Customer Reviews

Thoughts While Having Sex

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

 

 

Well, you know that old saying "Don't judge a book by its cover"? It has never been so true as it was with this book. Because "Thoughts While Having Sex" ended up not only completely surprising me with its warmth, honesty and raw emotion, but actually helped me to see things about myself that I didn't realize. I'm still amazed that a chick-lit type of book had such an effect on me.

"Thoughts While Having Sex" tells the story of Jennifer Ward, a 25-year old playwright living in New York City. It all begins after Jennifer has written a play and submitted it to a theater in Chelsea. The play, entitled "Til Death Do Us Part", is about two sisters, one who commits suicide and the other who is left behind and feels as though her dead sister is haunting her. After receiving the good news a couple of months later that the play will be produced, Jennifer throws herself into the casting and production process. Things aren't easy, but luckily the production manager Peter is sexy, smart and above all, nice. Sparks, although reluctant on Jennifer's part, seem to be flying between them. But everything changes when Kelly Cavanna joins the cast. Kelly is the complete opposite of Jennifer - she's beautiful, outgoing, and outspoken. She's also razor sharp, suspecting that Jennifer's play is based on something that really happened. Unfortunately, she's right. Jennifer's sister Diana did commit suicide, the night after they had had a terrible argument.

But Jennifer doesn't like admitting it, so she closes up her emotions and won't allow herself to really feel anything. She had been that way since her sister's death and probably would have gone on being that way forever had it not been for Kelly. Kelly decides it's time to bring Jennifer out of her shell. She ends up doing some pretty shocking things that threaten the outcome of the play and their uneasy friendship. At the same time, there seems to be something between Peter and Jennifer, but also Kelly and Peter.

This book is a wonderfully warm and sometimes painfully honest story that was an absolute delight to read. It is very well written with a prose that is both easy to read and suspenseful. While the book does touch briefly on the topic of sex, it is nowhere near to the degree that the racy cover and title suggests. The story explores various themes such as opening up, guilt over the death of a loved one (when the last words you exchanged with them were hateful or angry), friendship, love, lust and more. Don't miss it!

Playwright Jennifer Ward has been living in the shadow of her older sister, Diana, for many years. Even after Diana's suicide, Jennifer can't shake the demons of Diana's tortured bipolar existence. She writes a cathartic play about sisters, which Off-Off-Broadway director Peter Heller decides to produce. From the start, there is an attraction between Peter and Jennifer. As they audition actresses the chemistry ignites.

The small production is thrilled to land Kelly Cavanna as one of the leads. She is dynamic and beautiful--everything Jennifer saw in Diana but does not see in herself. Kelly and Jennifer become friends, albeit reluctantly on Jennifer's part because she cannot see why Kelly would want to be friends with her. The relationship between Peter and Jennifer grows, but will Jennifer allow it to happen without pushing him away? Does Peter really want Jennifer or is he more interested in Kelly?

I was impressed by THOUGHTS WHILE HAVING SEX. It is far from the fluffy chick lit I was expecting. The characters, especially Jennifer, go through growth and transformation. Jennifer starts as extremely insecure, and gradually, through the help of others, begins to see herself as strong and worthwhile. There is actually very little sex mentioned. Most of the thoughts deal with Jennifer's inability to let herself go, to lose control enough to develop a fulfilling relationship.

THOUGHTS WHILE HAVING SEX, for all of its contemplation, is not dark and depressing. It is funny and moving while staying true to the drama of Jennifer's life and dealing with her past. I love the ending and the way things wrap up--I won't give away any more. Pick up THOUGHTS WHILE HAVING SEX and you won't be disappointed.

5 stars! I love this book! I was so surprised by the story. I was expecting your run of the mill "chick lit" type story, but that is definitly not the case!It has much more heart than that! This story revolves around Jennifer, who lost her sister to suicide. As Jennifer tries to make her way as a New York playwright, she also has to overcome her fear and apprehensions about sex, love and relationships. This is no tawdry, sex filled beach book! It's much better than that!

Stephanie Lehmann's book may look, at first sight, like a fluffy modern-day book with hardly any substance-- true, the book's pink and green cutsey cover and the back description seem sort of shallow in the beginning-- BUT DO NOT BE MISLED AND DO NOT BE FOOLED OUT OF READING THIS BOOK! Because, Lehmann's book is not only terrific, witty, and exciting, but it is a must-read, can't-put-it-down type of book! The book has so MUCH meaning and substance and is definitely a book that reads quickly and feels real. If you happen to be at the bookstore, or shopping at Amazon.com, or anywhere where you see Lehmann's book, buy it now! Because she has the perfect knack for discussing important subject manner (greiving and loss, jealousy, sexuality, depression, family matters, etc.) using a common language to which any reader can relate. This book is neither fluffy nor are its words esoteric-- this book rather is a great one. The struggles of the central characters, the flaws of those same characters, and their successes are sometimes bittersweet, sometimes heartfelt, and sometimes joyous and/or funny-- no matter what, though, their endeavors are fun to read about. Do not mistake this book for a petty, sex novel-- it is at least a 1000 times more than that in its depth and meaning. Just read it, TEST OUT THE WATERS!

In the last year I've searched for titles that would interest me and the few books i picked up I found to be disappointing. Picking up 'Thoughts While Having Sex' I read the first few pages and could not put the book down. I had noticed that the author was new and realized we need to give these new authors a chance and now I do,enjoying more and more books each month. I laughed and cried all at the same time. I got so involved in this book the characters became real to me and were apart of my life. I hope Stephanie Lehmann has more to come!!!!

This funny and quirky book is set in the East Village and Hell's Kitchen in New York City and offers a wry glimpse into an Off-Off-Broadway production -- where dreams and roaches vie for a place on stage. Its playwright-narrator writes original plays that parallel and frankly recount her own experiences, though she has a hard time biting hold of life, and getting her plays produced. But she struggles on, exploring sex, love, and especially ambition, and how to square it with the desires of the divas around her -- especially one from her past (a neurotic sister whose flamboyant urgency is only slightly lessened by the fact of being dead) and one in her present (a greedily hard-driving leading lady who plays the sister in her play). Warm, funny, and occasionally heart-wrenching, this is a wonderful read and I highly recommend.

Sisters! Even in death Jennifer is haunted by her sister, or more accurately, Jennifer haunts herself, and her life won't be normal until the ghosts are gone. A charming look at how we are formed through the relationships we have, or don't have, with family. The New York Theater world is the stage for this lovely psychological romp.

This is a delightful book, entertaining, funny and at the same time touching. It is well-written. The central character is an endearing woman who is struggling with issues that we can all identify with. And the descriptions of the struggle to mount an off-off Broadway play with zero money are hilarious.

I don't know how anybody could rate this book with only one star! I mean, come on now...this book is written so well, it's got humor, grief, strugle, and everything else all in one! There is a little bit of something for everybody in this book. I recomend that everybody go get it now. In one way or another, you will be able to relate to at least one of these unique characters.

This book is wonderful, mostly because the heroine is so well written. Her angst about sex and relationships is hilarious and very true to life. At one point I was laughing so hard I was weeping. The plot revolves around the staging of the heroine's slightly auto-biographical play, which anyone who has ever been remotely involved with theater will find very amusing. What sets this book apart from the herd, though, is that the heroine undergoes some serious self-discovery. This isn't just full of the usual chick-lit patter. There's more depth here than you might expect.