Rating: 
Summary: I don't know about you, but this is what I want in a book
Review: Such a funny, smart, satisfying novel! I rooted for its heroes, with all their lovable warts and failings, and laughed aloud at the sly social satire that captures a Joyce scholar/pompous ex-husband and a socially ambitious widowed mother in all their meddlesome glory. Delicious, warm and insightful like the best company. I recommend MAIL wherever I go, and delight in finding a friend who hasn't read it so I can wrap one up!
Rating: 
Summary: Offbeat, but a little flat
Review: The main character of this novel is charming, the plot on its face is interesting, and the book is written with a fine sense of humor. However, it was difficult to understand the motivations of Katinka, the main character. Why is she so interested (from essentially the first page of the book) in her mailman, a man who is not written as particularly interesting, bright, or even available? The author gives us no clue as to whether Katinka is merely lonely, or an incurable romantic dreamer, or a social egalitarian, or perhaps simply immature. It seems we are just meant to take for granted that a Harvard-educated writer would form such a liaison. A series of other events then unfold, the motivations for some of which are also unclear.Although I enjoyed this book, it was somewhat of a chore to read in spite of its light, breezy style, and I agree with the earlier reviewers who found it flat. However, I am impressed enough by Medwed to read her next novel when it comes out in paperback.
Rating: 
Summary: A very pleasant surprise
Review: This book hums along at such a breezy pace, that it's only upon reflection that one notices the deft handling of life's basic issues. I found the ending of the story, which seems to be so irritatingly fumbled by so many novelists, to hit just the right note here. I would have bet the romance would go the "other way", but I'm glad it worked out as it did. Bravo for the leading lady.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been better
Review: This book was well-written for the most part, but Katinka was a little hard for me to like. Here she is, an intelligent woman, and could she be a little more promiscuous? I thought that this book was enjoyable to a degree, but that the plot just lacked something and wasn't exactly gripping. It's not a bad book, and some parts were very enjoyable, especially those sections involving the adorable Max.
Rating:
Summary: Amusing Romp Thru Cambridge, & Frustrated Relationships..
Review: This is a very funny 1st person Ivy League tour through love, lust, academia, literary attempts, mother-daughter feelings, friendships, all told at a breakneck speed, with great humor, and laughs thrown in for good measure! The apartment scenes in the Harvard neighborhood were great, as well as the dining (IHOP, especailly) and general descriptions. Worth a few fun hours! But are there really schools which "teach" 8 year old boys about parenthood by making him carry a sack of flour? Maybe, but a strange way to teach! Also, the infatuation with the mailman never really rang true to this jaded reader, but all is fair in love and war! And the ending seemed a bit unfocused, but probably still realistic. Perfect for a sequel!
Rating:
Summary: A humorous view of life in the other Cambridge
Review: This is an excellent first novel. There is no escaping the fact that this is a novel about Cambridge, seat of the American Ivy League, one of the intellectual foci of the country, a place where people are filled with intellectual pretensions, social pretensions, or both. This novel takes aim at both of these, with wit and style. Mameve Medwed depicts the life and loves of Katinka O'Toole (nee Graham), as she struggles to advance her career as a writer and to rebuild her social life. The focus of both these endeavors is the mailbox, the news that it brings (rejections, and the occasional acceptance) and the bearer of mixed news, Louis, the irresistible mailman. Medwed depicts neurotic writers and academics with the accuracy of a woman has lived in Cambridge: individuals, like Katinka, cracked with self-doubt, others like her ex-husband Professor O'Toole who have no doubts what so ever about their place in the universe. What binds the novel together is the self-deprecating humor of our heroine. Before you know it, you'll be reading the last chapter, and be grateful to Medwed for the pleasure of the company of her characters. You'll smile at remember the characters, but also the gentle social criticisms the author has quietly insinuated into the mix.
Rating:
Summary: Good But Doesn't Stay With You
Review: This was an enjoyable novel that was entertaining. However, when you're done with it, you find it was a pleasant diversion and not much else. There is nothing gripping about the story or the characters. It is essentially one woman dating two different men, one of whom is her mailman. That she's a Harvard grad, that the 2nd man is a Harvard Law grad, that her ex-husband was her Harvard professor and that her mother is mad about Harvard men and that the mother ends up marrying one (again) herself, is a large part of this book. You might up this in grade if you actually went to Harvard.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific Book -- Highly Recommended Romantic Comedy
Review: You've got to love a character like Katinka O'Toole, the zany heroine of "Mail." She's alternately insecure and confident, driven and lazy, in love and out of love, hip and square; she's as full of contradictions as the rest of us which is what makes her jump off the page and into our laps. This is one delightful woman created by Mameve Medwed. "Mail" is relatively undiscovered and that's too bad. But then again, it's not about serial killers or dinosaurs or forensic pychologists -- the grist of our bestseller mill. "Mail" is simply about real life and that proves to be more than enough in the hands of a writer like Medwed (what a name? and no, I'm not related or a friend and don't even know her at all).
Rating:
Summary: Terrific Book -- Highly Recommended Romantic Comedy
Review: You've got to love a character like Katinka O'Toole, the zany heroine of "Mail." She's alternately insecure and confident, driven and lazy, in love and out of love, hip and square; she's as full of contradictions as the rest of us which is what makes her jump off the page and into our laps. This is one delightful woman created by Mameve Medwed. "Mail" is relatively undiscovered and that's too bad. But then again, it's not about serial killers or dinosaurs or forensic pychologists -- the grist of our bestseller mill. "Mail" is simply about real life and that proves to be more than enough in the hands of a writer like Medwed (what a name? and no, I'm not related or a friend and don't even know her at all).
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