Customer Reviews

It's About Your Husband

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Once started--I could not put the book down. I read it--start to finish--in one day, and found myself laughing out loud 'watching' Iris, the well-meaning heroine deal with the foibles of life; the demise of her marriage, perhaps that of a quasi-friend, among the fellow citizens in New York and with a parent who embraces their own faults to the frustration of a distant daughter.

Each character was woven with threads of people that I feel I have known at some point or another in my life. Ms. Lipton writes with the authority of a journalist and the creativity of an artist. The delightful result is a well written story that is at once comfortable, spellbinding, fun and fresh.

LOVED the unexpected twist at the end and hope Ms. Lipton's next book is as enjoyable as her freshman novel.

I encourage you to buy this book!

Iris Hedge is one of the funniest, most engaging modern heroines I've met in ages. Her plight through divorce and joblessness in the big city will ring true to any young woman who's had to refashion her life and her presumptions. When she finds herself unemployed she takes on the job of spying on her friend's sister's husband. She makes a few wrong assumptions, but then, so do we--just when we think we know where the book is going, it surprises us and Iris, in the end, DOES get it right. Along the way, we learn how to wear heels without getting blisters and what shade of lipstick will really work (and how not to dye your hair!). I loved the picture of New York City that emerges--it's a real Valentine to the city and to the resourceful young people who come there every year to find a second chance. Beneath all the humor and fashion tips, this is a wise and mature book. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Lipton!

Lauren Lipton has spent half of her life as a journalist, primarily as a newspaper reporter. In this, her first venture into fiction writing, she has shed the constraints that bind a journalist to accurately report news stories and has shown a real talent for creating her own. The result is an enchanting tale about the transformation of Iris Hedge, California Girl, into Iris Hedge, New Yorker.

At a time in her life when her marriage is falling apart, Iris is offered the chance of a lifetime --- to get a promotion and work for a marketing company in New York City. The move from the San Fernando Valley is a little scary but exciting in view of the opportunities it will provide. Unfortunately, she barely gets settled into her incredibly expensive studioette when she is "restructured" right out of her new job at Hayes Heeley Market Research. So instead of the glamorous job she envisioned, she is now attending "Job-Hunting Tools for the Twenty-first Century" classes sponsored by the New York State Department of Labor.

Fortunately, she was able to make some friends before she lost her job and looks forward to spending time with Val and Vickie, twins who have only their beautiful looks in common. Val is fun-loving, frivolous and flirtatious, while Vickie is married, meticulous and melancholy. Vickie suspects that her husband, Steve, is cheating on her. Therefore, she hires Iris to "get the goods on him" so that she can get the goods from him.

This results in a series of miscommunications and cover-ups that could have had disastrous repercussions if it were not written as a comedy of errors.

What makes IT'S ABOUT YOUR HUSBAND such an excellent read is not the plot so much as Lipton's ability to capture the flavor of New York, the foibles of her characters and the metamorphosis of a delightful heroine. Her use of the language and ability to make us smile and nod as we read about Iris's mother, the psychic New Age Nymph, are priceless. She describes this character as "Once a yoga-doing, herbal-tea-drinking, alfalfa-sprout-eating Southern California mom, she is now, fifteen years later, remarried and a cottage industry, a guru with a Web site and newsletter who dispenses nuggets of goddess wisdom to women she's never met from a six-thousand-square-foot Arizona hacienda."

Further, you are constantly drawn in as Iris vacillates, as she teeters between loneliness and hope, despair and exhilaration. Her New York moments will spark fond memories in anyone who has been there...or has ever watched "NYPD Blue"! Lipton provides a nostalgic romp for those who "heart" New York and an inspiring one for those who have always wanted to embrace the Big Apple.

We look forward to what Lauren Lipton has in store for us next.

--- Reviewed by Maggie Harding

Thirty-one years old Iris leaves her husband in Los Angeles to move to New York where she starts a new job as a research marketer. However, her new position fails to pan out and she is fired. She barely survives on unemployment checks as long as she stays on a low cost diet.

Vickie offers Iris a chance to earn money under the table; she wants Iris to trail her spouse Steve, whom she believes is cheating on her. Iris accepts the job, but fails as a sleuth as Steve catches her. Outraged at the lengths Vickie went to, Steve blackmails Iris to do his bidding or else he will cause her trouble like she has never seen. He expects her to help him enact a sweet revenge scenario to shake up his spouse.

