A Version of the Truth (Bantam Discovery) [Paperback]

Jennifer Kaufman (Author), Karen Mack (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 27, 2009 | Series: Bantam Discovery

A novel for anyone who’s ever had to risk
it all to be the person they wanted to be…

From the critically acclaimed authors of Literacy and Longing in L.A. comes the ultimate story for late bloomers of every exotic shade. And a quirky young heroine with a knack for reinvention and a flair for the unexpected no reader will ever forget.

Thirty, newly single, and desperately in need of a paycheck, inveterate bird-watcher Cassie Shaw finds herself doing something that goes against all her principles. She lies on a résumé to land a job and finds herself employed at an elite university working for a pair of professors as unique as the rare birds she covets. One of them is the sexy, handsome, cheerfully aristocratic expert in animal behavior, Professor William Conner. Under his charismatic tutelage, Cassie begins her personal transformation into the person she was meant to be while meeting the kinds of people she has never met before. But when your entire future and your unlikely new career teeters on an unbearable untruth, the masquerade can’t go on forever. And when Cassie steps out from behind her mask it will transform her life—and the lives of those around her—forever.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cassie Shaw, the 30-year-old dyslexic high school dropout narrator of Kaufman and Mack's follow-up to Literacy and Longing in L.A., is devoid of self-esteem and, as the winsome novel opens, has just been widowed by a jerk who left her nothing but debt. Desperate for a job, Cassie fudges her education background on a job application and snags an entry-level university office job working under William Conner, a charismatic professor of animal behavior who ignites Cassie's desire for learning—and other things. As Cassie's lust for knowledge swells and she becomes more involved with Conner, the list of her deceptions lengthens, and it's only a matter of time until budding beau Conner finds out. Kaufman and Mack lace the narrative with light humor (the rats in California's Topanga Canyon are like roaches in NY or liars in LA) and nods to Emerson, Whitman, Thoreau, Plato and Keats. Delightfully merging humor, philosophy and reflections on nature, this novel is a lot of fun and might give some readers freshman-year flashbacks.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“It’s The Devil Wears Prada meets Walden Pond.” —Nature

“An engaging story about a young woman transforming herself into the kind of person she’s always wanted to be...a thoughtful version of the girl-done-good tale.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Delightfully merging humor, philosophy and reflections on nature, this novel is a lot of fun.... winsome.”—Publishers Weekly

“Sweet.” —USA Today

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Discovery; Reprint edition (January 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385340206
• ISBN-13: 978-0385340205
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.7 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,415,655 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars TRUE OR FALSE?, January 2, 2008

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Version of the Truth (Audio CD)

Tanya Eby is a relatively new narrator's voice for this listener - and she's a pleasure to hear. Her voice is distinct, well modulated, and pleasing. She conveys the protagonist's angst, determination, and joy with only a slight change in pitch. To some, this may seem like a minor detail but it's quite effective.

For openers in this, the second novel by the gifted writing team of Kaufman and Mack, we hear Cassie say, "I didn't intend to lie on my resume. It just happened.." Hmmmm, perhaps so but Cassie is a master of pretense. She's been faking it since childhood, initially pretending to read in school by memorizing, then telling her mother she had done her homework at school, and trying to convince friends that being called "dumb" didn't matter.

Now, she's 30-years-old and badly in need of a paying job. Her only assets seem to be some years spent at a wildlife center and Sam, a smart (sometimes foul) mouthed parrot bequeathed to her by a former tutor. Discouragement is now her middle name as all the employment agencies want to know why she didn't finish high school, and then show her the door as quickly as possible. So, she does what she's done in the past - she fakes it, her resume that is. She lists the credentials she wishes she had, describes who she would like to be.

Cassie does land an office job at a topnotch university with two bosses, both professors. One, William Conner, is incredibly handsome and he sees behind Cassie's mask, sees things about her that she does not yet know herself. However, smooth sailing eventually turns into stormy seas, and Cassie stands to lose everything.

A Version of the Truth is laced with humor, unpredictability, and vivid imagery. Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars She's not your average chick-lit protagonist, March 28, 2009

By 

Natalya Martinez (Seoul, S. Korea) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Version of the Truth (Bantam Discovery) (Paperback)

This is an example of smart chick lit. I love all kinds of chick lit, but sometimes I get annoyed with the same kind of protagonist. Cassie Shaw was completely different kind of woman. Cassie is a widow, uneducated, loves animals, and has a reading disorder. She decides to lie about her education on a resume and gets a job in a university. She has found her niche but all good things must come to an end, especially if it was based on a lie. Will she be able to overcome who she was, who she is, and who she wants to be?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 stars..................., April 14, 2008

By 

Dawn - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Version of the Truth (Hardcover)

I have mixed feelings about this book. It left me wanting more. After I finished reading this book I was still hoping for something to happen. I didn't feel the closure that I get with most book at the end. The ending seemed to be really rushed, and the epilogue didn't feel in the gaps much.