Customer Reviews

Swimming Upstream, Slowly: A Novel

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A very fun, smart, sexy and quirky book--a perfect afternoon read. You won't be able to put it down..I can't wait for the next one!

What a concept! How wonderful to contemplate that this could happen. This book is overflowing with warmth and great humor. Ms. Clark shows a generosity of spirit to her lively, intelligent characters. This is a really fun
read.
Eagereader

Sasha Salter was only twenty-seven, but she already had her own award-winning children's television show and was about to be featured in a popular women's magazine. She was content with her life. That was until a routine doctor's appointment brought her unbelievable news: she was pregnant, despite the fact that she had not had sex with anyone in over two years.

Sasha soon found out that she was the 'victim' of a rare condition called Lazicum Spermatozoa, the 'lazy sperm.' As much as she enjoyed entertaining and educating children through her work, Sasha was definitely not ready to be a mother. With the help of her friends, Sasha must now delve into her past and figure out which one of her exes was the father and, all the while, determine what to do with her future.

Ms. Clark's make-belief medical anomaly served as a great centerpiece for this funny and warm tale. An unexpected and unplanned pregnancy is probably one of the worst nightmares any single woman could imagine. And to think that one could host a lover's sperm for years and become pregnant with it! I am just glad it was fictitious.

The pace of the book was brisk with believable characters and, often, witty dialogues. The overall plot and the happy ending were fairly predictable, but it still made for a nice relaxing read. Although the plot revolved around a very scary, though unreal, medical condition, the author still achieved in writing a feel-good book which was best for unwinding after a hectic day in the real world.

Armchair Interviews says: Good read with some thought-provoking content.

Melissa takes an impossible situation and with sharp wit turns it into a possiblity. It's a complete page turner as you fall into the world she so cleverly creates. Or is it Lazicum Spermatoza real? You will start to wonder no matter what your common sense tells you.

Make sure you have a big chunk of time to read this book because you can't stop turning the pages. Melissa grabs you and takes you on a ride. A very satisfying read. It's like a nice long breath of fresh air. Ah!

In Los Angeles, twenty-seven years old Sasha Salter already is the executive director of an Emmy Award winning popular children's television show, Please Pass the Salter, based on her thesis that children learn when they are amused. Everything seems to be going her way until her gynecologist Dr. Banks informs her she is pregnant. The only problem with that diagnosis is that Sasha has not had sex in over two years.

Though he has doubts about her honesty and abstinence, Dr. Banks sends Sasha to UCLA researcher Dr. Rusmeuth. He explains he is an expert on male fertility and mentions the condition Lazicum spermatozoa, "lazy sperm" that remains dormant while relaxing in a comfortable biological home until the sperm finally decides to fertilize her egg. Sasha wonders who the father is as she considers lazy sperm, lazy bum with her two best friends providing her with emotional support.

Though Sasha has to be the calmest person on the planet, SWIMMING UPSTREAM, SLOWLY is a solid contemporary fiction starring a likable protagonist caught in what seems the impossible, but the ambitious unscrupulous Dr. Rusmeuth (seizes the opportunity with the celeb) makes it appear viable. Readers will enjoy traveling with Sasha as she goes back over her sexual encounters in an attempt to discover whose sperm hibernated inside her body.

Harriet Klausner

This book is hilarious! The plot line is so original that it's a first
in the long and wide history of literature. And it's
written with a wit, warmth, pacing and ear for
dialogue that make it a page-turner. It's fun in the
spirit of Bridget Jones's Diary, though Sasha Salter
is more successful, more together and much less needy than
Bridget. More please, Melissa Clark.

This is the present I'll be giving to all my girl friends in 2007. This book is funny, poignant and sassy. I was hooked right away, and couldn't put the book down after chapter one. The ending is fabulous - I only wish there was more to read. I hope there is a sequel.

Clark takes a completely unbelievable medical scenario and makes it utterly believable! You can't help but feel for Sasha and sympathize with her strange dilemma. If finding out you're pregnant isn't enough, Sasha has a few men-gems to choose from to figure out who the father is.

Readers will wonder up until the very end whether Sasha will keep the baby or not, and Clark writes her novel in a way that whatever decision Sasha makes, it's the right decision for Sasha.

This book was great, and I can't wait for Melissa Clark's next novel!

This book is a delight! Two words...Lazy Sperm! A fantastic fairy tale for every woman who gets pregnant, thinks she might be pregnant, can't believe she's pregnant, or...just has ovaries. The story is soft and warm like the duvet I cuddled into on an overcast day to read this luscious little tale. I enjoyed this book immensely!

Is there a book award for most original premise of the year? If so, this book should win it. While the 'hook' is definitely unique and original, it's the characters that really pulled me into this novel. They pulled me into their world and took me on a wild ride. Although I finished the book a few days ago (over the weekend), I'm still thinking about Sasha and Jordan and Erika and Melanie and on and on...an intelligent, funny story!