Time Off for Good Behavior (Paperback)

by Lani Diane Rich (Author) "The court date fell on the Friday of what had been a very bad week for me as an account executive at Hastings Channel 8..." (more)
Key Phrases: phantom music, pencil face, Walter Briggs, Santa Station, Anne Marie (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
There is no shortage of bad luck in Wanda Lane's life. She loses her advertising sales job while she is in the hospital recuperating from a head injury. Her abusive and drunken ex-husband has been leaving threatening messages, and she can't get a phantom tune out of her head. Yet she is not exactly a sympathetic character. A litany of bad breaks has left her spiteful and complaining. Even so, Wanda manages to attract the attention of a handsome, widowed lawyer who only wants to protect her, but before she lets herself fall in love, she needs to get her life in order. A bizarre want ad lands her a new friend (and unofficial therapist), and with her help, Wanda decides to do something meaningful. Readers will warm to Wanda as she mends broken relationships, finds a fulfilling job, and learns to open her heart. First-time author Rich has managed to skillfully blend serious topics with humor, and readers will love her for it. Aleksandra Kostovski
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Terrific and absolutely hilarious...with a thoroughly original and delightful heroine."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (October 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446693065
• ISBN-13: 978-0446693066
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #516,971 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'd Like To Go Out Drinking With Wanda and Walter!, October 4, 2004

By	Rose McC. "Rose" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews

What I liked most about Time Off For Good Behavior was how it was decidedly NOT a cliche, and that's not always true of "chick lit" books. Wanda swears like a sailor throughout, and while she grows in the novel, she doesn't really change her core personality. Instead, she finds herself again (or, rather, remembers who she is deep down, before she so disappointed her parents and herself by making some bad choices and acquiring the baggage that resulted.)

I so enjoyed how she forbid herself from seeing Walter before she'd worked through some difficult issues. She knew he'd accept her as she was, but she had to make some hard changes first. She may have thought of herself as weak, but I found her to be a strong character throughout.

Overall, a very fun read. I should have counted the number of times I laughed out loud. I know for sure I read with a grin on my face because my husband kept asking, "What is so funny?" as I read it. The hot pink cover caught my eye in the bookstore, and I'm glad it did!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a TERRIFIC book!!, September 21, 2004

By	Robin L (California) - See all my reviews

I can't remember the last time I've gobbled up a book in one sitting like this. Both hilarious and touching, Lani Diane Rich knows how to mine the human experience for true gems of humor and poignancy. Wanda, the main character, is flawed and wonderfully human. She has a feisty spirit and a side-splitting sense of humor that had me rooting for her from page one. Rich has done a terrific job in creating a character whose humor is an integral part of her self-preservation skills, rather than just someone who's handy with a quick comeback. After a series of bad luck and missteps, Wanda's held-together-with-duct-tape reality cracks wide open and we quickly see just how well her sense of humor serves her as she tries to start her life over.

Wanda's journey of self-discovery rings refreshingly true and genuine and illuminates the teeth-gnashing frustrations that life hands us, as well as the moments of grace we somehow manage to stumble into.

Definitely an exciting new voice in women's fiction!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great voyage of self-discovery, June 20, 2006

By	Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Wanda Lane has had a string of bad luck. She is divorced from an abusive husband who thankfully lives in Alaska, but finds plenty of time to call to profess his love or his hatred for her. She loses the job she hates when she falls down after striking an annoying lawyer and ends up in a coma for several days, resulting in phantom music playing at the most inopportune times. And now she finds herself attracted to successful civil lawyer Walter Briggs.

But in order to "earn" Walter's love, Wanda feels that she must improve herself. Wanda is not exactly a model of decency. She drinks. A lot. And she curses like a sailor. She does not think before she opens her mouth, and she tends to be self-centered. One could argue she's in need of therapy, which she gets from a local Catholic priest who doles out advice though she's not a member of his flock ("Bless me father for I am not Catholic). With the help of a new friend she found in a want-ad, she decides to create a series of post-it notes, and as she has completed the task, she tosses them out. The most important one - the one she cannot figure out what it means - is "do something meaningful."

As she tries to find herself, perfect widower Walter patiently waits for her to have an epiphany. It is hard to fathom a man as articulate and together as Walter falling for the train wreck that is Wanda, so there was a real disconnect in the romance for this reader. But her voyage of self-discovery peppered with some of the wittiest dialogue and interesting secondary characters to grace a page make this a worthwhile read. This is Rich's first novel and her subsequent novels prove what a gifted storyteller she is.