Was It Something I Said

Rating:
Summary: A terrible book!
Review: I was insulted to have to pay for this awful excuse for a book. Ms. Block received an MFA from Columbia University? Clearly, she learned nothing more than how to be smug and un-funny. Revolting characters, stupid scenes, a waste of time and paper.

Rating:
Summary: What might have been
Review: What an insipid waste. . . ugly characters, boring story. For a book with rave reviews, this was a big flop. Let's hope Valerie Block learns to write something interesting next time.

Rating:
Summary: a very funny quick read
Review: From the opening pages, when the two protagonists meet, get sick and start to fall in love during a plane crash, I laughed out loud and knew I would enjoy this book. A sarcastic and funny look at neurotic but well-meaning New York yuppies searching for love, this book is a quick and enjoyable read, perfect for a plane ride (no joke) or vacation. Reading Block's book is like listening to a very witty friend tell her hilarious, and poignant, account of her rocky road to love. I'm looking forward to this first-novelist's next effort.

Rating:
Summary: Great Light Reading
Review: I really enjoyed this book as - good light reading. I wasn't expecting much at the beginning, but found myself engrossed in the story before long. Very enjoyable, I can't wait to see something else by this author.

Rating:
Summary: Shows promise, but I can't recommend this book
Review: If this is a first novel, the author should certainly write more. And I certainly would hate to be too critical of a first attempt. The details of life among yuppie corporate lawyers and Manhattan strivers are true to life (I have lived on the Upper East Side for decades) and that aspect of the book must be praised. But verisimillitude is not enough: The author needs to take her wonderful eye for detail and ear for snappy dialogue and come up with people, situations, and a plot that are interesting and, in the end, mean something. Even her hero and heroine, while not utterly boring or evil, are not exactly interesting or likeable either, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why they do what they do or why I should even care. (I care even less about many of the subsidiary characters.) I don't think I am without empathy, and am perfectly capable of being interested in characters across the moral spectrum if they warrant it. I suppose the test of a good book is that, when it's over, the characters live on in your mind and you wonder what happened to them. In this case, I stopped wondering or wanting to know long before it even ended. (I also don't think the publicity inside the book jacket should be comparing the author to Jane Eyre and Phillip Roth. With lower expectations I would have been less disappointed.)

Rating:
Summary: Reads like a bad sitcom.
Review: Loathsome characters, insipid language, simplistic writing and absent comic timing make this novel read like the insufferable network pilot that gets cancelled after one episode. The only thing missing from this canned, tiresome, overwrought narrative sitcom is the laugh track. Too bad, because without it I can't tell which parts are supposed to be funny.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as I expected it to be
Review: The characters are completely annoying and unlikeable in this book. For some reason, though, I kept reading until the end. It didn't get any better as I read. I'm just glad I didn't buy it - someone else gave it to me. I'd have been really ticked off if I paid money for this one.

Rating:
Summary: poorly written, badly edited, meandering story
Review: It's really too bad this wasn't a better book. It had such potential. From poorly fleshed out main characters to stereotypical, one dimensional supporting characters, it slogs along at a slow pace. Well, that's not exactly true. The plot jumps in and out of time and you never know just when you are or where you are, or for that matter, who you're reading about. There are no transitions or set ups-- all of a sudden, we're just somewhere else, talking about someone else. For instance, Barry walks in a door and stares at Vince. Next we read that Barry is knocking at Vince's bedroom door (at least, I assume that's the door). How did he get there? When did Vince leave? Did Vince leave? What happened? A good editor would have caught that. A good writer would never have wrote it that way. Justine is just plain brittle and mean, Barry is an juvenile class clown, Vince is nothing. Pippa is the only one who has a somewhat believable voice. There is nothing likable about these characters and they have no other side to them. I kept waiting for the amusing portions of the book the book jacket kept promising.

Rating:
Summary: It all begins with a plane crash...
Review: ...and it only gets better. "Was It Something I Said?" is thoroughly involving. While the two main characters are indeed frustrating at times, they're realistic. Barry and Justine have both been single for so long that they're comfortably established in their independence - both are suspicious of a relationship that could lead to marriage. And the subplots involving Pippa and Vince deliver solid insight into two other "single perspectives." This is a nice companion - albeit more fully fleshed-out and less comic - to Helen Fielding's "Bridget Jones' Diary." And I especially appreciated the male perspective this time out - especially surprising from a female writer!

Rating:
Summary: Don't bother!
Review: I got halfway through "Was It Something I Said" and realized that I didn't feel as if I "knew" any of the characters and what I did know of them, I did't like. The storyline was choppy (the transitions from present to past and back again were confusing) and the character development was weak. It seemed like an interesting plot but Block failed to deliver on substance.