Being Anti-Social [Paperback]

Leigh K Cunningham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 19, 2012

GOLD MEDAL WINNER, 2012 READERS' FAVORITE BOOK AWARDS GOLD MEDAL WINNER, 2012 READER VIEWS LITERARY AWARDS Mace Evans is single at thirty-eight. When her much unloved older sister, Shannon, declares that Mace is anti-social, she embarks on a journey to understand her condition; whether she was born that way or if it is the accumulation of thirty-eight years of unfortunate encounters with other humans and dogs. For reasons unbeknown to Mace, she has an affair with a work colleague, which brings an unexpected end to her perfect marriage. And as if the self-imposed torture and regret is not enough, Mace endures ongoing judgment from her older sister and mother, which further exacerbates already tenuous relationships. With support from her four best friends, merlot and pizza, and with guidance from her life coach and mentor, Oscar Wilde, Mace recovers to a degree, but in her quest to understand her anti-social ways, she finds herself wondering about the quality of the fabric that keeps her network of friends intact. When Mace's mother is diagnosed with cancer, Mace searches for common ground on which to connect before it is too late.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Hilariously funny! The stories of several people are expertly woven into one with the narrator's story keeping everything centred. It's different enough not to be predictable and the main character's quirkiness is the main attraction of the book. This a great book for relaxing after a stressful day. -- Joana James for Readers Favorite

About the Author

Leigh K Cunningham is a lawyer with a career as a senior executive for a number of public companies in her home country of Australia. She has master's degrees in law (Master of International Trade & Investment Law) and commerce (Master of Commerce) as well as an MBA (International Management). 

BEING ANTI-SOCIAL, Leigh's latest title (May 2012) won gold at the 2012 Readers Favorite book awards in the Chick Lit category,, and was #1 in Comic Fiction on Amazon's bestseller list. 

RAIN, Leigh's first title for the adult fiction market (April 2011) was named the winner in the Literary Fiction category at the 2011 Indie Excellence Awards. RAIN was also awarded a silver medal at the 2011 Independent Publisher Awards (IPPY) in the Regional Fiction: Australia/New Zealand category. RAIN was #1 on the Amazon bestseller list for Women's Fiction (December 2011).

Leigh's first two children's books, THE GLASS TABLE and its sequel, SHARDS are recipients of silver medals from the Mom's Choice Awards. SHARDS was also a finalist at the 2011 Indie Excellence Awards in the Juvenile Fiction category.  

Website: leighkcunningham.com Twitter: twitter.com/leighcunningham Facebook: facebook.com/pages/Leigh-K-Cunningham

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: Vivante Publishing (May 19, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9810720939
• ISBN-13: 978-9810720933
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,212,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Leigh K Cunningham is a lawyer with a career as a senior executive for a number of public companies in her home country of Australia. She has master's degrees in law (Master of International Trade & Investment Law) and commerce (Master of Commerce) as well as an MBA (International Management).

BEING ANTI-SOCIAL, Leigh's latest title (May 2012) won gold at the 2012 Readers Favorite book awards in the Chick Lit category,, and was #1 in Comic Fiction on Amazon's bestseller list.

RAIN, Leigh's first title for the adult fiction market (April 2011) was named the winner in the Literary Fiction category at the 2011 Indie Excellence Awards. RAIN was also awarded a silver medal at the 2011 Independent Publisher Awards (IPPY) in the Regional Fiction: Australia/New Zealand category. RAIN was #1 on the Amazon bestseller list for Women's Fiction (December 2011).

Leigh's first two children's books, THE GLASS TABLE and its sequel, SHARDS are recipients of silver medals from the Mom's Choice Awards. SHARDS was also a finalist at the 2011 Indie Excellence Awards in the Juvenile Fiction category.

The third book in THE GLASS TABLE series is in progress, as is a sequel to RAIN.

