Gretchen Griner is an underpaid, underappreciated photographer for the Austin (that’s Texas) Grackle, part-time lover of Peter Overton Treadwell III (known as “Trout”), and major consumer of Cup O’ Soup. That is, until she meets Lizzie Potts—otherwise known as Viveca Lamoureaux, romance writer extraordinaire. Lizzie has a plan for Gretchen’s life—and it includes Lizzie’s brother Gus. But Gretchen has her own plan, and it does not feature a “wispy goon” named Gus. Of course, fate also has a plan for Gretchen, and it doesn’t care what Gretchen wants. So Lizzie will give Gretchen Gus, Gus will give Gretchen the man of her dreams, and among this oddball cast of marvelous misfits, someone just may discover the secret to true romance.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Gretchen Griner, overworked photographer for the Austin Grackle , isn't thrilled when her deadbeat editor and tomcatting boyfriend Trout sends her to Dallas to shoot the annual romance writers' "Luvboree." But she returns to Austin fired up to write a "bodice-ripper" after meeting Lizzie, a romance queen who speaks in an irritating medieval patois, and Juanita, who touts her books as "wet dreams for dry dames." Though Lizzie offers her gentle brother, "the Wisp," as an antidote to the no-good Trout, Gretchen thrusts him aside in order to catch a hood on a motorcycle. Bird lets loose with the manic sense of humor demonstrated in her first novel, Alamo House . Here the hilarity is even gamier and more strained. While Gretchen racks up points for charm when evading her landlord, trading smart-aleck repartee and cruising Austin's streets in a lumbering Delta '88, the novel is heavy-handed and somewhat sophomoric. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selections.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
Bird's first novel, Alamo House (LJ 9/1/86), was a hilarious female version of Animal House . Now she's once again written a hilarious novel, but this time it's a warm send-up of sorts of romance writers. Gretchen Griner, a dedicated journalist and photographer working for a semiunderground newspaper, is forced to cover the "luvboree," a romance writers' convention. Expecting the worst, Gretchen instead finds her subjects interesting and intellectual, if a little eccentric. Two of them, Juanita and Lizzie, become her friends and attempt to turn Gretchen into a real-life romantic heroine by finding her a boyfriend . Bird is emerging as a writer to watch, and though her wit is piercing and cuts right to the core, it is always tempered by warmth and good intentions. Highly recommended. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selections.
- Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Cty. Lib., Seaside, Cal.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
- Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Cty. Lib., Seaside, Cal.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Outtakes from an interview that appeared in the April 2011 issue of Southern Living...
Southern Living: Are there any personal connections to this novel that you'd like to share?
Sarah: Oh, gads, there are SO many. I'll try, (and no doubt fail), to keep it brief.
In 2008, our son became a member of the largest college freshman class in history. Everything about the experience surprised me. Let's just start off with the cost. I knew that college costs had skyrocketed so we'd put aside a small fortune. We learned, however, that small wasn't going to cut it. Instead, a great walloping fortune would be required.
The next shock was discovering that in order to even be allowed to spend these breathtaking sums I would have to take on a second job as a ratings coordinator. There are over four thousand colleges and universities in this country and each one had to be parsed because, as it turns out, the college your child goes to is, essentially, a referendum on you as a parent. Are you a five-star Ivy League parent? A small, selective liberal arts college parent? A giant, state university parent? A two-year community college parent? Being a no-college parent was so far beyond the pale that it wasn't even ever mentioned.
So the getting in part surprised me. But what surprised me even more was what happened after when the empty nest loomed as a reality. I was bereft. Completely blindsided by how much it affected me.
While pregnant eighteen years earlier, I had devoured every "What to Expect " book out there. As we slogged through this college experience, I wished for a whole new slew of guides to help me through this unsettling phase. For example, was it normal to both ardently pray for the day when this grumpy stranger you've raised would vacate the premises and burst into tears in the frozen food aisle because you'll never buy pepperoni Hot Pockets again? And Real Estate Regret? Is Real Estate Regret--the constant replaying of the different lives your child would have had if you'd lived in a different neighborhood, went to a different school, had different friends--normal?
