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The Department of Lost & Found: A Novel [Paperback]

Allison Winn Scotch
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)

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Book Description

May 3, 2011

“Allison Winn Scotch is the real deal and The Department of Lost and Found is one you absolutely won’t want to miss.”
—Johanna Edwards, author of The Next Big Thing

“Funny, touching, tender, true….I loved it.”
—Pamela Redmond Satran, author of Suburbanistas

A Redbook Magazine Editor’s Choice, Allison Winn Scotch’s sparkling debut novel, The Department of Lost and Found, is a story that makes you laugh and cry in equal measure. This funny and uplifting tale of a young woman overcoming bad odds and changing her life, as she discovers unexpected truths about her friends, her family, and herself, is one that Julie Buxbaum and Jennifer Weiner fans will not soon forget.


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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Some side-effects of cancer treatment are pretty fabulous in magazine writer Scotch's debut novel. Natalie Miller, a driven 30-year-old senior aideto a woman senator from New York, is having a rough time: just days after she's diagnosed with breast cancer, her cheating live-in boyfriend ditches her. She's feeling gloomy, then, when she begins chemo. (Her hunky and sweet gynecologist, Zach, is a mitigating factor.) Though the election is six weeks away, Natalie is ordered to stay home, where she writes in her diary (excerpts appear throughout) and becomes addicted to The Price Is Right while an ambitious junior aide takes over her job. Natalie battles through rounds of chemo and a mastectomy until, out of the blue, an old love, up-and-coming rocker Jake, comes back to take care of her. He seems intent on making things work, but Natalie's long-simmering (and seemingly requited) attraction to Zach only intensifies. Meanwhile, Natalie's journalist friend Sally lands her first big story: an exposé of Natalie's boss. Her loyalties on the line and her cancer on the wane, Natalie makes some tough choices about the postcancer person she wants to be. Character development is secondary to the affirmative message in this bonbon of a cancer book. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Natalie Miller is the senior aide to a senator from New York, and nothing stands in her way--not even friends and lovers. Nothing, that is, until she is diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. Her live-in boyfriend leaves, her chemo treatments nearly kill her, and her job is in jeopardy. For the first time in her life, Natalie has time on her hands, and she uses it to examine her life. What she finds is a string of relationships that ended basically because she let them. And she discovers that the senator to whom she has devoted so much is less interested in issues than in election results. And most disturbing, the love that she thought she lost was never really hers at all. Scotch handles the topic of cancer with humor and hope, never dipping into the maudlin. The ending gets a bit saccharine in places, but the changes and realizations that the characters make are profound and moving nonetheless. An impressive debut. Elizabeth Dickie
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 314 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (May 3, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 006116142X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061161421
  • Product Dimensions: 0.9 x 5.1 x 7.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #828,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Allison Winn Scotch is the bestselling author of THE ONE THAT I WANT, TIME OF MY LIFE, and THE DEPARTMENT OF LOST AND FOUND. Her fourth novel, THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME, will be released in early 2012. Prior to delving into fiction, she was a frequent contributor to numerous magazines and websites including Cooking Light, Men's Health, Fitness, Glamour, and Redbook, and now focuses on celebrity profiles for a variety of magazines. She lives in New York with her family. For more about her and her books, go to allisonwinn.com or follow her on Twitter at @aswinn.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Just didn't grab me too much June 12, 2007
By Julia
Format:Hardcover
I actually feel really bad doing this because everyone gave it five stars but I just want to be honest. I really liked the first half of the book. But then as it went on I started to find Natalie really annoying. I know she had cancer and all but I just couldn't relate to her (not because she had cancer) but because of her workaholic nature and her general personality. And I guess I had absolutely no interest in her field, which was politics. She was a brave character but maybe too so. I guess I was just looking for more sadness and very emotional moments, which I feel this book didn't really have (for me). Her aloof attitude with Zach was really starting to get to me as well. Once the Price is Right encounter started I said, ok, that's it, I can't read this anymore. So I skimmed ahead to see what happened and that was that. I think the writer writes well but the story just turned me away after 1/2 way through. However, I would still read any future book that she publishes.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book! May 31, 2007
Format:Hardcover
Allison Winn Scotch manages to take a depressing topic, and writes a book that is insightful, touching, thoughtful, mature, and, at times, hysterically funny!

How could a book about a woman with [...] cancer be hilarious? The Department of Lost and Found is a brilliant combination of multiple modes of written and verbal expression - text, emails, diary entries, Blackberry messages, voice mails and more, which all combine to make this an entertaining, modern novel. A large undercurrent of the book reminisces about cheesy, old television shows. The Price is Right, for one, plays a significant role; Natalie's new obsession with this game show culminates in her appearance on the show--which is marred by a variety of complications including urgent back-stage Blackberry messages to a United States senator's office, a slightly illicit cross-country trip with her gynecologist, sweaty armpits, Bob Barker's bad make-up job, and how-in-the-world-would-a-New-Yorker-know-how-much-a-patio-set-costs-we-don't-do-patio-sets-in-New-York-City! all coalesce into a memorably hilarious scene.

