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Nothing to Fall Back On: The Life and Times of a Perpetual Optimist
 
 
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Nothing to Fall Back On: The Life and Times of a Perpetual Optimist [Paperback]

Betsy Carter (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Book Description

July 16, 2003
Successful and smart, Betsy Carter was not only the ultimate "New York Woman," she also founded a magazine by that same name. For nearly 20 years, she led a high-gloss life that others only dream of -- travel, fashion, parties, power -- until things started to go terribly wrong. Carter faced a series of catastrophes: a devastating car accident, a failed marriage, a house that burned down. Then her magazine folded and she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

This moving story, set against the gossipy and often hilarious world of magazine publishing, reveals what it is like to be stripped bare, to wander through the rubble, and to finally put yourself together again.


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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In her first book, Carter, the founding editor of New York Woman and current editor of My Generation, offers a refreshingly upbeat chronicle that covers the traditional memoir fare of life after divorce, surviving breast cancer and recovering from a disfiguring accident and more. After fulfilling her childhood wish to be "ajournalistinnewyork" and rising to a senior position at Esquire, Carter began her descent into what she calls The Dark Years. I'd lost my teeth, my ability to bear children, my husband, my house, and everything in it. Stripped bare again and again. If this were a movie, I'd skip to the end and pray for a happy ending. But this was my life, and there was no easy fast forward. Ultimately, the list of woes includes her mother's inoperable brain tumor and the demise of New York Woman. Carter alternates the story of her adult traumas with recollections of coming of age in the 1950s, the daughter of refugees from Hitler's Germany. Of all her losses, Carter writes most poetically about confronting the reality of aging, ailing parents. At the end of a visit to her recently diagnosed mother once a strong, pragmatic woman who supported the family Carter remembers, she came over to me and pressed a brown paper bag into my hand... I ate the sandwich slowly, knowing that this was the beginning of our saying good-bye. Thankfully, Carter's style is mostly breezier, and her engaging account of her triumph over adversity (to a comparatively happy ending) should gratify many readers.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

There are people whose lives are incredibly blessed, while others seem to have been jinxed from birth, and others still who swing precipitously between both extremes. Meet Betsy Carter: breathing the rarefied air of high-stakes journalism one day, hooked up to a chemotherapy drip the next. From editorial positions at Newsweek and Esquire to heading up her own magazine, Carter's life is the stuff of dreams--rubbing elbows with the famous and infamous, partying with the glitterati, traveling on private jets--until a seemingly endless string of devastating events turns her world into a nightmare. She survives a disfiguring car accident only to discover that her husband of 17 years is gay. The marriage goes up in flames as does her idyllic country house. She launches, then loses, New York Woman, and immediately is diagnosed with breast cancer. Whew! Fresh, frank, and forthright, Carter speaks with self-deprecating candor about her trials and triumphs in an inspiring, witty, and refreshingly upbeat memoir of life at the top--and bottom. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Hyperion (July 16, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0786886552
  • ISBN-13: 978-0786886555
  • Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,288,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars If You Want To Be Inspired, Read This Book!, August 16, 2002
By A Customer
Reading Betsy Carter's book was quite an experience. I kept thinking that even if one of the things she'd lived through had happened to me, there's no way I could have ever kept a sense of humor or a positive attitude about my life as Carter has been able to do. She was undaunted! I find it compelling that this author was able to spill the beans about her life without making me feel that she was bitter or complaining. It was just the opposite. I thought that throughout her trevails, she continued to be an optimist. I loved her writing. I felt as if she were my friend and that she was speaking to me on the telephone. There were also times when I was laughing out loud. I found this book inspiring, funny, very poignant and victorious. Betsy Carter beat the odds -- in all ways. I've just purchased copies for three of my friends.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Hysterically Funny and Quite Moving, July 25, 2002
By 
"alexdav" (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
My book club assigned "Nothing to Fall Back On," and reading it was such a pleasure! Carter's book is simply a wonderful read. She has a sharp, wry and distinctive voice-- she's your wittiest woman friend that you've known forever. The book chronicles some horrible events in her life, and in lesser hands the telling would sound whiny or melodramatic, but Carter has a gift for seeing comedy in the tragic without making light of her experiences. The portrait of the macho journalism world of NYC in the 1980s is also very interesting, and some of the gossipy anecdotes from that period are laugh-out-loud hysterical. A fun book that's smart and genuinely touching-- how often do you see one of those!?
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10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST BOOK IN THE WORLD, August 12, 2002
By 
Jordana (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews
I totally enjoyed this book. It's one of the best books i've read in a long time. Its amazing how Betsy has all these hardships and she manages to get through them with a smile on her face. I give her so much credit for what she's been through. She's a spectacular writer. You'll love this book!!!!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
On one of those perfect days in September, when the full summer air and coolness of autumn make you wistful and optimistic at the same time, I got married. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Lou Ann, Sherry Lee, American Express, Washington Heights, Ralph Renick, Water News, Ann Arbor, Jessica Lange, Walter Hudson, Betsy Carter, Central Park, San Francisco, The Shield, First Boston, Greenwich Village, Miami Beach, Orange Bowl, Sag Harbor, The Atlantic Monthly, Zen Palate, Edith Tompkins, Eleanor Roosevelt, Julius Singer, July Fourth
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