Customer Reviews

Marrying George Clooney: Confessions from a Midlife Crisis

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'll be honest here - I haven't gone through menopause. I don't know what it's like to have insomnia (or how you could possibly manage to have insomnia AND write a novel as incredible as this). I haven't shared many of the experiences that Amy Ferris talks about in her book, Marrying George Clooney. But, regardless of that, I connected with this book on such a deep level. I got choked up, I laughed out loud, I set out to write my own novel, I read parts aloud to anyone who would listen... I LOVE this book.

It's incredible to get to know someone on such a deeply personal level - let alone to reach that connection through a novel. But Amy lets us in on her secrets, shares her most joyful and sorrowful moments with us, and inspires us to get through those ups and downs with profound grace and humor.

This week, "Marrying George Clooney: Confessions From a Midlife Crisis" by Amy Ferris, is hitting the bookstores. On the back will be my blurb of recommendation:

"Amy Ferris has successfully combined a rip-roaringly funny page-turner, with an unvarnished account of the personal history that formed her. This gut-wrenching look at intimate relationships will resonate with readers because of the universality of its raw emotion, clarity of vision and self-revealing courage."

Blurbs are relatively short, pithy comments on why a potential reader should pick up that particular book as opposed to the hundreds of others that are displayed besides it. It is an invitation. It also serves as a reference to those who have already taken the plunge, as they take a break from their reading to see if they are in sync with those who had the privilege of an advance look.

In my case, not only did I get to peruse the manuscript in its final form, I also witnessed its birth and evolution.

I met Amy Ferris at The Women's Media Center in 2005. We were part of the start-up team for a new venture founded by Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda, and Robin Morgan. The goal was to ensure that women were more "visible and powerful in the media." The two of us were quite vocal about how important women's cultural contributions were - a necessity to honestly reflect women's stories in our society. As we laughed at each other's jokes, which we considered über hilarious, we forged a friendship.

Many of the issues we discussed in serious moments - family, relationships, and life changes - would find their way into Marrying George Clooney. Amy's writing voice is distinctive; first person conversational. In opening herself up to reveal her deepest thoughts and feelings with an audience beyond her personal friends, Amy's insights no longer remain within a small circle. They have been amplified to enfold others, in the way a wave encompasses the shore.
Amy shares plenty...without reservation. The themes that I knew so well - her struggle with menopause, the shattering decline of her mother from dementia, her beloved husband Ken - were merged with new revelations about her past I had no knowledge of. It was a crash course in Amy. Some of it filled in the gaps that all relationships have, while adding a new depth of understanding.

There is already talk of different iterations of the text being considered, from television to Broadway (I think she should put her foot down if there is a suggestion of a musical). Marrying George Clooney could very well become the quintessential book of the season. Speaking to those women born between the years of 1946 to 1964, it is poised to become a literary version of the 1970s Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress.

Amy and I have different lives. She has a husband, a home in Pennsylvania, and two cats. I have a teenage son, an apartment in New York City, and a dysfunctional dog. We both lost parents this year. She found out about her mother's death the day she was driving in to pay a condolence call for my father. We call ourselves the "Yahrzeit Twins."

Needless to say, women who pick up Amy's book will live in various geographical locations, come from diverse backgrounds, and have disparate experiences. But they will recognized themselves in Amy's efforts to come to terms with her mother's illness, the conflict of a sibling relationship, and the struggle to reconcile with the physical and emotional changes each woman faces as she ages.

Amy's audience will follow her as she tries to make sense of her past, while looking to her future. They will root for her. When they put the book down, they will feel less alone as they search for their own personal answers and resolutions.

Welcome to Amy's universe.


This review originally appeared on Huffington Post.

I LOVED this book! The title was intriguing so I ordered it from Amazon not knowing how much I needed it. Being bed-bound with a nasty case of bronchitis, this book was a savior...laughter, giggling, aha moments and feeling like Amy Ferris was in bed talking directly to me...I have a new best friend...her CONFESSIONS were similar to many of my private thoughts and experiences - Share this book with your best friend or best enemy...everybody deserves the joy from the angst that this writer offers...BUT IT NOW!!!

It's all in the delivery. That's how I feel about this absolutely outrageously perfect book. Yes, I said perfect. Because the beauty of each and every chapter is literally in the imperfections that life throws at us every day. Is a midlife crisis a mixture of tears, humor, pain, and hilarity? You bet it is. At least, it is through this author's eyes.

Erma Bombeck, I still believe, did this best. She told the truth. Not since the death of Ms. Bombeck have I read an author who could literally "nail it"...until now. In this fantastic book, Ms. Ferris offers up, without apology, everything she feels, sees, and does during this most frustrating part of a woman's life. Yes, the inevitable Menopause. The writing is raw and sweet, as she delights the reader with paragraph after paragraph detailing her 3:00 AM experiences. I haven't gone through Menopause yet, but I, too, have wavered between jumping off a bridge in order to end all the stupidity surrounding me, or pushing someone I love in front of a car. With every troubling thought that rushes through the female mind, the most frequent conclusion that we arrive at is that someone's life has to end.

I want to share a couple of revelations that hit me right between the eyes. The author wrote that it was her obligation and responsibility to acknowledge and hold dear the privilege of her own life. I have to say...Bingo! Yachtzee! She called 'Midlife' a reinvention of the wheel. And I learned a great deal. So much so, that I will keep this book on my bedside table when 'Midlife' hits, so I can always know that someone else once felt as bad as I will.

