Knitting Under the Influence [Paperback]

Claire LaZebnik (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

When you're in your late twenties and nothing in your life seems to be falling into place, knitting is an awfully seductive way to spend your free time. After all, as long as you're following the instructions, you can knit row after row with the knowledge that the pattern will emerge and you'll end up with just what you wanted. Life, on the other hand, doesn't come with a stitch counter, so Kathleen, Sari, and Lucy, the heroines of KNITTING UNDER THE INFLUENCE, just have to figure things out as they go along.
Their weekly Sunday knitting circle is the only thing holding them together as Kathleen is cut off financially by her family and forced to enter `the real world' for the very first time at the age of twenty-seven, Sari finds herself falling for the man who made her life a living hell in high school but who now desperately needs her help, and Lucy finds herself torn between emotion and reason when her lab and her boyfriend are assailed by an animal-rights group.
At their club meetings, they discuss the really important questions: how bad is it, really, to marry for money if you like the guy a lot anyway? Can you ever forgive someone for something truly atrocious that they've done? Is it better to be unhappily coupled than happily alone? And the little ones: Can you wear a bra with a hand-knit tube top? Is it ever acceptable to knit something for a boyfriend? And why do your stitches become lopsided after your second martini?
In Claire LaZebnik's hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking novel, Sari, Lucy, and Kathleen's lives intersect, overlap, unravel, and come back together-the result is an utterly satisfying read.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Three L.A. girlfriends keep it together with their Sunday morning knitting circle in LaZebnik's sophomore warm-fuzzy (after Same as It Never Was). Charming, irresponsible Kathleen Winters is dependent on her identical twin sisters (semi-famous actresses reminiscent of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) for a paycheck and a home. After drunkenly spilling family secrets to a reporter, she sets off in a turquoise Mini Cooper to find an apartment and job of her own. Meanwhile, scientific researcher Lucy Cameron questions her career and love life as her lab and her self-righteous boyfriend become the targets of animal rights activists. Sari Hill faces the deepest conflict of all when the same "good-looking asshole" who tortured her brother in high school shows up with his autistic son at the autism clinic where she works. Each young woman re-examines her beliefs as the knitting projects—a hot pink bikini, a midnight blue baby blanket, a sweater—pass by. The tangled paths to three satisfying resolutions are marked by hot sex, an adorable gray kitten and, above all else, girl talk. LaZebnik juggles periods of personal crisis while maintaining her characters' complex individuality. Social knitters, especially, will relate to the bond that strengthens over the click-clack of the girls' needles. (Sept. 14)
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About the Author

Claire LaZebnik is a published novelist and non-fiction writer. She lives with her husband and four children in Pacific Palisades, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: 5 Spot (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446697958
• ISBN-13: 978-0446697958
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #726,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My first YA novel is out! It's called EPIC FAIL and it's loosely based on Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. And FAMILIES AND OTHER NONRETURNABLE GIFTS is coming out in September from Hachette Books.

Meanwhile, come visit me on my Facebook page Claire LaZebnik Writes--we have book giveaway contests and silly conversations about anything and everything--and if you need a laugh, watch this animated video I made with my husband about book clubs.

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7560829/

Cheers!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful read, a wonderful writer, September 30, 2006

By 

California Knitter (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knitting Under the Influence (Paperback)

I just finished KUI, and I felt like I spent a fabulous weekend away with three close girlfriends, with all the benefits of intimate, nonstop conversation, and none of the obligations of having to cook, clean, and make bed assignments. LaZebnik creates a world that is at once familiar and compelling. Her characters are completely relatable -- you'll recognize parts of yourself in their busy lives and hilarious predicaments. It's a breezy read without being fluff. The author has such a keen understanding of how enriching women's friendships are -- the confidences they share, the advice and support they offer -- that you'll wish you, too, had a knitting circle comprised of wonderful women like these with whom to share your trials and tribulations.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I must agree with Evelyn from Ohio, June 12, 2007

By 

GirlOnTheBay (Boston MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knitting Under the Influence (Paperback)

I found that this book was only loosely related to the craft of knitting and found the plot and dialogue to be shallow and crass. I also and am avid knitter and no one that I know would relate to the themes in the book. The ending is also lackluster and weak.

Definitely skip this one and read either Kate Jacobs' The Friday Night Knitting Club or Anne Hood's touching book entitled The Knitting Circle.

I am happy that I checked this book out of the the local library rather than purchase it.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Readable, barely, October 25, 2006

By 

S. Al-Amri (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Knitting Under the Influence (Paperback)

Not a lot of plot and so predictable there are no surprises. Not even any patterns to give it that knitter's twist - the knitting pattern names come with recipes for weird alcoholic drinks. Probably the knitting references are just to get the attention of the growing audience for knitting related novels; there is never anything that would indicate any real knitting knowledge.

This would almost be a good book for the high school library, except for the alcohol/adult content scattered around it, as it is easy reading. I am sending my read copy to an adult library for English as a Second Language folks; it should work there.