Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heartfelt and Compassionate, August 8, 2006
After two years of failed fertility treatments, Elinor and Ted Mackey have grown apart, becoming more like roommates than spouses. Elinor, a corporate attorney, likes to hide in the laundry room, where the cycling machines soothe frayed nerves. Ted, a podiatrist, spends his spare time working out at the health club--and seeing his fitness trainer on the side.
Elinor is at a loss when she overhears Ted talking on the phone with someone named Gina. When the truth comes out, everyone involved has to figure out the next step. Still in some form of love with his wife, Ted promises to break up with Gina. Sometimes life intrusions make promises hard to keep.
With Elinor's expectations of married life shattered, everyone involved will be forced to examine what is right and wrong, not just in life, but for them as individuals. Ted and Gina are given significant voice during this painful process. As a result, readers will be asked to look up on Gina with empathy, perhaps even a little understanding, in spite of her role as "the other woman."
Each perspective is lovingly detailed, exposing the strengths and weaknesses of each character. All three of the main players are compelling. Rather than detracting from the flow and pacing of the story, the inclusion of all three characters is smoothly done.
Ultimately, this is Elinor's story. As she moves through the roles of successful professional, to frustrated fertility patient, and finally to a new place in her life, Elinor will learn that happiness is never guaranteed, but "sold separately."
This is a great rainy-day novel. Curl up in a chair in order to appreciate the wide range of emotions present in this extraordinarily normal story. It's a great peek into a situation little understood by those who have not endured it.
Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
7/19/2006
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing by the end, August 27, 2007
This review is from: Happiness Sold Separately (Paperback)
I loved Good Grief and grabbed this as soon as I saw it on the book shelf. At first I savored it because Winston's writing is EXCELLENT and I did laugh out loud a few times (as I did in Good Grief) but I found, like another reader, that I just didn't care about these characters.
The kid, in particular, bugged me. He's sneaky and manipulative and the adults tell him entirely too much stuff, especially at the end. The conversations with this kid go on entirely too long. He's never disciplined and it just drove me crazy after a while and became a huge distraction for me.
The adults did not fare much better as far as I am concerned. I didn't really like any of them by the end. I started the book with high hopes but about 3/4 of the way through I realized I really didn't care what happened to any of them. The ending was a good one which is tough to pull off in a book like this when so much needs to be resolved but the characters just didn't do it for me.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not What I Expected ...., August 17, 2007
This review is from: Happiness Sold Separately (Paperback)
I picked this book up among several others to go through "lighter reading" for the next few weeks. I thought this one was a comedy but it's not. It is actually a well-written look into infidelity and infertility. The only reason why I gave it a three star is because it's not my favorite book ~~ it was entertaining. It was well-written. It was funny in spots, but it's just didn't leave me sighing at the end and wish for more. It is just an entertaining novel.
There are several characters in here ~~ the main character, Elinor, who suffered two years of infertility treatments and is depressed, only to find out her husband is having an affair with his training instructor at the local gym, Gina. Gina has a son, Toby, who is awfully nosey. Their lives all intersect till the climatic ending. The characters all reflect every day normal people caught up in the motion of their lives and actions. And frankly, none of them are that likeable. Elinor was too self-absorbed. Ted is too wimpy to make up his mind. Toby is annoying. Gina is too perfect. But that's what makes the novel move.
It is a good indepth look though in marriage, lack of communication when things start going wrong and why things fall apart and people move into affairs. It's also a good lesson when Elinor finally realizes that happiness is not guaranteed ~~ too bad that it has taken her till her 40s to learn that and only at the end.
If you're looking for something lighter to read ~~ this one would be a good start. It's perfect like one reviewer said, for a rainy afternoon cozy on the chair.
8-17-07
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