The author talks about her father, who died far too soon. That, unfortunately, is something I do share with her. She also speaks volumes in very small paragraphs about her mother - a wonderfully brilliant woman who, unfortunately didn't really like kids but had them anyway - who is now suffering from Alzheimer's. This, thankfully, is something I do not share with the author. But her words brought tears to my ears when she wrote candidly about the regret and resentment that beam from her mother's eyes. She also asked a question that really struck home for me...How do you retire from writing? Can you just log off one day and say "I'm done?" I hope not. Without that release, the power and freedom of imagination that can appear on a blank page, I think I'd cash it ALL in and call it a day. Even though the author admits to having writers block for four years, she still continued on and has produced a sweet, satisfying, hysterical book.

I want to do this author and this book justice. So I'm going to do something she asks in her pages. Early on in the book, Ms. Ferris writes that she wants readers to find their view...tell their story. So...I will. And I'm going to pick one of my favorites that comes from motherhood: One day the television was on. My daughter was about five years old at the time. A commercial came on and, unbeknown to me, my child found it fascinating. After it was over, she ran into the kitchen and asked me what reptile dysfunction was? I responded so fast..."Well, honey, it's an alligator with a limp."

I want to thank the author for her honesty - brutal - which I truly enjoy, her sense of humor, and the power behind her messages - good and bad. She wants us to laugh until we cry, and sometimes cry until we laugh. Get mad, get mean, get even...live life. Ms. Ferris, I'm probably the only one out of the two of us who's extremely happy that you went through Menopause.

Amy Lignor, Reviewer

Marrying George Clooney is a hilarious look into the mind of Amy Ferris as she sits up at night, all night, night after night, passing the time between hot flashes with wild witty fantasies. Although this book appears to be marketed to women in midlife, I beg to differ, its a great read for all readers: my thirteen year old daughter stole my copy and I found her laughing out loud over the shoe-dating chapter.

couldn't stop laughing throughout. Such courage, almost outlandish truth, too real to make-up.
Shared 6 copies w/my close post-menopausal friends!

I'm a sucker for laugh-out-loud memoirs and this book is one of them. Marrying George Clooney, which reads a bit like a blog, is written by Amy Ferris who somehow manages to make the hell that is menopause funny. She has insomnia and most of the chapters were written at 3am when the rest of the neighborhood, including her husband, are sound asleep.

And her mother has dementia, which is no laughing matter, except Ferris pulls it off anyway. While most of the people who can relate to this book would be midlife women who take care of their parents, Ferris' writing is poignant enough to pull in any member of the audience, whether young or male. She does not alienate; she sucks you in. And then makes you laugh.

I could have done without the whole preface, though. Seven pages of blah, blah, blah that I didn't need to know and was misled into thinking the book was going to be a dud, because she doesn't turn it on until Chapter 1 on page 16.

Also? She didn't need to change up the font all the time in order to emphasize what she was trying to say. Her writing was the most beautiful woman in the room who felt compelled to put on too much make-up when she could have arrived to the party clean-faced. Her use of language is gorgeous; the important lines stand out all by themselves and don't need any help. In other words, don't put A1 Steak Sauce or ketchup on that filet mignon; it's delicious just the way it is.

But maybe that's just me and all those italic interruptions and ALL CAPS asides wouldn't bother you at all. I'm just barfing out my own opinion. Either way, I highly recommend this book for a touching and hilarious look at a midlife crisis.

AAAAAAAND.....it's available on Kindle. Yay!

First of all, I have to say that the title of this one grabbed me. Although I have never had a huge George Clooney fantasy (everytime I see him I see this huge sign flashing on his forehead "COMMITMENT PHOBE") and that is enough for me to run the other way:) Rather my book would probably be titled "Marrying John Cusack" (which I am thinking is also a commitment phobe - but what the heck - its a fantasy).

However, from the very first sentence in this book, I fell in love with both the author Amy Ferris AND the writing.

I am in my late 40's and people around me have been telling me about perimenopause and menopause for years - actually, it feels as though I have been preparing for menopause all my life....

Reading about Amy's restless nights and fantasies, as well as all her mid-life crisis experiences (both real and imagined) made me laugh, cry and basically feel a little braver about the approaching big M.

I love that this woman was brave enough to put it down on a paper and to share it with us - I am hoping that by doing this, it made Ferris own mid life crisis a little easier.

There is nothing like sharing with another person to lessen the burden and to help another and I loved this book so much, I am going to make sure to give it to another person to enjoy.

The book is a delightful accounting of Amy Ferris's "insomnia-unduced thoughts and activities" that have become a nocturnal symptom of menopause.
Knowing that insomnia has the potential to be a disastrous and dreaded occurrence, I'm amazed at Amy's ability to make me laugh, ponder and wonder how one woman's imagination can speak so clearly to the rest of us who are experiencing our own mid-life wanderings.

while reading this book. Need to lighten up about the insanity and chaos (on all levels) of being a woman at mid-life? This is a light, fast and funny read that will leave you feeling surprisingly better about your situation.

The author has a way of seeing the absurdity and humor of various aspects of aging. Laughter isn't the solution to every problem, but it's a good start before you begin to do battle!