Time Travel, I knew that Time Travel wasn't normal, yet, as we approached the date of our son's departure, I was swept uncontrollably off on journeys back through the years where I'd revisit key moments in the past. Then, like Real Estate Regret, I'd create an entirely different childhood for my son in which, for example, we'd never allowed videogames. Or had been active in the Methodist church. Or the Buddhist temple. Or had owned a telescope and pursued astronomy as a family hobby. Or raised chickens. Or all made our beds every morning.
Obviously, I needed, probably still need, intensive therapy. Instead, I wrote "The Gap Year."
Southern Living: Are there any personal connections to this novel that you'd like to share?
Sarah: Oh, gads, there are SO many. I'll try, (and no doubt fail), to keep it brief.
In 2008, our son became a member of the largest college freshman class in history. Everything about the experience surprised me. Let's just start off with the cost. I knew that college costs had skyrocketed so we'd put aside a small fortune. We learned, however, that small wasn't going to cut it. Instead, a great walloping fortune would be required.
The next shock was discovering that in order to even be allowed to spend these breathtaking sums I would have to take on a second job as a ratings coordinator. There are over four thousand colleges and universities in this country and each one had to be parsed because, as it turns out, the college your child goes to is, essentially, a referendum on you as a parent. Are you a five-star Ivy League parent? A small, selective liberal arts college parent? A giant, state university parent? A two-year community college parent? Being a no-college parent was so far beyond the pale that it wasn't even ever mentioned.
So the getting in part surprised me. But what surprised me even more was what happened after when the empty nest loomed as a reality. I was bereft. Completely blindsided by how much it affected me.
While pregnant eighteen years earlier, I had devoured every "What to Expect " book out there. As we slogged through this college experience, I wished for a whole new slew of guides to help me through this unsettling phase. For example, was it normal to both ardently pray for the day when this grumpy stranger you've raised would vacate the premises and burst into tears in the frozen food aisle because you'll never buy pepperoni Hot Pockets again? And Real Estate Regret? Is Real Estate Regret--the constant replaying of the different lives your child would have had if you'd lived in a different neighborhood, went to a different school, had different friends--normal?
Time Travel, I knew that Time Travel wasn't normal, yet, as we approached the date of our son's departure, I was swept uncontrollably off on journeys back through the years where I'd revisit key moments in the past. Then, like Real Estate Regret, I'd create an entirely different childhood for my son in which, for example, we'd never allowed videogames. Or had been active in the Methodist church. Or the Buddhist temple. Or had owned a telescope and pursued astronomy as a family hobby. Or raised chickens. Or all made our beds every morning.
Obviously, I needed, probably still need, intensive therapy. Instead, I wrote "The Gap Year."
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This should be a best-seller,
By desert wingz (Las Vegas, NV United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Boyfriend School (Hardcover)
Why is this book out of print, and so hard to find. I read it many years ago when I stumbled across it in a library in Vernon, B.C. I loved it so much, and recommended it to all my friends, but could never find it... anywhere. No other library seems to have heard of Sarah Bird. Well to all readers who like to have fun with characters and laugh out loud, go out of your way to find this one. It is delightful. A reporter is sent to cover a romance writers conference (porbably the worst assignment in the newsroom that day. No one in a newsroom has very high regards for these books or writers.) But little does our reporter know she is in for the ride of her life. What can fans do to get this book back into print??
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
cute with a good personality,
By "aznchew" (virginia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Boyfriend School (Hardcover)
I read this on recommendation from a reviewer of Olivia Goldsmith's Bad Boy, who claimed that Bad Boy was just a regurgitation of Sarah Bird's book. Now that I've read both, I must agree that The Boyfriend School is the superior book. I thought that the beginning was somewhat sluggish and Gretchen's "special friend" incredibly irritating (overblown and undergroomed). However, after the plot gained speed and the special friend faded out, I was drawn into Bird's quirky characters and Gretchen's angst about her true romantic nature. This is a really charming book that shouldn't be out of print when so many Bridget Jones copy-cats are littering the shelves. And coincidentally, I didn't think that Bad Boy shares much more than a plot device with The Boyfriend School.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Where are you, Sarah Bird?,
By A Customer
This review is from: Boyfriend School (Hardcover)
I am not a person who usually rereads books, but I just read THE BOYFRIEND SCHOOL for the third time in ten years, and it's one of my absolute favorites. Funny and yet touching, as well. I'm so glad that this book was recommended to me years ago. What I'd like to know is, what happened to Sarah Bird? After 1993, I can't find any record of her having written anything.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
