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Live Alone and Like It: The Classic Guide for the Single Woman by [Hillis, Marjorie]

Live Alone and Like It: The Classic Guide for the Single Woman Kindle Edition

by Marjorie Hillis (Author)

29 customer reviews

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"Whether you view your one-woman ménage as Doom or Adventure, you need a plan, if you are going to make the best of it."

Thus begins Marjorie Hillis' archly funny, gently prescriptive manifesto for single women. Though it was 1936 when the Vogue editor first shared her wisdom with her fellow singletons, the tome has been passed lovingly through the generations, and is even more apt today than when it was first published. Hillis, a true bon vivant, was sick and tired of hearing single women carping about their living arrangements and lonely lives; this book is her invaluable wake-up call for single women to take control and enjoy their circumstances.

Hillis takes readers through the fundamentals of living alone, including the importance of creating a hospitable environment at home, cultivating hobbies that keep her there ("for no woman can accept an invitation every night without coming to grief"), the question of whether single ladies may entertain men at home (the answer may surprise you!), and many more.

With engaging chapter titles like "A Lady and Her Liquor" and "The Pleasures of a Single Bed," along with a new preface by author Laurie Graff (You Have to Kiss A Lot of Frogs), LIVE ALONE AND LIKE IT is sure to appeal to live-aloners and many other readers alike.

Length: 176 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled

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Product details

File Size: 605 KB
Print Length: 176 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0446178225
Publisher: 5 Spot (November 11, 2009)
Publication Date: November 29, 2009
Language: English
ASIN: B002WAUVEQ
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

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Not Enabled

Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported

Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #362,496 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #1998 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Self-Help > Personal Transformation
- #7057 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Reference
- #10719 in Books > Self-Help > Personal Transformation

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katie

this is a great book for any woman

August 9, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

this is a great book for any woman, young or old, single or wretchedly or happily married, living alone or domesticated as a housecat, what ever. it is a guide to how to live, it is empowering. i read it, i'm in my mid twenties living alone and loving it (before and after reading!), i made my mother read it, i would thrust it into the hands of any friend including some gentlemen who i think could use a push in the right direction. the tone is hilarious, and the advice is timeless and i love her preoccupation with bathrobes and the opinions of the sheep. the anecdotes about so and so who lives x way are perfect this book is perfect.

4 people found this helpful

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Caramarie

Wonderful Advice, Administered with Charm and Humor

January 10, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I read the Kindle version and loved it! Not only does Marjorie Hillis have good advice for single women, much of which still applies today, but her common sense suggestions are also helpful for married women. Cultivating good habits and great attitudes are always helpful!
The Kindle version needs copy editing. It appears to have been scanned from a print version and not proofread. Numerous punctuation errors and a few spelling irregularities mar the wonderful writing. This was a little distracting, but not enough to spoil the humor of Ms. Hillis' writing.
I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a time-tested prescription for a fulfilling life.

2 people found this helpful

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Thom Coverly

A fun period piece with some timeless advice

October 14, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This was a most enjoyable read. It's definitely a period piece in terms of style and context, but that was part of the fun. And even so… much of the advice still holds good, with just a little mental adjustment for modern equivalents. I also read Orchids On Your Budget by the same author.

One person found this helpful

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Nina

I yelped with joy when I saw that this book has been reprinted...

July 9, 2006

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

...I've hunted down used copies for a half-dozen people, and now gift-giving will be a lot easier.

This book is more than just a primer for living alone happily; it's a primer for living happily and independently, no matter your age or marital status. While there's considerable "period" charm to be found in her stories and advice, this book is by no means a quaint period piece. It's packed full of (often very funny) practical wisdom that's just as vibrant for a woman living today as in the 1930s.

Be warned, though: one thing Miss Hillis cannot abide is self-pity, so this book offers several invigorating slaps to those who see loneliness as "an affliction sent by Providence like a hare-lip, instead of self-inflicted torture, like a hair shirt". Her advice on living a rich and full single life is so inspiring that it's a bit of a pity to find out that she eventually forsook "the pleasures of a single bed."

Highly, highly recommended.

20 people found this helpful

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Sarah Lee

The textbook on how to live alone successfully

August 11, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This book came into an important time of my life, when I was finally living alone after 40 years living with someone. The author has a wonderful way to tell you to get over your pity party and enjoy what many people envy: the freedom to call your own shots. She is right on about dressing up your surroundings, wearing pretty nightgowns, meeting new friends. I will probably read it again and again as she has alot of gems in this short book.

8 people found this helpful

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KathyDTop Contributor: Knitting

Carrie Bradshaw Meets Auntie Mame

June 21, 2011

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I purchased this book after a breakup where I was feeling that I would live alone forever surrounded by my cats and only venture out of my bathrobe to go to work. Oddly, I find myself so enamored of this book that I think I might stay single forever just for fun! As other reviewers have pointed out, this is a reprint from a 1936 book and some of the language is a bit outmoded. However, it is remarkable to note that when Ms. Hillis was born, women did not have the right to vote.

This is one of my favorite excerpts from this book on how to make a budget:
"We are not advising you to save for any good and moral reason, but merely because, as time goes on, spending your own money has a kick in it, like whiskey, while having other people's money spent on you has, at best, the tame pleasure of a glass of lemondade. It is at least twice as much fun to buy something at the ten-cent store with money that is yours and mobody else's, than to have enough money doled out to cover a purchase at Cartier's."

Damn straight, Ms. Hillis, damn straight.

13 people found this helpful

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around_space

Definitely recommended.

December 14, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is a delightful book, full of both timeless advice and dated style. Somehow, the outdated ideas (canned goods and bed jackets?) make the rather blunt ideas easier to swallow -- that single women need to think about how to live on their own, rather than planning for the things they'll do once they have (another) partner.

I found it thoroughly enjoyable, and I've recommended it (or gifted it) to several newly single friends.

2 people found this helpful

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A. Shaffer

This book actually has some good ideas in it but it's so fun to read ...

October 24, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book actually has some good ideas in it but it's so fun to read from a historical perspective. I laughed with my friends over some of the phrasing and ideas, but honestly, a lot of it still applies.

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Most recent customer reviews

sally tarbox

"The more you enjoy YOURSELF, the more of a person you are"

Although this book opens with the statement that it "is no brief in favour of living alone", the author then goes on to describe such a lovely possible existence that this...Read more

Published 5 months ago

Shale

Charming read & excellent timeless advice for all women!

I love vintage advice books, but this one is timeless. Bracing, practical and cheerful advice for any woman on how to enjoy life without waiting for anyone else to plan it for...Read more

Published 11 months ago

Wanda

I love the bit about acquiring interesting skills like palm reading

I simply adore this book. It has the same kind of humor as the screwball comedies of that era and the same freewheeling attitude.Read more

Published on March 10, 2016

Roe

A delightful early feminist primer on how to be happy after you've decided not to pout

A delightful early feminist primer on how to be happy after you've decided not to pout. One must adapt the advice to our time, but it isn't hard.Read more

Published on August 29, 2015

Selina Spruill

Read some pages in the book. It's just ok ...

Read some pages in the book. It's just ok. Didn't make me want to read the whole book at one time.

Published on July 23, 2015

Jennifer Gray

Two Stars

Too many stories that doesn't fit into real world

Published on April 6, 2015

Marie P.

funny, with interesting ideas for single women to enjoy ...

Well written, funny, with interesting ideas for single women to enjoy life fully.

Published on February 14, 2015

Amazon Customer

Didn't like

Very dated material. Did not learn anything new that i didn't already know. Don't waste time on it very short for price.

Published on July 30, 2014

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