Rating: 
Summary: Sullies the name of Jane Austin
Review: I don't know what it is with so many women writers but they seem to have this thing with Jane Austin. This is Lipman's stab at her and, unfortunately, she drives the stake right through the poor woman's heart. Perhaps it is hero-worship but anyone who truly admires Austin would quickly realize that Austin was writing about her contemporaries and if she were living today she'd more than likely be doing the same. Nevertheless, Lipman is intent on creating a Victorian suburb somewhere in 1990's Boston. The result is a false-feeling novel that caused me to shake my head at the very premise of the thing.It's hard to believe that today there'd be as many people living the chaste Victorian lifestyle as Lipman would have us believe. It's one thing to write the Dobbins sisters that way (perhaps it would have been interesting to play their Victorian attitudes against Modern Boston), it's quite another to write every single other character the same way. Lipman takes pains to update the technology of the novel (pointing out the use of cell phones, CD Rom's, microwaves in repeated, pointless, annoying asides) but fails to update anything else. According to Lipman, most everyone in Boston either lives with their siblings or their parents and everyone is shocked that people actually have sex. The Victorian attitudes were frankly embarrassing and surprising considering the quality of Lipman's other novels. As for Harvey Nash, he's the slick beau stereotypically lifted from practically any Austin novel. Pick one, you'll find a reasonable facsimile of him. He's Hugh Grant from a Merchant-Ivory film in 20 years. I was bored by him almost as soon as I met him. Finally, I must point out that this is a novel with practically no setting, no description, no nothing other than dialogue. It practically reads like a script. As such, it was hard to place these characters in modern times given that the natural inclination given their attitudes is to place them back in Victorian England. I can't believe what a mess this novel turned out to be. Particularly after the smart "Inn at Lake Devine". Maybe next time will be better.
Rating: 
Summary: A fun, light farce
Review: Once again, Elinor Lipman has created a funny, light story about women--in this case, three sisters whose lives are disrupted when the ex-fiance returns thirty years after abandoning Adele, the eldest. Lipman has created a thoroughly believable--and detestable--anti-hero in Nash Harvey/Harvey Nash, a rogue who sponges off women and never seems to understand that he is not nearly as charming as he thinks he is. Readers who enjoy peering into the private lives of mature women will appreciate the sisters' struggles to deal with Nash and with their own middle-of-life romances and lack thereof. Real, fully developed characters and a speedy plot make this a read-in-a-sitting romantic comedy.
Rating: 
Summary: Pleasant...
Review: Ladies' Man seemed to pale in comparison with Inn at Lake Devine and Isabel's Bed. Devine and Isabel's Bed boasted funny, strong and sympathetic characters. Although I adored Adelle in this novel, I couldn't get involved much with the others. But I do think this is a wonderful book for vacation when you just want to sit back and relax!
Rating: 
Summary: She scores again!
Review: I am a great fan of Elinor Lipman's novels, and in The Ladies'Man she scores again. She makes three redheaded, middle-aged sisters utterly unique from one another, each a different kind of treasure. What a delight. Her prose is pure magic.
Rating:
Summary: A Let-Down From the Elinor Lipman High
Review: After reading "The Way Men Act," "Isabel's Bed," and "The Inn at Lake Devine," "The Ladies' Man" was a HUGE let-down. Elinor Lipman is funny, creative, and interesting, but i found this book to be of a lower caliber than her previous work. I became addicted to her books through her vivid characters, and though the characterizations remain vivid, I never became attached to the players in this book. Maybe there were too many of them, maybe they all did too many despicable things. The three sisters are indeed interesting, but I did not feel that I got to know any of them very well. However, the trip into Harvey's brain was something else.
Rating:
Summary: Divine
Review: I am reading The Ladies Man very, very slowly, because I don't want to lose it. I want to be always by my bedside, in case of emergency -- like a revolver. Her way with dialogue and character is simply a joy - I fully agree with the comparisons to Austen. Lipman has adroitly nailed the archetype of the diehard, attention-and-heat-seeking-missile-bachelor to perfection. As a novel it is nimble, sustaining, and frankly delicious. In the place I am at in the book, the veal cassarole has just come down on Harvey's head, and he is playing it for all it is worth --can he get some sex out of this?- you can hear him calculating, as gravy slides down his forehead. Great scene. I can't wait to see what happens, and yet I am also loathe to see it end. Divine, and certainly worth every penny.
Rating:
Summary: a delicious novel
Review: If Jane Austen is reincarnated in a novelist of the late twentieth century, Elinor Lipman is the one. I've loved all her work but this latest is my favorite: smart, wise and funny, with a brilliantly acute understanding of the sexual dance. I savored this one to the last page and mourned when it was over.
Rating: 
Summary: This is my least favorite Lipman book.
Review: It is hard to believe this was written by Elinor Lipman. There is something sinister - or mean-spirited about it. It portrays women as silly and desperate...I had a difficult time liking any of the characters, I didn't know what to wish for. I definitely DO NOT recommend it. Try any other Lipman book instead.
Rating:
Summary: Anne Tyler impersonating Elinor Lipman
Review: I've loved all of Elinor Lipman's other books, but this one just wasn't as good. I found the frequent shifts in point of view to be jarring, and because the reader is constantly getting inside the head of different characters, she doesn't learn much of substance about any of them. I was also less interested in the middle-aged characters, who seemed to be lifted out of an Anne Tyler novel. Elinor Lipman is a wonderful writer, though, and this book is well-written. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I didn't loathe Harvey Nash as much (but the fact that I did says a lot about the quality of the writing).
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read!! Charming Characters and Witty Writing!!
Review: Lipman's novel is just delightful. She creates characters that I can see and hear. The sisters--Adele, Kathleen, and Lois--are women who have successfully and happily lived their lives as women and family, but are now ready to open up to love and acceptance. Three different responses to love, responses that live in us all. Very witty, very charming, an engaging read.
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