The Bright Side of Disaster: A Novel [Kindle Edition]

Katherine Center (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

First-time novelist Center nails ornery and opinionated Texas women in this uneven tale of survival of the hardly fit. "It's not how you wanted it, but it's how it is," jilted and pregnant Jenny Harris is advised by her long-divorced mom. "Much of mothering is that way." Jenny's rock and roll wannabe fiancé Dean Murphy ditches her for a woman who died before he had the chance to sleep with her. ("I don't feel the same about you anymore. It's not my fault," he writes in his I'm-outta-here note.) Jenny has little time to nurse the heartbreak; baby Maxie is born the next day, and all Jenny's plans implode. What pulls Jenny through new mom hell is a network of bright, fearless women who thrive despite the bumbling men around them: Jenny's feisty mom with the "big Texas personality," blunt best friend Meredith and single-mom Claudia prove single women needn't be lonely, pathetic or poor. Yet this gaggle of sharp and funny supergals mostly falls apart when it comes to men. There's a rogue's gallery of thinly drawn louts, and from the rabble rises Jenny's dreamboat neighbor John Gardner, a pediatric nephrologist on sabbatical. Dean, of course, reappears, presenting Jenny with a not-difficult dilemma. Center's debut is fast-moving and pleasantly diverting, thanks to sharp dialogue and a narrative that's heavier on the sass than the diaper rash. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Jenny Harris is nesting in her Houston home with her fiance, Dean, awaiting the birth of their child, to be followed by their wedding. But Dean grows more distant, especially after a coworker dies in a plane crash, and Jenny ends up becoming a single mother. Determined to take good care of her child, she tries to forget about Dean, relegating him to the past. Coping with a baby takes all Jenny's time, so when her perfect single neighbor takes an interest, Jenny is flattered but exhausted. Then, when she finally decides to take a chance and get to know him, Dean comes back into her life. In her stellar first novel, Center paints an accurate and humorous view of motherhood, from the physical changes to lack of sleep and exhaustion as well as the changes in friendships and feelings about men. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 256 KB
• Print Length: 290 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0345497961
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (June 26, 2007)
• Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000SCHC8S
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #228,789 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Katherine Center' s second novel, Everyone Is Beautiful, was featured in Redbook, People magazine and USA Today. Kirkus Reviews likens it to the 1950s motherhood classic Please Don't Eat the Daisies, and says, "Center 's breezy style invites the reader to commiserate, laughing all the way." Booklist calls it "a superbly written novel filled with unique and resonant characters."

Katherine's first novel, The Bright Side of Disaster, was featured in People, USA Today, Vanity Fair, the Houston Chronicle, and the Dallas Morning News, among others. BookPage named Katherine one of seven new writers to watch, and the paperback of Bright Side was a Breakout Title at Target. Bright Side was also optioned last fall by Varsity Pictures.

Katherine recently published an essay in Real Simple Family and has another in Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers on the Mother-Daughter Bond. She has just turned in her third novel, Get Lucky, and is starting on a fourth. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and two young children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars funny, warm, excellent read, June 26, 2007

By 

J. Harper (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bright Side of Disaster: A Novel (Hardcover)

I'm glad my wife recommended this book to me - she laughed out loud reading it and thought I'd like it. It's not the type of book I'd normally pick up (older guys usually don't read about the problems of young mothers, and it's not in the mystery genre that I normally read for fun). But this is not just a "woman's" book. I loved it. It's well written, and more important the characters become real people. The guys are never put down (although of course some are nicer than others). It is a funny, warm, well-written novel. I can recommend it highly.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and Light/Easy Read, July 29, 2007

By 

Loves Books (Maryland USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Bright Side of Disaster: A Novel (Hardcover)

Despite the rather misleadingly grim title, I found this book fast and easy reading.

Although one of the main themes of the book is about being a new, single Mom, that's not the only theme. I'm sure those who have been a new mother will find much to identify with here, but I also enjoyed the book despite not having that distinction. There is really something for everyone, with interwoven storylines featuring relationships of every type - family, love and friendship.

I found it a quick, light, yet rich, book to curl up with. I'll look forward to the author's next book, since this is her first.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book, June 28, 2007

By 

T. Gould (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bright Side of Disaster: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is a really great book. It is incredibly moving and funny and lovely and a very quick read. Highly highly recommended.