Connect with Leigh at:

Website: http://www.leighkcunningham.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/leighcunningham

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Leigh-K-Cunningham

Blog: http://www.leighkcunningham.com/blog/

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent, witty, completely enjoyable June 20, 2012

By M. Mccarty

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I usually don't like to write reviews,except for those books that aren't very well known and something I've stumbled across that I feel many others would enjoy. Often when I read a book, I'll put it down frequently because I have a low attention span or because it's too "scary" (even though I keep getting these "scary" books; don't know why. Probably need a therapist...) This was one of those rare books I had no trouble keeping in my hands. I had the opposite problem. Making myself put it down so I could get some work done. I loved the lead character, Mace. I loved her independence, her honesty, her quests for self-improvement. And most of all, for her humor. Mace quotes Oscar Wilde often and I enjoyed every reference. As a matter of fact, I may have a t-shirt made with one of the quotes.

I highly recommend this book to all readers that appreciate intelligence and humor in the written word; qualities sadly lacking in most modern fiction.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Leigh's Latest is to Love May 27, 2012

By Ron Fritsch

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Being Anti-Social, set in present-day Melbourne, Australia, is award-winning author Leigh K. Cunningham's second novel for adult readers. Because I thoroughly enjoyed her first, Rain, I looked forward to reading Being Anti-Social as soon as she published it. I wasn't disappointed.

Mace Evans is one of five children in her family, with two older brothers and two sisters, one older and one younger. She's 38 when the novel begins, and she's unmarried, childless, and "anti-social," according to her older and "unloved" sister, Shannon. She's also a severe disappointment to her mother. On the other hand, she respects and admires her younger sister and her brothers. She considers her father "cute, cuddly, lovable, and a beacon of life."

Despite her proud independence and desire to be left alone, Mace is also one of a group of five women who've been friends from their high school days--but she admits she continues to like only one of them, Kimba, "the voice of reason."

Mace is "rather successful" in her "career as a finance executive," even though she tells us her co-workers consider her "unfriendly," "abrasive," and "offensive." On the other hand, she's kind to her secretary and secretly enjoys the fights her peers so frequently engage in.

The novel begins with Mace's admission of the crucial mistake she made in her life. She fell in love with Ben, married him, and remained in love with her "perfect husband" to the end of his short life. (He's dead from leukemia when the novel begins.) And yet she caused their separation and divorce by embarking upon an affair with another man, Joshua, who was "a star when it came to bedroom achievements." After Mace ended the affair, Joshua vengefully told Ben about it.

Mace and her siblings, friends, and co-workers journey through a few years in their late thirties and early forties. They have affairs, fall in love, marry, have children, separate, divorce, and attend funerals. Mace finds it easy to commence affairs with attractive men who ultimately prove disappointing to one degree or another. The question for her, and the reader, is whether she'll ever find a man to replace Ben.

Mace herself might not wish to claim to be a sympathetic protagonist in the story of her life, but she is, nevertheless. She insists she doesn't care what the people in her life think of her, and yet, she admits at one point, she does.

In her dealings with her family, friends, and co-workers, Mace Evans reveals an intense dislike of pretense as well as an ability to openly mock those who are guilty of it.

Mace is also delightfully sarcastic in the manner of Oscar Wilde, her "mentor and life coach," a number of whose bons mots she quotes at appropriate moments in her story. Consider this: "I might become a crazed old spinster who wears quilted dresses and odd socks, and drinks merlot yoghurt smoothies while terrifying neighborhood children--it would not be all bad."

And so I found myself laughing, time after time, as one can only do while confronting the sweet sorrow of human life and death in the world we live in and simultaneously maintaining one's sanity.

Thank you for this story, Leigh. I loved it from its beginning to its end.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A gifted writer! June 29, 2012

By Mimi Barbour

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This story is written in the first person by a woman called Mace and is a journey of discovery - a discourse on her feelings and thoughts - the state of her emotions about love, life, and family.
The author is a gifted writer and her talent shines through each page. I loved the Oscar quips that were dotted here and there...eg: a true friend stabs you in the front. They added a kind of levity to the story and made me chuckle. A wonderful read!