TDLF is also a fascinating study on imperfection; each character has his or her own share of flaws, but these flaws draw lives together in a meaningful way. Heartless old boyfriends, dirty office politics, dirty national politics, dirty family laundry, personal indiscretions, uncertainties, mistakes and apologies, and much more, make this book such a great read. The book also explores many of the ironies of life - how one can realize stunning beauty in an imperfect and scarred body, find strength among weakness, insatiable hunger while undergoing chemotherapy(thanks to pot-induced munchies), truth among lies, and most of all how love can be lost - and found - in the most unsuspecting of circumstances.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Breast cancer as the ultimate life makeover May 14, 2008
Format:Paperback
While this book is well written and engaging in many ways (and the divergence into "The Price Is Right" entertaining), I had a few problems with it. And not just because its heroine, Natalie Miller, is designed to be one of those unsympathetic protagonists, and maybe is even more so to me because she grew up a child of privilege (I didn't), is an ex-Ivy Leaguer and sorority girl (I'm not), and has a very tony job working for a NY senator (I don't) that allows her to wear shoes that cost in the three figures (etc.). She's also hard as nails and appears to have no conscience and no life beyond her work, and to have an ambition to someday become President because...well, she would love to be President. My issue with her is that this novel uses the experience of breast cancer to transform its unsympathetic protagonist from Ms. Hardass into Ms. Wonderful, and in some ways, the transformation is just a bit too magical for me.

Sure, Natalie has to cope with fatigue and depression and feeling ugly and out of sorts. Yes, she has to cope with feeling that she's falling behind at work and being left out of the loop. And she has to deal with losing her old body and getting used to a new one, from breasts to weight to hair. And yes, she even has to stare down the possibility of her own death if all of her efforts fail. Through these trials, she does become a more sympathetic and empathetic person. One more human and principled, who has learned to value what really matters, and how to tell people without values where they can stick it. She also becomes more able to reach out and ask for help when she needs to. And yeah, she learns to smoke pot, which I guess is supposed to be some kind of a virtue (whatever).
... Read more ›
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars It'll get you to embrace your life May 11, 2007
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I absolutely LOVE this book! Allison Winn Scotch has written a phenomenal debut novel that's perfect for all women who are facing a big life transition of any kind -- whether it's getting married or turning 30, or 40, or 50, seeing your kids go off to college, etc. You'll find yourself thinking about how you got to be where you are, the people who helped form you along the way, and what you really need to embrace about your life right now. This is a GREAT read, and you'll think about it for a long time after the book is done. Not too many novels stay with you and inspire you like this one does. Great job, Allison! I hope you're working on your next novel right now, because I can't wait to read that one, too!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Truly Excellent!
This was the first book I read by Allison Winn Scotch and I really, really enjoyed. Scotch's writing style is very simple, which makes it easy to get into the meat of the story and... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Kelly Houser
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely loved it.....
I have read many books that had a main character with cancer woven into it, but I have never read a novel that I felt really gave me an understanding of breast cancer. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Beth
4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely a recommendation
This book was a great find...I've read another book by Allison so when I saw this I knew I had to read it. I was not disappointed. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Pauline
5.0 out of 5 stars great summer read
I bought this book to take on vacation and loved it. I would consider it def "chick lit" which is what I was looking for but it was also believable. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Leslie Blackwell
2.0 out of 5 stars Obvious in all the wrong ways.
The premise for this book had me quite interested; a young, successful career woman struck with breast cancer that causes her to contemplate the choices she has made and the... Read more
Published on May 23, 2011 by N. Kirbos
4.0 out of 5 stars More than a book about cancer
I really enjoyed this book and the story of Natalie, a workaholic who must put her life on hold whilst she deals with breast cancer. Read more
Published on February 3, 2011 by Annie1
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I've read this year
Natalie Miller has always been on the fast track-ever since she was a little girl she's had plans to become the first female US President. Read more
Published on June 12, 2010 by rry007
5.0 out of 5 stars WHAT YOU FIND AFTER YOUR WORLD FALLS APART...
When your whole world turns upside down with three little words, you'd think that nothing else can affect you so deeply. Read more
Published on April 19, 2010 by Laurel-Rain Snow "Rain"
1.0 out of 5 stars Great Idea, bad execution
Nothing like what I thought this book was going to be like. The premise was very cool, but the execution was terrible. Read more
Published on April 10, 2010 by Jennifer Manista
5.0 out of 5 stars Great story on self-reflection
Natalie Miller loves her life. Why shouldn't she? She's the top aide to a senator, young and determine and has a great political career ahead of her. Read more
Published on February 9, 2010 by Shon
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