Rating: 
Summary: Working Mom's Masterpiece....6 stars
Review: Kate Reddy is tough. Kate Reddy is talented. She's ambitious, beautiful and sensitive. She knows what she wants. She knows she doesn't want the kind of life (international travel, stressful career, two small children and no time for self, friends or husband) she has. She just doesn't know how to make it stop.Allison Pearson displays a vast knowledge of her subject matter, a quick wit, a delightful ability to turn a phrase (more lines from this book are being quoted in email than any other this year!) and the wisdom to mix the emotional pain of Kate's situation with the droll jokes that keep most of us going. Pearson discloses the secret, that working moms everywhere are aware of...that GUILT is our largest emotion. That in trying to do it all and be it all that we feel we give short shrift to our families, because our skills are much more finely honed at our work. But, our workplace doesn't appreciate above and beyond, and our families tell us in many ways that we are not succeeding very well in being the "glue that holds..." ...you know. By the way, she also shares the fact that we bribe, lie and compete with stay at home moms to be "good enough" and that all of us suffer memory loss on a daily basis. Pearson writes in partial sentences that will drive grammar teachers wild, but it is the type of language that the sleep deprived know best. Her "to do lists" at the end of many chapters are in some ways the funniest part of the book. But her aching emotion for her family and children, and her recognition of how important, how critical, a parent is, (and how little we recognize how few of us are well-suited to it)give the book its emotional texture. Pearson may not have invented irony, but I daresay, no one has used it in quite the brilliant way she does here in the modern novel. Now, this book will play well most likely with her peers, and not others, but that's a broad enough base to make this a sleeper hit of 2002. My favorite line that's been in my emails? From page 161: Kate feels badly for a mother of a baby who is crying on the plane. "My son does that when he's overtired, too: a baby's frustration at not being able to enter sleep is that of an alcoholic locked out of a bar". Obviously, Pearson knows whereof she speaks on the topic of insomnia, both mother's and baby's.... An incredible read! Buy It!
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular!
Review: It is rare for a book to live up to its hype but this was even better than I expected! It was so funny, so sad and most of all so true. Allison Pearson captures the joys and trials of motherhood perfectly.
Rating: 
Summary: I don't know how she does it so poorly
Review: I don't know how she does it so poorly. I am speaking of Miss Allison Pearson, in reference to her horrible novel. This piece of bland fiction would better serve the detainees of a Turkish prison than an erudite, WASPy mother of two. If you're looking for a novel to read while you spend your trust fund at the beach with all the other rich snobs, I suggest you pick up "Oh the Places You'll Go." It greatly surpasses the muddy narration of Pearson's prose.
Rating:
Summary: I Don't Know How She Did It...
Review: I don't know how Ms. Pearson did it. She has created a new superhero for the 21st century -- a warrior princess for working moms. Smart, savvy, and sleep-deprived, Kate Reddy manages international hedge funds and holds together (just barely) a modern family. While most of us in the real world are doomed to mediocracy on all fronts, Kate scores fantastic successes at work and some rather odious defeats on the home front -- resulting in some of the funniest moments I've read in a long time. Kate's notable achievements in the male-dominated world of high finance, coupled with her role as the family's primary breadwinner, provide an effective argument for staying in a job that requires that she parent her children as if she were conducting an illicit affair. While her job is more glamorous, her wardrobe more expensive, and her figure more svelte than most of us, she is weighed down by the same guilt over missed bedtimes, forgotten school projects, and neglected husbands. Throughout the book, Kate fights the good fight -- taking on everyone from the old boys' network to the "Muffia" of militant stay-at-home mothers -- with the kind grace that can only be borne of desperation. Laced through with British colloquialisms that lend an air of mystery to some of the goings-on, this book deals out a real message for everyone struggling to keep their priorities straight in the new millennium. And damn, it's funny!
Rating:
Summary: I just didn't care.
Review: Ever since Bridget Jones hit it big, the publishing industry has been flooding the market with British novels written by young, bright-eyed Brits who are terribly funny and slightly pretentious. What was original and fun in Bridget Jones is now stale and preachy in I Don't Know How She Does It. Kate Reddy is a working mother who juggles a demanding career in the stock market industry, raising her two young children, and trying to be a good wife to her husband. The few funny moments of this book are overshadowed by Kate's frenetic pace. I was literally exhausted just reading this book. Interwoven with her busy schedule is Kate's - and Allison Pearson's, probably - views on motherhood, children, and husbands. Perhaps, as a childfree person, I am not the target audience for this one. I, for one, am slightly offended by the author's implications. The moral of the story, as far as I could see was: Women are nothing without children and men are nothing without women. Two gross statements that are so untrue it's not even funny. I kept on reading this one in hopes of finding one humorous morsel in a book being hyped as the Bridget Jones for the working married woman (now I know why good, old Bridget calls them "dull marrieds"), but found myself hating each and every one of the characters in this book (except, perhaps, for the man trying to coerce Kate into an affair - the novel would have been decidedly more interesting if she had gone ahead with the affair). I just didn't care by the end of it, and was thoroughly disgusted with how the novel wrapped up. Kate, having decided that children are the "meaning of life", leaves her career and spends her days in her new country home, thinking sad, sympathetic thoughts about her co-worker, Momo, who is "terribly naive" because she doesn't want children (gasp)! Take it from me, this book may by the "it" book of the season, but it's a waste of your money - there are better books out there, and better authors. I hope Ms. Pearson decides that she is better off raising her children instead of writing.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful - Thank Goodness She Did It!
