Hazards of Sleeping Alone [Hardcover]

Elise Juska (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: SIMON & SCHUSTER (March 21, 2005)
• ASIN: B000K710LQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You won't care if you're sleeping alone with this one..., March 7, 2005

By 

Kristen (Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hazards of Sleeping Alone (Paperback)

Elise Juska's novels are just never what I quite expect them to be. Looking for a light read, I picked up The Hazards of Sleeping Alone. Little did I know that my reading lamp would burn late into the night with this heartwarming and surprisingly complex novel.

Charlotte is a divorcee who has left her family home for the "simpler" condo life. Her "master of many causes" daughter lives with her boyfriend in New Hampshire, so she is left alone with her memories and her fears. Throughout the story, we see her complicated relationship with Emily (her daughter) progress and we see Charlotte begin to learn more about herself and her many neuroses.

This novel is actually a rather in-depth character study of Charlotte. We learn enough about her past and present to truly understand her and care about what happens to her. As the novel evolves, we begin to care more and more about the secondary characters, as well.

I loved this book. It was touching, biting at times, but ultimately, it was true. I highly recommend this one!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rich, rewarding second book, November 5, 2004

By 

Clark Knowles (Portsmouth, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hazards of Sleeping Alone (Paperback)

I don't know if I'm supposed to admit knowing the author here when I post a review...but it seems disingenuous not to.... So here goes. I've known Elise for a number of years and she's always surprising me with her writing. She has a number of powerful (dark yet elegant) short stories published in smaller literary journals-all of which probe the frailty of human connectedness. Her first novel, Getting Over Jack Wagner surprised me with its gentle, perceptive humor, and its ability to be entertaining, but never trivial. And her new novel, The Hazards of Sleeping Alone, surprises me with its delicacy, with its compassion for all its characters, and for the natural pace and rhythm of her prose. It has a frilly, purplish cover, but the book is serious without being stuffy, weighty without being leaden. The language is sharp, the characters definitive (and, at times, defiant). What I love most about her people is that Elise is able to get past the surface of her characters in ways a lot of authors are never able to do. Hazards' protagonist, Charlotte, for all her quirks and fears, is a character to be reckoned with-and a character to remember. Elise never cheats as a writer-she won't give way to sentimentalism, won't bend the story toward a happy ending if it isn't deserved, won't guide the story with an obvious authorial hand. I was privileged enough to be an early reader of this book about a year ago-and it is still fresh in my memory. I suppose if you think I'm just subjective because of our friendship, you might buy the book and put my comments to the test. I teach English at the University of New Hampshire, and have suggested Elise's books to my students for a semester long independent project we undertake-and my students invariably come back raving about the novels-and maybe more importantly, thinking deeply about the words. My wife and I highly recommend the book (and her first book too). You won't be disappointed. In fact, I think you'll find yourself wanting more-which is a good thing, because Elise will be around for a while, continually surprising her readers by inventing wise and perceptive stories.

-Clark Knowles

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read - not just for mothers and daughters, October 25, 2004

By 

Philly Reader "Brian" (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hazards of Sleeping Alone (Paperback)

I picked up this book to read because I loved Juska's first book, Getting Over Jack Wagner, and a friend said this one was just as strong. This book, although entirely different in tone, proves Juska's talent at creating fully-realized and richly complicated characters. While the strength of Getting Over... was the exacting humor and dead-on hip factor, Hazards' power comes from the honest portrait of her lead character and the diverse "family" that surounds her. The reader feels like a voyeur in the mind of a woman struggling with the hard things we all struggle with - insecurity, anxiety, longing, and most importantly, love. It is well-written, full of truths, imaginative and it handles tough issues with honesty and care, without judgement, without comment. I highly recommend this read, even for those who may not be a mother or a daughter.