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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews

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

Average Customer Review

3.4 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent novel about professional women in NYC, August 27, 2002

By

CoffeeGurl - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)

This review is from: Women About Town (Hardcover)

This smart and witty novel hits the nail in the head when it comes to New York women's preoccupation with having a successful career. Iris Biddle and Lana Burton have one thing in common: ambition. The two Manhattanites are too caught up in their careers to make room for relationships. Especially Iris who, having experienced a painful divorce, is neither desperate nor inclined to find Soul Mate Number Two. And climbing the corporate ladder is the only thing in Lana's agenda. A theater critic that lands a job in Vanity Fair, she might as well say goodbye to love.

Women About Town is an intelligent novel about the pitfalls of being a career woman in Manhattan. New York is the perfect backdrop for this novel. This is certainly an excellent read and I highly recommend it.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The City, Two Women, And Art -- Wonderfully, November 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Women About Town (Mass Market Paperback)

Six months after reading this novel I still think of prim, careful Iris and her silk-covered lampshades. The novel is quiet and contained, and does something that few others do: portray the way that women interact with one another -- sometimes nicely, sometimes meanly -- in a balanced and sympathetic way. Anyone who appreciates Jane Austen's Elizabeth and Elanor or felt that a piece of the sad but surviving Mirabelle from Steve Martin's Shopgirl was inside of them would also enjoy this book.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Intellectual, Wordy, and Boring, July 21, 2003

By

Ellen b (Long Island United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Women About Town (Hardcover)

You really have to pinch yourself to keep awake for this book. It reminds me of something they made you read in school - you know that there is a lot of stuff going on under the surface, but you don't really care, and you are left waiting for some action. I skipped over entire paragraphs with wordy descriptions of nothing. If you must read this, get it out of the library and save your money.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars In Praise of Industrious Women
"Industrious" is a very old-timey adjective to apply to the women in this witty, modern, charming novel. Read more

Published on August 16, 2009 by S. Lawrence

4.0 out of 5 stars Keen Insights into Single Women in NYC.
Laura Jacobs, a first-time novelist, has written a powerful piece about a pair of women who are thirty-something and unmarried. Read more

Published on January 29, 2005 by Bohdan Kot

2.0 out of 5 stars Underwhelming...
Yes, it is a "quiet" book --- and, I suppose, the reader is supposed to search beneath the surface to explore the author's subtle inferences, but - why bother??? Read more

Published on January 18, 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars One that sneeks up on you.
This is not a loud book and perhaps that is why some other reviews didn't care for it. I was taken completely by suprise and delight as I was expecting a light read in the... Read more

Published on December 15, 2003 by buyingfool

4.0 out of 5 stars A delightful surprise
Perhaps WOMEN ABOUT TOWN rates low among Amazon readers because of its slow start. True to its praisers, this is a thoughtful, engaging read that succeeds in making you feel that... Read more

Published on August 27, 2003 by mnkm123@aol.com

1.0 out of 5 stars Irritating Iris, Loser Lana
Women About Town is overhyped. The two main characters are Iris and Lana. Initially, every other chapter is devoted to one of them. Read more

Published on June 20, 2003 by N. Karandreas

2.0 out of 5 stars Impossible to stay awake
I had such high hopes for this book after reading several reviews, but find myself terribly disappointed. Read more

Published on June 19, 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunningly stylish
It's like reading a book dipped in Dove chocolate on a carefree summer day. Enormously fun to read and easily digestible characters dealing with issues common to the modern day... Read more

Published on May 25, 2003 by Picky Jazelle

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and likable
I enjoyed this book quite a lot. It doesn't have much of a plot, more of a glimpse into the lives of the main characters. But Iris and Lana are very likable. Read more

Published on May 13, 2003 by jdpc

2.0 out of 5 stars could live without meeting them.
i really didn't care for the characterizations in this book, they seemed lackluster, and shallow. the plot, what little there was of it seemed juvenile. Read more

Published on March 22, 2003

› See all 13 customer reviews...

Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
Iris Biddle was wrestling with six little sconce shades, a set commissioned by a high-handed broker on Bleecker Street. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
sconce shades, dream ballets, lamp shade

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, The Behemoth, Gramercy Park, Emily Edwards, Iris Biddle, Central Park, Fifth Avenue, Lana Burton, Lincoln Center, Society Hill, Earl Grey, Honey West, Jeff Henderson, Nineteenth Street, Vanity Fair, Diana Rigg, East Side, Fernanda Levine, Iris Original, Metropolitan Opera, Pale Fire, Peace Corps, Rittenhouse Square, Wall Street

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!