Review: I Don't Know How She Does It is a remarkable read--remarkable in that it is an extremely funny novel that manages to remain absolutely true to the lives of working mothers. Instead of exaggerating Kate Reddy's (the working mom) situation, Pearson relies on a wonderfully dry wit (and the innate humor of the situation) to make us laugh. And it's all true. What working mom, hasn't, like Kate Reddy does in the opening paragraphs of the novel, distressed some store-bought item to make it look like she baked/cooked/prepared it? For Kate, it's pies, for you it may be potato salad or brownies. While most of the subject matter will make you laugh, there are other parts that may bring tears to your eyes. Kate has an incredibly demanding work schedule, but loves her children deeply. She is torn between her dual roles as investment banker and mommy, can't desert either of them and thus fears she is doing both of them poorly. She muses on the situation of women in the workforce, particularly mothers throughout the novel and she hits the nail on the head every time. I believe most working moms will feel as if Pearson has gotten into their heads and somehow articulately, succinctly and cleverly put their thoughts and ideas on paper. Pearson remains always true to the quandries working moms find themselves in--nothing is exaggerated for laughs, or for tears, for that matter. The novel is terrific. It will keep you laughing and you certainly don't have to be a working mom to appreciate it. Kate Reddy is a wonderfully sympathetic heroine, facing real and difficult choices. Her resolution of them all is satisfying. A terrific novel and I must say thank you to Ms. Pearson for putting it all down on paper. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Men will love it too!
Review: My wife bought this book and devoured it in a weekend, doing nothing else but read it. She then handed it to me and I loved every page. Allison Pearson's Kate Reddy is one of the most fascinating female characters I have ever encountered. She and Bridget Jones have made me appreciate and love the woman I wake up next to even more. I recommend this book to anyone, female or male.
Rating:
Summary: A hilarious and moving book about a guilt-ridden mother.
Review: "I Don't Know How She Does It," by Allison Pearson, has gotten a lot of advance buzz. It captures perfectly the whine of the modern, high-powered executive (female) who wants to have it all. What she ends up with is guilt, exhaustion, and low self-esteem. Kate Reddy, the British protagonist of this trendy novel, seems to be the perfect role model. She is a thirty-something mother with two adorable children, a loving husband, and a high-paying job as a hedge-fund manager. She is a high-flyer in a male-dominated world. No one knows how Kate manages to juggle all of her responsibilities, which include frequent business trips. The answer is, she can't. Kate's kids, Emily and Ben, miss their mother terribly during her frequent absences. Her husband, Rich, feels neglected and somewhat emasculated by Kate's tactless pronouncement that she is the "main breadwinner" in the family. Pearson captures Kate's life perfectly and with great wit. We experience Kate's exasperation when her nanny cancels at the last minute or when Kate's mother-in-law tells her pointedly that she had better start paying attention to her man. Kate lurches from crisis to crisis, sending desperate and confessional emails to her girlfriends as a way to vent and ease her nervous tension. We feel her pain, but we also suspect that she may eventually pay the price for her self-delusion. Can Kate continue to balance work and family indefinitely, without losing her mind? Will she succumb to the charms of a gorgeous male client who wants more from her than just business advice? Will Rich finally force Kate to choose between him and her job? Pearson manages to tackle all these questions with poignancy, humor and wisdom. Her breezy writing style is a delight and I recommend that you sit back and enjoy this entertaining book by a very talented author.
Rating:
Summary: This is my life in print!
Review: From sneaking out to find a tellytubbie cake to business trips with no notice to missing pap smears for 4 years, I am seeing my harried life unfold in this novel. Any working mother can relate to Kate's life. One of my favorite lines is when she is discussing loss of her short term memory yet she has uncanny total recall of the names of every celebrity's baby. But what I relate most to is the good mother/bad mother debate (stay at home/working mother)and how she lies to her mother in law about her daughter's love of broccoli (if she tells her she doesn't know then she's a bad mother/If she tells her she doesn't like it, then she's a bad mother). There is one laugh (& sigh) after another. Finally a book that truly depicts the life of a working mom. I wish my boss, husband, & brothers would read it, but they're guys so they won't understand. Any woman contemplating staying at home versus working should read this book- Please!
Rating:
Summary: Great read!
Review: This book is clever, well written, and dead on funny. The only problem I have is that poor Kate's life is so stressful, that I get stressed out just reading about it! A must read, not only for working moms, but for every woman who is contemplating combining motherhood with a career.
|
