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A Version of the Truth (Bantam Discovery)
 
 
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A Version of the Truth (Bantam Discovery) [Paperback]

Jennifer Kaufman (Author), Karen Mack (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

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Book Description

January 27, 2009 Bantam Discovery

A novel for anyone who’s ever had to risk
it all to be the person they wanted to be…


From the critically acclaimed authors of Literacy and Longing in L.A. comes the ultimate story for late bloomers of every exotic shade. And a quirky young heroine with a knack for reinvention and a flair for the unexpected no reader will ever forget.

Thirty, newly single, and desperately in need of a paycheck, inveterate bird-watcher Cassie Shaw finds herself doing something that goes against all her principles. She lies on a résumé to land a job and finds herself employed at an elite university working for a pair of professors as unique as the rare birds she covets. One of them is the sexy, handsome, cheerfully aristocratic expert in animal behavior, Professor William Conner. Under his charismatic tutelage, Cassie begins her personal transformation into the person she was meant to be while meeting the kinds of people she has never met before. But when your entire future and your unlikely new career teeters on an unbearable untruth, the masquerade can’t go on forever. And when Cassie steps out from behind her mask it will transform her life—and the lives of those around her—forever.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cassie Shaw, the 30-year-old dyslexic high school dropout narrator of Kaufman and Mack's follow-up to Literacy and Longing in L.A., is devoid of self-esteem and, as the winsome novel opens, has just been widowed by a jerk who left her nothing but debt. Desperate for a job, Cassie fudges her education background on a job application and snags an entry-level university office job working under William Conner, a charismatic professor of animal behavior who ignites Cassie's desire for learning—and other things. As Cassie's lust for knowledge swells and she becomes more involved with Conner, the list of her deceptions lengthens, and it's only a matter of time until budding beau Conner finds out. Kaufman and Mack lace the narrative with light humor (the rats in California's Topanga Canyon are like roaches in NY or liars in LA) and nods to Emerson, Whitman, Thoreau, Plato and Keats. Delightfully merging humor, philosophy and reflections on nature, this novel is a lot of fun and might give some readers freshman-year flashbacks.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“It’s The Devil Wears Prada meets Walden Pond.” —Nature

“An engaging story about a young woman transforming herself into the kind of person she’s always wanted to be...a thoughtful version of the girl-done-good tale.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Delightfully merging humor, philosophy and reflections on nature, this novel is a lot of fun.... winsome.”—Publishers Weekly

“Sweet.” —USA Today


Product Details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Bantam Discovery; Reprint edition (January 27, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385340206
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385340205
  • Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.7 x 7.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,569,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
TRUE OR FALSE? January 2, 2008
Format:Audio CD
Tanya Eby is a relatively new narrator's voice for this listener - and she's a pleasure to hear. Her voice is distinct, well modulated, and pleasing. She conveys the protagonist's angst, determination, and joy with only a slight change in pitch. To some, this may seem like a minor detail but it's quite effective.

For openers in this, the second novel by the gifted writing team of Kaufman and Mack, we hear Cassie say, "I didn't intend to lie on my resume. It just happened.." Hmmmm, perhaps so but Cassie is a master of pretense. She's been faking it since childhood, initially pretending to read in school by memorizing, then telling her mother she had done her homework at school, and trying to convince friends that being called "dumb" didn't matter.

Now, she's 30-years-old and badly in need of a paying job. Her only assets seem to be some years spent at a wildlife center and Sam, a smart (sometimes foul) mouthed parrot bequeathed to her by a former tutor. Discouragement is now her middle name as all the employment agencies want to know why she didn't finish high school, and then show her the door as quickly as possible. So, she does what she's done in the past - she fakes it, her resume that is. She lists the credentials she wishes she had, describes who she would like to be.

Cassie does land an office job at a topnotch university with two bosses, both professors. One, William Conner, is incredibly handsome and he sees behind Cassie's mask, sees things about her that she does not yet know herself. However, smooth sailing eventually turns into stormy seas, and Cassie stands to lose everything.

A Version of the Truth is laced with humor, unpredictability, and vivid imagery. Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an example of smart chick lit. I love all kinds of chick lit, but sometimes I get annoyed with the same kind of protagonist. Cassie Shaw was completely different kind of woman. Cassie is a widow, uneducated, loves animals, and has a reading disorder. She decides to lie about her education on a resume and gets a job in a university. She has found her niche but all good things must come to an end, especially if it was based on a lie. Will she be able to overcome who she was, who she is, and who she wants to be?
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Dawn
Format:Hardcover
I have mixed feelings about this book. It left me wanting more. After I finished reading this book I was still hoping for something to happen. I didn't feel the closure that I get with most book at the end. The ending seemed to be really rushed, and the epilogue didn't feel in the gaps much.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Chick lit good enough for us not-so-spring chickens.
This is chick lit that works even for an old hen like me. I knew nothing about the book but it caught my attention in the paperback section at the library. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Old Latin teacher
Becoming who you really are.
This is a delightful and intelligent book about a woman with a failed past (high-school drop-out, failed marriage) who through determination pretends to be the kind of person she... Read more
Published on June 25, 2009 by Loves Books
Boring
I read a lot and I read all different types of books. This book was boring and a waste of time. There are much better thought based chick-lit out there. Read more
Published on June 13, 2009 by Loves to Read
A nice-paced piece of fluff
This isn't a story that's going to wow you and stick with you forever. It has its moments, but for the most part I'd classify it as a nice Sunday afternoon read. Read more
Published on May 2, 2009 by Smeddley
A Chick-lit Treasure?
Bird-watcher Cassie Shaw goes against all she believes in when in desperation thanks to being newly single and thirty she lies on a resume to land a much needed job. Read more
Published on April 19, 2009 by Kristi Ahlers
Great book!
This book isn't about animal lovers, it's about a young woman that falls in love with herself, via learning. Read more
Published on March 31, 2009 by ST
A refreshing form of chick-lit
In reading the "chick-lit" genre, there are certain things that I've learned to expect: Female main character in some big city world looking to be a publicist or something like... Read more
Published on March 12, 2009 by L. Kim
A Cute Novel
I was really excited about this book after reading about the plot in Entertainment Weekly, so I did something I never do and splurged for the hardcover. Read more
Published on July 10, 2008 by Brenda
If not nature lover, Stay away
There is too many long passages about nature and as I was listening to it on a CD, I couldn't just scan over it. Read more
Published on June 10, 2008 by Knight
A Version of the Truth
Cassie Shaw is a master at pretense. She's been faking it since childhood. She would memorize the lines in a book and pretend to read, tell her mother she did her homework at... Read more
Published on May 1, 2008 by Elizabeth Jean Allen, The Weekend Reader
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