Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful First Novel
Review: "What She Saw" is a lighthearted, humorous novel about a woman named Phoebe Fine who introduces the reader to all of the important men in her life. She does this in chronological order so we begin with Phoebe's first crush, moving on to a first kiss, and so on....I identified with so many of Phoebe's experiences that I began highlighting passages that were similar to to my own life experiences and the result was both depressing and reassuring at the same time.Phoebe's character is believable because she is flawed, just as we all are. Readers will most likely relate to her humanness which makes the book all the more readable. Rosenfeld writes with just the right amount of emotion, irony, humor and in-depth characterization. Each man Phoebe dates represents her own personal growth and maturity. There are two wonderfully stylistic chapters, "What She saw in Anonymous," and "What She Saw in No One" that are like a musical-montage-growth- spurt. In these chapters Rosenfeld strings together Phoebe's raw emotions regarding her then promiscuous sex life. There were a couple of chapters I didn't like because I felt they were disjointed and broke-up what could have been a perfect flow. This book is definitely worth reading. I can't imagine any woman not being able to identify with Phoebe's experiences. Whip out the highlighter while you're at it!!!
Rating: 
Summary: From a psychologist who loved this book
Review: "What She Saw..." is funny, clever, insightful, sophisticated, sad, and quite a good psychological case study of a girl/young woman struggling with issues of self-esteem. From a clinical standpoint, the main character suffers from what psychoanalyst's call "narcissistic depression," and the novel does an excellent job providing a subjective sense of that experience (replete with wit that one doesn't find in case studies). Reader's might complement the reading of "What She Saw..." by also reading Alice Miller's "The Drama of the Gifted Child" which gives a psychoanalyic perspective of the impact of parental narcissism on children's development. The sub-title is something like "how narcissistic parents form and deform the emotional lives of their children." Rosenfeld captures the essence of that impact in an altogether touching and memorable fashion. She must have suffered it, at least somewhat, to understand it so well. She's transformed her suffering into a delectable account of growing up and sorting it all out. I hope that Rosenfeld, who appears to be both lovely and vulnerable, keeps growing as both a woman and writer. Five stars for this lovely debut.
Rating:
Summary: It was a great beginning...
Review: ...followed by a mediocre middle, and a litte redemption at the end. I was SO excited to get my hands on this book. The idea of chronicalling someone's lovelife by the men she has been involved with was a great idea. The chapter titles were good too. The main character, Pheobe and I are the same age, so I could certainly relate to and remember many of the events (and disaterous '80s fashions) described in this book. All in all it was a pretty good book, it just had some parts that were way too long and drawn out, especially in the middle of the book. Sadly, some of the best parts of the book were too short and could have been fleshed out more. It wasn't the laugh a minute I expected, but it was a decent book and one I would recommend to any female who spent her adolescence in the 1980s.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice, but...
Review: ...uninteresting. Lucinda Rosenfeld does an excellent job in "What She Saw..." inviting the reader into her fifth grade world and infusing him/her with emotions of angst, frustration and 10-year-old joy. But once we are inside, there isn't all that much going on. We have all been to fifth grade and had pretty much the same experiences. Fortunately, most of our memories are still good enough that the same day-to-day happenings of our youth are fresh enough when (and if) we want to recall them. We can engage with friends if we want to discuss fifth grade; we read Rosenfeld's account because we want something different or extraordinary. While Rosenfeld is very engaging, she ran into a classic essayist's problem: A lot of writing talent, not a lot to say.
Rating:
Summary: Welcome to the Dollhouse
Review: A "Welcome to the Dollhouse" or "Heathers" sort of novel that guides us through the the dating life of Phoebe Fine. From her sexual discovery years through to her diverse forms of promiscuity, she tests the boundaries of her conscience. The author writes with a dark wit that allows us to feel her experiences as if they were our own while also allowing us to laugh at the fact they we may have already felt, done, and thought similar things.
Rating:
Summary: I can relate!
Review: A lot of women could probably relate to this book, especially women who live in New York City. I have often thought about all the different types of men I have dated here. Lucinda does a great job of telling it like it is with humor. Phoebe reminds me of the character in the memoir, Locked Passion of a Free Spirit. They both had a lot of growing up to do.
Rating:
Summary: Undercooked
Review: Any woman born in the late 60's or early 70's, raised in the suburbs in the Northeast, and living single in Manhattan will recognize a bit of herself in Phoebe Fine, the protagonist of "What She Saw . . . ." But all those familiar references to the cultural icons, archetypes and fashion trends of that time -- the tapered Guess jeans with zippers at the bottom, to name just one -- provide as much satisfaction as one of those "You know you're a child of the 80's if . . " chain e-mails that get sent around. If you don't fit that profile, however, you probably won't like this book. Lucinda Rosenfeld is clearly a talented writer, though, and I'll expect more from her in her next outing.
Rating:
Summary: i didn't really like it, but i couldn't put it down
Review: dreadful and fun is the conundrum i'm put in when i begin to go back through the quite thick entanglement of the boys, boys, and men i've dated, and in the book "what she saw", i was given the chance to delve into someone else's mess. each chapter takes a look at a different boy/man the main character dated/went with/screwed. a fun idea, but there's such a distance on the page... it's difficult to understand her convictions. i wanted to laugh, and groan in aggreeance, but was left slightly unsympathetic and befuddled. the book begs to be written in the first person, but for some bizarre-o reason lucinda rosenfeld gave us a third person story. after reading the first chapter i thought it was clunky, and decided to shut it for good, but i was at work, with nothing elese to read, so i kept going, and somehow fell in. i still didn't really like it, but felt hooked nonetheless. weird. i gave it four stars due to the 'it hooked me factor;' what does it all mean? i suppose it's just as confusing as what she really did see in all of those guys.
Rating:
Summary: She saw a lot
Review: Fast-paced, intelligent, funny, and profound!
Rating:
Summary: I can relate!
Review: Haven't we all gone through a list of our boyfriends and/or crushes, to figure out why we were attracted to them in the first place? Lucinda Rosenfield has based her book on just that element of a woman's life, from the first crush to the latest man. While Phoebe does have issues of her own to deal with, it is quite interesting and humorous to see each man described by her. This was a first novel for Lucinda Rosenfield, and a good one at that. Looking forward to future works!
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