The Smart One and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

Buy New

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime Free Trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn More
Buy Used
Used - Acceptable See details
$3.24 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
Kindle Edition
 
   
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
The Smart One
 
 
Start reading The Smart One on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

The Smart One [Paperback]

Ellen Meister (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

List Price: $13.95
Price: $11.88 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $2.07 (15%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Only 1 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
Want it delivered Wednesday, February 1? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition --  
Paperback, Bargain Price $5.58  
Paperback, August 5, 2008 $11.88  

Book Description

August 5, 2008

Bev is the Smart One, who finally leaves her artistic ambitions in chalk dust (and her humor-impaired husband in the arms—and legs—of his nubile protégée) to become a schoolteacher. Clare is the Pretty One, who married well and seems to be living a designer version of the suburban dream. Joey is the Wild One, struggling to stay clean and sober now that she's used up her fifteen minutes of fame as a one-hit-wonder rock star.

They love each other but mix like oil, water, and hundred-proof gin . . . a combination that threatens to combust over family tensions, suspected infidelities, a devastating accident, a stunning confession, and the sudden reappearance of their handsome, now all-grown-up former neighbor, Kenny Waxman, who's back in town making his mark as a TV comedy writer.

It seems they'll never understand where their differences begin and their own destructive tendencies end. Then it happens: the sisters discover a decades-old body stuffed inside an industrial drum and begin a bold, heartbreaking, and sometimes hilarious journey that will either bring them together . . . or tear them apart for good.


Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with The Other Life $16.47

The Smart One + The Other Life
  • This item: The Smart One

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • The Other Life

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Now divorced, 35 and resolved to become a teacher after a series of entry-level design jobs, Bev Bloomrosen takes up temporary residence in her parents' Long Island home while they're in Florida. There, she immediately gets drawn into older sister Clare's marital woes and younger sister Joey's struggle to stay off drugs. Romantic complications soon arrive in the form of the neighbors' son, Kenny, a comedy writer whose tangled past involves both Bev and Joey. The sisters share an adventure while removing an industrial drum from beneath Kenny's parents' house—until they open it to discover the body of a pregnant woman, possibly killed years earlier by Kenny's father (who is now in Florida with advanced dementia). Meister (Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA) develops this uneasy mix of soap-opera secrets and slapstick humor with twist after twist to the point of reader exhaustion. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Bev Bloomrosen, the middle of three sisters, has always been envious of her siblings. While her older sister, Clare, has gotten by on her looks and her younger sister, Joey, has everyone on edge with her wild past, everyone has always had high expectations for Bev. At 35 Bev has turned to teaching and is considering leaving New York for a job in Las Vegas. She agrees to spend the summer at her parents’ house while they frolic in Florida with their next-door neighbors and to help facilitate the sale of the neighbors’ house. Things get complicated when Kenny, the next-door neighbors’ handsome son who Bev has always carried a torch for, shows up, considering a move home. Bev is just as smitten as before, but despite the fact that Kenny seems interested, she can’t get over the fact that he slept with Joey when they were teens. Add a murder mystery to this tale of sibling rivalry for a perfect beach read. --Kristine Huntley

Product Details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (August 5, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061129623
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061129629
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,127,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ellen Meister is the author of three novels, THE OTHER LIFE, THE SMART ONE and SECRET CONFESSIONS OF THE APPLEWOOD PTA.

A former advertising copywriter, Ellen left the business world to raise a family and chase her fiction-writing dreams. In addition to her novels, she has published numerous short stories and was the editor of an online literary magazine. She currently curates for a literary radio program and mentors aspiring authors. For more information, visit her website at ellenmeister.com. You can connect with Ellen online at facebook.com/EllenMeister.author and twitter.com/EllenMeister

 

Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Sophomore Sizzler!, August 7, 2008
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Smart One (Paperback)
I couldn't put this book down. Meister's writing is deft and witty, and the characters are engrossing and the plot is compelling. Meister proves Wolfe wrong -- and Kansas's famous Dorothy correct -- you can go home again. And then she mines that concept for gold. When Bev Bloomrosen, the "smart" sister, is cornered into living in her parents' home for the summer, it starts a series of snowballing events that are either going to destroy her family or cement their bonds. An old flame breezes into town, charming Bev (and readers) with his nonstop wisecracks just as Bev and her sisters make a ghastly discovery practically in their own backyard.

I absolutely fell in love with Bev, who manages to hold her own when it comes to funny one-liners, and was more than enamored with the rest of her family, too. Meister manages to masterfully mix a dark mystery with sizzling romantic entanglements and heartwarming (and sometimes heartbreaking) family drama. I know plenty of people are going to call this a "beach read" because it is a riveting, engrossing pageturner, but it's also blessed with a charm and intelligence that make it resonate with class and soul. Just like its main character, this book is one of the smart ones.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Smart One?, August 26, 2008
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Smart One (Paperback)
The main thing this book has going for it is the strong writing skills of the author, Ellen Meister. She has a knack for believable, natural dialog and good timing when it comes to humor. It's a quick, easy read--a great way to pass time on an airplane, which is where I got through most of this novel.

This is the story of Bev, the "smart one" of three sisters. Her older sister, Clare is the pretty one and her younger sister, Joey, is the wild one. If anything, Meister nails the common stereotypes of sibling labeling and relationships, and it's easy to believe these characters act the way they do in this story. Additionally there's the boy next door, Kenny, who is the funny one, I suppose--the angry youth turned studly romantic interest. He uses hackneyed humor to cope with his anger over a no-good father, whose past actions are central to the plot. Kenny's strings of jokes about little people and his behavior toward Bev really take his character over the top, making him highly unlikable. One wonders how "the smart one" can continue to want him.

Overall the story is predictable. I was able to predict nearly every plot point and would have preferred to be surprised. But I stuck with it because I enjoyed Meister's first book, Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA. The ease of her writing style made the hours I spent with this story a pleasant experience.

Michele Cozzens is the author of It's Not Your Mother's Bridge Club and A Line Between Friends
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read; great writing, August 30, 2008
By 
Susan O'Neill (Andover, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Smart One (Paperback)
Sibling rivalry, the 'burbs, murder, sex and very funny one-liners: what's not to like about The Smart One?

I read this book with the same gusto with which I might have consumed one of the confections on the cover, but the writing's too smart to consider it Empty Calorie fare. The sisters Bev, Clare and Joey are real human beings, and Meister draws and colors them with love, humor and an artistic ease worthy of her protagonist. As much as they might bicker, intrigue, misstep and want to shake each other, they are never boring. Meister's prose seems effortless--testimony to how very well she writes--and her grasp of family dynamics is adept and rings true.

IMHO, it's even better than Confessions of the Applewood PTA--more mature and grounded, even while maintaining the same excellent sense of humor. Buy it; enjoy it; pass the word.


Susan O'Neill, Author: Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Vietnam
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews









Only search this product's reviews



Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
industrial drum, tampon box
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ellen Meister, Sam Waxman, Las Vegas, New York, Kenny Waxman, Long Island, Detective Miller, Alicia Goodwin, Renee Waxman, Grandma Elsie, Teddy Goodwin, Diet Coke, Goode Earth Habitats, David Letterman, Aunt Bev, Victoria's Secret, Linda Klein, Los Angeles, Phantom Pain, Sandi Silverman, Principal Belita Perez, Penn Station, Michael Vine, Jones Beach, Grim Reaper
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


Listmania!




Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject