Jennifer Johnson Is Sick of Being Single: A Novel [Paperback]

Heather McElhatton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 5, 2009

A wicked comedy about the perils of making your dreams come true

Quirky, clever, cubicle-bound Jennifer Johnson is desperate. Everyone around her is getting married, while she's still single and stuck writing ad copy about men's dress socks.

Her life hits crisis level, launching her into a humiliating and painfully hilarious quest to find Prince Charming at any cost. This includes agonizing online dates, diet-clinic cults, drag-queen fights, and a debilitating addiction to Cinnabon icing. When she meets handsome, wealthy Brad Keller, she wonders if he's the answer to all her dreams, or is he just too good to be true?

Darkly funny and outrageously honest, McElhatton's wit shines in this no-holds-barred cautionary tale about getting what you want—and how it can be the worst thing for you.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A heroine with Bridget Jones-like neuroses and klutziness learns the costs of scoring a glamorous life in McElhatton's delightful second novel (after Pretty Little Mistakes). Jennifer Johnson is a financially unstable copywriter toiling in the marketing department of Keller's, a family-run Minnesota department store. Jennifer learns her ex is engaged and is subjected to her younger sister's wedding preparations, horrid dates and a fire in her Hello Kitty–adorned apartment. Enter Brad Keller, the caddish heir to the Keller's department store fortune. Though at first she couldn't imagine that he'd ever be interested in her, soon enough they're dating, and a marriage proposal follows. Things, of course, aren't exactly as they appear, and Jennifer's eventually confronted with the classic dilemma: money or love. Jennifer's a wonderful narrator—honest, witty, self-deprecating and sharply observant—which more than redeems the story's familiar aspects (gay best friend, high maintenance sibling's pending nuptials, lame Internet dates). McElhatton blends just enough cynicism into the whimsical narrative, creating a fun romp through a woman's manifold insecurities. (May)
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Review

“This brash and funny novel plays with the form, with a dark, intelligent and wholly unexpected conclusion…Jennifer is uncomfortable, wickedly funny and ultimately likable….” (Minneapolis Star Tribune )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; 1 Original edition (May 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061461369
• ISBN-13: 978-0061461361
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #917,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

(McElhatton rhymes with TACKLE-LATIN, if that helps.)

Heather McElhatton is a writer and independent producer for Public Radio International. Her commentaries and
stories have been heard nationally on This American Life, Marketplace, Weekend America, Sound Money and The
Savvy Traveler. She also produced the radio literary series Talking Volumes. Heathers audio archive can be found at www.mpr.org

She has had several short stories published, including 'Red Shoes' which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2001. Writer/publisher Joyce Carol Oates published the story in
Princeton's literary magazine, The Ontario Review thatsame year.

Heather's new radio show is called STAGE SESSIONS and is held in front of a live audience at the Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul, Minnesota. The show is aired on Minnesota Public Radio a week later. Guests have included Sebastian Junger, Ann Bancroft, Bill Holm and Robert Bly. Their work is combined with other musicians, poets and humorists.

Besides ongoing reporting and radio commentary, Heather will appear on Ira Glass's television version of This American Life, which is slated to premiere on Showtime this winter. Her debut novel is a choose-your-own-ending book for adults called Pretty Little Mistakes and will be published by HarperCollins in spring 2007.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny but chilling, May 12, 2009

By 

Bearette24 (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Jennifer Johnson Is Sick of Being Single: A Novel (Paperback)

The author has a very wacky sense of humor, and several passages of this book made me laugh out loud. Her protagonist, Jennifer Johnson, doesn't really fit into her religious community in Minnesota. She collects kitschy figurines, has dolls that do naughty things, and has a gay best friend. However, her dream is rather conventional: find a millionaire, marry him and live happily ever after. Then that dream takes a nasty left turn. This is one of those books where the ending is *not* predictable.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars David E Sunderand, May 8, 2009

By 

David E. Sunderland (MPLS, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jennifer Johnson Is Sick of Being Single: A Novel (Paperback)

OK...I love this book. It is witty, well written and a bit like potato chips....one is not enough. Kudos to Heather McElhatton for a fun read. I feel as if I personally know all the characters and have a much better sense of life in Minneapolis, MN. The perfect read if you are looking for an escape into the wacky world of dating. Applicable to both men and women...well maybe I got a little crazy but what the H***..."WRITE ON"....

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Achingly funny, unwincingly true, and thought provoking in unexpected ways, June 9, 2009

By 

MR "true tale fan" (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jennifer Johnson Is Sick of Being Single: A Novel (Paperback)

I started this book on a lunch hour, canceled my afternoon meetings, and finished it all in one go. It's like someone finally tells you the whole truth, not just the pretty parts. I wound up loving Jennifer, despite herself, and finding all the arrows where the book hit a target inside myself. Underneath all the crazy stories and the laugh-so-hard-you-cry parts, you wind up asking if you're your own, most authentic self? This book is for all of us who very mistakenly walked down the aisle towards the wrong person and realized it too late (or too early, and were just to scared to admit it), or any of us looking at that choice again, or for the very first time. Let's be honest! Good luck everybody - this book cracks it wide open.