Funny enough to have me snickering frequently, honest enough to make me think about my own life..... ( )

The story of a woman's attempts to save her marriage after her husband becomes infatuated with new-age guru. There are so many wonderful things about this book -- instantly engaging prose, credible characterizations, too many laugh-out-loud moments to count... And it was thought-provoking without ever becoming preachy. Ugh, but the ending! Grim and cold and felt like a complete cop-out. Throughout the story, the characters seemed to learn a lot about themselves and their situation and what it would take to move forward in their world... and then in the last few pages, they just turn their back on all that and go back to being more or less exactly as miserable as they all were at the beginning. I understand this must have been a difficult book to end, and I was curious as to how the author was going to pull it off... but in truth, he did not, and it was ultimately disappointing. ( )

This was perhaps the most difficult review I've had to write yet. After reading I got my Book Lust journal out and wrote all sorts of things down in it about the book and then realized none of it was review worthy. It was simply notes about the book. I still needed to write the actual review.

Maybe it's because I've been through a divorce which still causes frequent and serious pain for a daughter who is nearly 21 now. Maybe because my current husband and I went through a very difficult separation. Maybe some of Kate's cold fishiness strikes home a little too much. I don't know. But the cover reviews boast of this story being breezily hilarious and I didn't get that. At all. There were some brief moments of humor.

I'd like to ask of the people who found hilarity, where did you find it? Did you find it from an ending in which I don't know about others, but I seriously found that there really is no way to be good. Or did you find it from the silly buffoonery made of those in the being good industry, like Goodnews?

I was saddened and depressed by the ending of this book. I was certainly not inspired to be a better (or good) person. But then, it was just a bit of comedy, am I right? ( )

What do you do when your husband, formerly "Most Angry Man" does a 180 degree turn and becomes altruistic? It sounds great until he starts giving away the kid's toys, inviting a stranger to live with you, and giving your cab fare away to a homeless person.

This book gives a funny, frustrating look at what it takes to keep a marriage - and your sanity - together. ( )

Dec. 2008