Customer Reviews

Searching for Paradise in Parker, PA: A Novel

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SEARCHING FOR PARADISE in Parker, Pa by Kris Radish
Rating **** (4/5 Stars)

June 28, 2008


Addy and Lucky Lipton have been married for nearly 30 years. And neither can say they are really happy. Addy is going crazy, angry at all the junk Lucky has collected over the years and has accumulated in the garage. She calls it the "kingdom of krap". She doesn't feel a connection to him at all, and is on the verge of kicking him out.

When Lucky wins a trip to Costa Rica and asks Addy to go with him, they are both secretly hoping that this may revive their sinking marriage. But that morning as they are about to head on out, Lucky hurts his back so badly that he becomes bedridden and needs Addy to help him with the smallest of things. Addy is angry and frustrated, does not want to even deal with him anymore, can't even face him in the mornings, and decides she needs to make a change in her life.

With the help of her best friend and sister Hell (short for Helen) and their friends known as the "Sweat-Hers", a group of gals that all work out together, Addy makes some changes in her life and makes demands upon her husband. But it's not only Addy that produces some changes. It looks like the entire town is in on the act!

While Addy goes on her crusade to create a life that is a little more livable, a paradise in Parker, Lucky becomes closer to next door neighbor Bob. (He's Bob #1; the other neighbor on the other side is Bob #2). Bob has been divorced for some time and has gone through some drastic changes himself. With Bob's help, Lucky makes some of his own drastic revisions to his lifestyle, which will shock the hell out of the ladies of Parker, Pa, if not just Addy Lipton. The two men begin to "talk", unlike any conversations ever held between two men who are not gay. They start cooking lessons, dress a lot nicer, get their hair and nails done and basically, Lucky becomes a new man. And while this is all going on, Addy is busy with her female friends, wanting desperately to start a new life, because she feels that no matter what Lucky says or does to win her back, she is done with him. She's ready to move on.

SEARCHING FOR PARADISE was my introduction to author Kris Radish, and I am hooked! Her writing style reminded me in part of one of my favorite authors, Lorna Landvik. They have the same type of quirky characters living in a small town, with that same feel that I get from Landvik novels. All the characters are fun and unique and likable. The pace of the book is fast; there is a lot of humor despite the downer theme of a marriage on the rocks.

One major subplot includes Addy and Lucky's son's search for his biological mother, which compounds upon Addy's stress while she deals with her failing marriage. It also adds another dimension to the overall story, and demonstrates how far from perfect Addy's life has become. Not only is she dealing with the future meeting of her son's birth mother, but also a bedridden husband and a possible divorce. Frankly, she cannot wait to get rid of him! She can no longer stand to be in the same room with him.

The friendships that Addy shares with her sister Hell and all the other "sweat-hers" leaves a warm and fuzzy feeling. The feeling isn't overly sugary sweet, but I felt it was just the right amount that made me want to be a part of their group, to be one of them.

I can't say enough about SEARCHING FOR PARADISE, a very fun and enjoyable read that I think may be one of my favorite reads in 2008. Addy's search for a paradise leads her to a possible new future, with the whole town routing for her. While I wasn't sure whether sometimes she may have been a little unfair to Lucky, it is hard not to cheer her on, making every page up to the very last worth reading. - Courtesy of LoveRomances And More - M Lofton

After 28 year of marriage, Addie has had enough of her sexless marriage with her overweight, junk collecting husband. Of course she never bothers to tell him how she feels, and they separate. She says some really nasty things about her husband's weight despite the fact that he was kind and an excellent father. Addie goes to work out with her friends and they have man-hating frenzies. By the last 50 pages I was hoping that the husband would run away quickly from this superficial witch and that Addie would die. I can't remember disliking a main character this much. I skimmed the last 25 pages; it was horrible.

You know from page five how it's going to end, but that doesn't make Searching for Paradise in Parker, PA any less enjoyable. I'm sure anyone who lives in a small town, where your business is everyone's business, will identify with this story, which shows how the troubles of one married couple transform an entire community. But even I, who consider life in a small town completely unappealing, found this novel enjoyable and fun to read.