Though over the top with the premise that Vicky would hire an amateur and Steve could "blackmail" the amateur, fans will still appreciate this insightful look at starting over. Iris is a fascinating character as she will remind readers of the Doors' song People are Strange; the audience will empathize with her fears and especially her loneliness. Iris makes IT'S ABOUT YOUR HUSBAND worth reading as a sad sack sleuth struggles at being the stranger in the strange town.

Harriet Klausner

This is by far one of the best books I have read in a long time. I read it a few months ago but saw the need to post a comment.

At end of the day delivering a deftly crafted book suited to the palate of the respective genre is the aim of any writer. Ms Lipton has done this remarkably well.

For the first time in ages I had to try and pace my reading of the novel or I would have read it off in a few hours. Even then i ended up "rereading " the last few chapters " repeatedly". Yes it is that good and it is not only good "chick lit" fiction but a very good novel.

It is a simple storyline but well developed, The characters are rich and strong and also expertly developed. The book is riotously funny, not slapstick just plain good ole' humour.

Since reading this book I have been trying to get more books by this author but her next novel is not slated to come until 2009

A long wait but if its anything like this one it will be worth every minute of it

An enjoyable read by a promising new author. Iris tends to get a bit tedious in her displeasure with New York and her refusal to listen to anyone, but nonetheless, she's pleasant company.

This novel by Lauren Lipton was a fun surprise that I found myself hoping
for more when the story ended. Set in New York City,the reader gets caught up in the emotions and social discoveries of a newly separated (from her husband and home) California girl and finds, as does the main character that love IS right there in the unexpexted. I hope she writes again - SOON!

The Good: This story is expertly crafted, giving you just enough details, yet hiding just enough to keep a twist for the end. The characters are likable and mostly relatable. The writing is witty and engaging, and the plot is sexy and provocative, but not in a graphic way. This book is not one that you absolutely cannot put down (at least not until the end), but it is never boring ... it's just a thoroughly entertaining read.

The Bad: The only potentially bad or unbelievable thing is the influence the lead character's "friend" Val has over her. The lead character, Iris, does things she would not otherwise do (and in fact no sane person would) simply because her friend insists. If you've seen the Seinfeld episode where Elaine exerts a detrimental influence over her friend Noreen's life, well, it's like that.

The Summary: Meet Iris Hedge. She is a Californian transplanted to NYC and not adapting that well. She is separated from her husband and has just lost the great job she moved to NY for. She also has very few friends in NY, and the one she does have is the bad influence mentioned above. Val has a twin sister named Vickie who thinks her husband is cheating on her. At the insistence of Val and because she's broke, Iris agrees to let Vickie hire her to investigate her husband. She's tasked with following Vickie's husband Steve around to try to catch him cheating. The introduction of the Steve character is where the writing gets really creative. Steve is written as a great guy ... well, except for that little lying, cheating jerk thing. Or is he because Iris can't find him doing anything wrong -- except for the electricity between the two of them anyway. He's a good bad guy? Or a bad good guy? Doesn't make sense and you'll find yourself thinking that something is surely not as it seems. Steve is attracted to Iris and Iris, much to her dismay, is very attracted to Steve. You find yourself rooting for the two of them to get together, but then your little voice tells you that would be wrong because he's married to Vickie, who is now also Iris' friend. Talk about cognitive disonance! Needless to say, Iris is going through the same thoughts. By the time the book draws to a close, you simply cannot put it down. Thankfully, the last couple of chapters provide full disclosure and clear everything up, allaying everyone's cognitive disonance. This is one book you may actually want to read more than once, after you've read the ending. One other side note that I found particularly interesting ... While this book in no way represents itself as a self-help book, I think this book could actually be helpful if you're dealing with issues in your marriage. I know that a lot of what was said by Vickie and Steve resonated with me and gave me pause. I truly found it rather enlightening as an added bonus. Definitely a recommended read!!

A different outlook to the romantic novel, i was glued to each chapter trying to figure out what was going to happen and how. I have to say, by the middle of the book, i did figure out what the twist was, though they dont tell you about it until the end... but it was nice to read it through, though i would've liked to have read more about how Vicky handled the situation with her husband... and i wont spoil the twist.

This was one of the best books I've read this summer. I am looking forward to more books from Lauren Lipton. The heroine, Iris Hedge, was the type of woman that women can relate to. She's warm, funny and endearingly flawed. I highly recommend this book.