Customer Reviews

Playing House

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Patricia Pearson's "Playing House" was such a treat. I was getting bored with the same old formula that seems to possess chick lit writers. This book reinvigorated by love of the genre. Nothing in this book takes itself too seriously.

Our friend, Frannie, is living the single life in NYC. She has recently hooked up with an experimental jazz musician. They are keeping things casual. Her work at a magazine is paying the bills (barely). Calvin takes off for a tour in Europe when Frannie puts two and two together and figures out she is pregnant. Her first reaction is to head back home, to Canada, to see a doctor and her family. Once there, she pulls herself up by her bootstraps and heads back to the big apple to prepare for the new addition. While on her trip home, she finds that her work visa has expired and she is stuck in Canada. Luckily, her yuppie brother and sister-in-law are leaving the country and she can housesit in their posh pad.

How to tell Calvin is another issue. Frannie breaks the news and he shows up. Calvin is sort of an Ethan Hawke kind of guy. (A little different, into obscure things, grungy and oh so cute.) Calvin is a typical artsy, poor, and unique guy. Sure he's frustrating at times but he basically wants to do the right thing.

There were many points where I just laughed and felt like Frannie could be one of my friends. Ms. Pearson's cleverly written story weaves a magical reality around this couple. It's more realistic than fantasy and funnier than fiction in its accuracy. I'm keeping an eye out for more stories from Ms. Pearson.

I am so suprised to read the above negative reviews! I thought this book was so clever- it literally had me laughing out loud (much to the annoyance of the people sitting beside me on the airplane, but I simply couldn't put it down.) It reminds me of the kind of great discussions you have with a close girlfriend that have you both cracking up about all the little indignities of life. If you're looking for really fluffy chick-lit, a la Shopoholic series, then this is not for you. What makes it so funny is how real these characters are- the exhaustion, the ambiguity (what is true love?), the completely dysfunctional family. The fact that the ending isn't a perfect little wrap up of "happily ever after" was so refreshing, because that's not real life, yet you get the sense that these characters are going to live "happily sometimes after".

Highly recommended for those in search of chick-lit with a little more substance.

Treading that fine line between chick lit and something a little more, this book explores the mystery of falling in love with a reticent Canadian, and having a baby just because you're 33 and might not have another chance, without putting too fine a point on things, or missing the humor of it all.

Patricia Pearson has possibly the best sense of humor of any writer I know of. A former writer of op/ed columns for the National Post, she is well known for her straight-forward and humorous approach to any subject imaginable. Her latest book, Playing House, is no different and certainly no disappointment. It is hillarious and fascinating. In all the trials that main character Frannie must get through, she approaches them in a matter-of-fact, 'aw crap' style that never takes itself too seriously, or too ridiculously. The story flows along easily and makes for a book that is hard to put down.

My wife was shocked to see me reading a book with a pink cover and 'Avon books' written on it. I usually read books about politics and law, but I thought 'Playing House' was great. It is the most entertaining book that I have read in a long time. I hope someone makes this into a movie.

Frannie is a Canadian transplant editor who considers herself the quintessential New Yorker. When she discovers she's pregnant and wants to take advantage of the free health care offered in Canada, she's denied entry back into the US due to an expired Visa. So off she goes to sponge off mum and dad and then her brother and sister in law... until the baby daddy Calvin arrives on the scene. The problem is, Calvin is not the man she envisioned spending the rest of her life with.

Told in typcial fisrt-person chick lit style, the story is a little hard to get through because it's often so whiny and anti-climatic. After awhile I just thought, who gives a crud about any of the characters. And as I approached the last page I thought "is that it?" Yeah, I want four hours of my life back.

© Tracy Vest, April 2009

Wry and witty and full of keen observations about the latest trends affecting new parents. I laughed from the beginning and was still laughing when I closed it at the last page.

This book was a light, fun read. I enjoyed the characters and the story. The characters made the best of an unexpected situation and I enjoyed how they got through it. Very enjoyable.

I am still trying to finish this book. I'm not sure if it's the writing style or some of the language she uses but I find myself having to re-read sentences trying to figure out what she's saying! I have a college education, LOVE to read and didn't sleep for a weekend while I read the da vinci code but I'm just not sure about this book. I love the shopaholic books, stephanie plum novels, etc. Maybe I'll try something else by this author to see if it gets better.

Some of the romance novel reviewers didn't know what to make of this book. It has a pinkish cover and so I suppose they thought it must be a book about youthful lust and passion complete with fields of daisies and what not. Well, just because something is pink doesn't mean it can't be funny. (...), but let me tell you, it can be quite hillarious at the appropriate time. I let my wife read this book after I had finished. She picked it up and did not put it down or sleep until she had finished it. She even read the funniest parts of it to me, as if I hadn't just finished reading them to her several days before. This book is funny. I didn't realize that Canadians could be funny, what with Martin Short being my only exposure to those odd people up there. I loved this book. So did my wife. We should get 2 reviews for that. And if we did, they'd both say "this is a great book and it made us laugh a lot." I'm going to send a copy to my mom for Mother's Day. I can't wait to see her reaction to the part where Frannie pukes in The Gap.

I really enjoyed this book. Parts of it were so funny that I was, quite literally, crying as I read them. My sister had suggested this a while ago, and I'm so glad that I finally found the time to read it!

What an enjoyable read.