while not a real engrossing book, still made for a pretty good read.
So the main character is a bit of a pushover but despite that, her story was interesting and a little bit amusing and, while not a real engrossing book, still made for a pretty good read.
Who can say, with a straight face, that every birthday they've ever experienced has been the perfect occasion, with every wish granted and all dreams fulfilled? Certainly not Markoe's nameless single Anywoman, who begins journaling her yearly observations with hilarious dedication when her ex, Carl, surprises her with flowers on her 36th birthday and her parents' traditional celebratory dinner turns out to be yet again an experiment in terror...7 special birthdays are analyzed with increasing insight and joie de vivre guaranteed to make this the perfect gift for all women who face birthdays with grim determination, pepper spray and sharp fingernail files. Each year, Markoe's protagonist, an L.A. art teacher, carefully writes down "What I Learned This Year That I Want to Remember" and charts her attempts to stay out of "the Hole," the place where hapless "smart, fun, attractive women in their late 30s and upward" fall into "whining, moaning, hoping for escape," keeping the reader nodding in wry agreement. Witty, biting observations include: from her 36th birthday, "No more voluntary participation in bad sex"; from her 37th, "No more shopping with Mom"; from her 38th, "Don't make a big deal out of the fact that there were no guys this year"; from her 39th, "When you have never loved at all, at least you have enough attention span left to get some reading done" and "Never continue to interact with someone who cannot define the word `soon.' " Markoe teaches the joy of laughing through pain and bubbling through toil and trouble. (Feb. 19)Forecast: As a multiple Emmy winner and the original head writer for David Letterman, the author should have no trouble promoting her book on the talk-show circuit or her five-city author tour.--Publishers Weekly
