Slow Motion: A True Story (Harvest Book)

Rating:
Summary: One of the best....
Review: This book may not talk about Orthodox Judiasm as much as some people want it to, but the book is not touted as a Orthodox Judiasm book. It's a book about Dani Shapiro that is eloquently written and thought provoking. If only everyone could be as honest with themselves as Ms. Shapiro is with her readers.

Rating:
Summary: Slow, Superficial - A Waste of the Author's Life
Review: This book was so disappointing. I was drawn to it because the jacket emphasizes that the author was an Orthodox Jew, yet lead a secret life as the mistress of a married man. But, instead, the book was so superficial! The author should stop looking in the mirror, and start looking more deeply at life. The book contains no analysis of the big questions presented: Why did the author have an affair with the married, rich man? What did her parents' tragedy mean to her? To her sense of life, religion, anything at all! The author just presents the facts: nothing more. At least her father felt Orthodox Judaism was important, but he was the only person presented who did not lead a completely superficial life. The only interesting part of the book is when the author finally leaves the apartment her boyfriend has set her up in, and spends some time living in what she describes a "normal woman's" apartment and wonders what a "normal" life must be like; what kind of books would she read, how would she spend her time, etc. But, other than this unfortunately short segment, the rest of the book deals with the latest Rolex watch her married boyfriend gives her, or the fact that the author hated the Hebrew tutor her parents hired, because he was not attractive. The answer to the author's problems can be summed up quite easily: get a life. And I mean a meaningful life, one that isn't completely focused on looks, expensive gifts, and your mother's maids. Unfortunately, the author completely fails to do this whatsoever.