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Book Reviews of Until the Real Thing Comes Along

Until the Real Thing Comes Along
Until the Real Thing Comes Along
Author: Elizabeth Berg
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ISBN-13: 9780345437396
ISBN-10: 034543739X
Publication Date: 6/6/2000
Pages: 272
Rating:
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 133

3.7 stars, based on 133 ratings
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

30 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 53 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
I read this all in one sitting. I thought it was a wonderful book that describes baby lust so perfectly, as well as the pain of loving someone who just does not love you the same way...
short-angry14 avatar reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 79 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
If you are homophobic, narrow-minded, or in any way offended by women who choose to have babies "out-of-wedlock", then this book is not for you. If you are, however, open-minded, and feel that you "are who you are", and you "love who you love", then I will tell you that this book is one of the best books I have ever read. It is heartwrenchingly beautiful and painfully honest in it's descriptions of a woman who feels her time to be a mother is passing her by. It also tells how this same woman is deeply in love with her best friend, who happens to be gay. An absolutely wonderful story that made me laugh and cry throughout.
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 711 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
This was a quick read. This family has so much love for each other. You will like the characters. At the end of each undemanding day, Patty goes home to an empty apartment and listens to her biological clock ticking. Patty wants a husband and a baby, and not necessarily in that order....But Patty has a problem. Try as she might, there is only one man she can love...her best friend, Ethan---and try as Ethan might, he is quite firmly and intractably gay. With rueful good humor, this book shows how Patty and Ethan come to terms with the impossibility of having it all.
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 34 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Haunting.
pj avatar reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 208 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Book was a good short read liked it better than a couple of hers that I have read. Cute and funy in spots!
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 14 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Patty wants a husband and a baby, she has a problem. The only man she can love is gay. Funny and hearwarming.
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 36 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I enjoyed this book a lot. It was a quick read and I finished it in two days. I'm sure a lot of people are in the same situation and I was happy with the outcome of the book.
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 31 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Wonderful Book! I loved it.
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 404 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
"Berg again manages to make me laugh out loud and be touched. She capsulizes little things about life in these hilarious little bundles that I want to copy down straight away and read often." amazon
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 391 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Berg cant write fast enough for me each book is a masterpiece
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 14 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I couldn't get into this book because it conflicted with my values so much. If the heroine does things I would never do, I can't get lost in it the way I want to get lost in a book. It's the curse of being idealistic, I suppose. I don't think it is ok to have a baby on purpose without a husband. Children deserve a mother and father AND a loving home. Wasn't this a Madonna movie theme?


I'm glad others have enjoyed it and will post my copy soon so that someone else can have it. Just wanted to mention my opinion, though, in case someone else is like me.
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 32 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
great book i read it in one sitting..i love the way elizabeth berg writes, reels you in right away
Violiness avatar reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I was expecting a lot from Elizabeth Berg on this book. I've read others from her and this one disappointed me. The main character was weak and pathetic. In the end, she finally realizes what life is about but it was a bit boring and really very low key once you got there. The book is not dynamic or very interesting. Very unlike some of Berg's other books like the Handmaid and the Carpenter and Dream When You're Feeling Blue.
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 41 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
The best book I have read in a long time! Her characters are so real, you feel like they are sitting there with you, telling you the story. This was a great weekend read. The characters develop quickly and you get so involved! I cannot wait to read another book by Berg!
Firefly avatar reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 57 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A quick read. Interesting concept and handled pretty well. Nothing earth shattering, but a good read if you want something that flows well and may make you think, a little, about life.
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 65 more book reviews
Great book! Sad and funny moments.
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 222 more book reviews
Very good as all her books are. I was sad at some parts, but the story was a touching and good one, you will like it
Tunerlady avatar reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 581 more book reviews
A very serene, funny, yet poignant story about a woman who's biological clock is ticking, she wants a child, but she is in love with a gay man. The story unfolds gently and cleverly with a nice ending.
cranbery avatar reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 530 more book reviews
Just as always with this author........great read!
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 11 more book reviews
A novel about "having it all."
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 337 more book reviews
Quirky, funny, heartwrenching tale of a woman longing to be a mother but still desperately in love with her childhood sweetheart - who is gay.
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 412 more book reviews
When I first started this I was unimpressed, but as I read on, the book took on substance. Having spent a number of years entangled in a relationship similar to the protagonist's (straight woman in love with a gay man), I had a lot of empathy. Quick read--recommend it.
ajlewis avatar reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on
Wonderful, touching story with fantastic dialog. I loved the humor in the first part and the depth of caring throughout. The characters were so real as are the things they go through.
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 18 more book reviews
This is a story about a young woman who has always wanted a home & baby and who feels she's running out of time. She is unfortunately in love with a gay man, who finally agrees to have a baby with her but is unable to become "straight". The book seems to me to be lacking in the development of how her parents & siblings feel about this.. Humorous at times; seemed to need more info about her mother's developing dementia - that seemed to be just an afterthought tacked on.

This is the second Elizabeth Berg book I've read & I feel a little disappointed in both.
Grannylou avatar reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 13 more book reviews
I really enjoyed this book and I like this author. I was, however, a little disappointed in the ending. It was rather abrupt and I felt like the story could have gone on a bit longer to wrap things up. But, I still enjoyed it!!

Pat k.
queen627 avatar reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 45 more book reviews
At the end of each undemanding day, Patty goes home to an empty apartment and listens to her biological clock ticking...

Patty and her gay friend, Ethan, end up having a baby together.
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 49 more book reviews
(Cover is different than the one shown, but it's the same book!) Very touching. I love Elizabeth Berg. This was the first book I read by her and it got me hooked on her writing style.
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 36 more book reviews
My book has a different picture on the cover!
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on + 28 more book reviews
My copy, same ISBN, but different cover art.
reviewed Until the Real Thing Comes Along on
My copy has cute little baby feet on the front cover and is in excellent condition! This is a great quick read!