It started out fun and interesting, and then took a wild turn into feminist manifesto. Suddenly, men are responsible for all of the womens' problems and they are out for blood. Several chapters later, one woman (a lingerie party host, to boot) tells the self-proclaimed "man-haters" that they also need to look at themselves. A bunch more chapters about how much men suck, and Addy is told that she's partially responsible for the break-up of her marriage. Then quite a few more chapters of how crappy Lucky - and the men in Parker, PA in general - has/have behaved. The story culminates in an over-the-top confrontation between the sorrowful menfolk and indignant womenfolk who have been sorely wronged.

Really, it would've been a much better story if the author had stuck with what appeared to be her original intentions: a story of a marriage gone off the rails, and what the spouses did to right the train. Instead, Addy becomes the (somewhat too willing) poster-girl for Parker's feminist liberation, freeing women across the town from their "traditional mindset" with her decisions and actions.

Far too many of the scenes are over-the-top: while the women carouse at a lingerie party (going so far as to strip and try on their new lingerie in front of each other), the men are across town, sharing their feelings *while they hold hands.* One male character, when asked if he's gay, says something along the lines of how every man is gay on some level. Seriously: men do not talk like this, even enlightened men. And they probably never will, because they aren't women. It's one thing to criticize and berate the things we hate about men, but a truly "enlightened" woman understands they are different from us, just like we're different from them. We can appreciate and celebrate each others' differences without resorting to male-bashing.

Although some of the arguments are very true - particularly the ones about how women give so much of themselves in order to nurture - the premise is absurd. In one scene, when the police visit a scene to make sure there'll be no more of an earlier incident in the story, they are asked - by a male figure, nonetheless - "When was the last time you did something nice for a woman?" Perhaps I'm naive, having an excellent spouse, but since when did "doing something nice for a woman" become an example of civic duty? How about "doing somthing nice" for anyone?

Overall, it was interesting story but the feminist manifesto treatment really turned me off. I consider myself a feminist, and was embarrassed by the idea that this is how supposedly enlightened women behave toward their male counterparts.

I am only on page twenty-four and am trying my best to stick with this book. But since most paragraphs are actually one l-o-n-g babbling sentence, it feels like an endurance test as opposed to an easy read. I am finding some humor hidden between the (l-o-n-g) lines, but am wondering at this point if finding it in the "Bargain Books" section is the best thing about it.

I hae truly enjoyed Kris Radish's books over the years. Stories of strong women becoming empowered and finding their paths. But this one was just a waste of time. It was almost painful to read, and I found myself drifing off and away from the story.

Addy Lipton, the somewhat protagonist, is shakled to her husband Lucky, for whom the many years of marriage have anesthesized him into a lackluster existance governed by his overflowing garage, the Kingdom of Krap.

There is, of course, the straw that breaks Lucky's back and the couple retreat to their own worlds. The ending is very unsatisfactory, and if I had been Addy, I would have kicked Lucky to the curb long before this story ended. Radish needs to stick to stories of women.... let the guys fnd their own entertainment. This book was a total waste of time.

This book was just so-so. I felt so bad for Addy's husband Lucky. If I were him I would have run for the hills years ago. I felt no sympathy for her or the other women in that town at all. They seemed like a bunch of witches.

I think most of the people in this town could benefit from A.A. meetings. Someone could sneeze and these people would drink to it.

The main problem with this book was the unlikeable, unappealing female characters -- especially the main character, Addie. The author was never able to convince me that she was anything other than a selfish, spoiled crybaby.

I listened to the audiotape as I spend lots of time in the car. Otherwise, I wouldn't have finished the book which was way too long & repetitive.

Ms. Radish does, however, have a way with words & some of her descriptions were quite funny.

I tried to like this book, I really did. I just couldn't relate to that level of anger in Addy. I'm 28 years married, and sure he drives me crazy sometimes, but she needs to take some of the blame for letting it get to that point in their relationship. Maybe I won't be so aggravated if I finish the book? So little time to read and so many good books out there, I'm not sure it's worth the investment.

I have read most of Kris Radish's books but this one really disappointed me. It was very draggy in parts and almost too predictable in places. I finished it but it was really a chore.