Pink Slip

Rating:
Summary: Very funny, light reading
Review: I started reading this book and I have to say that I found it very funny. It reminds me of some of the things that I have seen and have had happen in my life. There are definitely, phrases in this book that I have used from time to time.

I would highly recommend this for single women to read because it is light reading and it will probably bring past experience to them as well. I hope they enjoy it as much as I am.

Rating:
Summary: Insightful !
Review: Like her other books Blue Italian,and Sometimes I Dream in Italian,Pink Slip starts by being a fun,light hearted story about the difficulties encountered by Italian girls who are still dominated by their families.Lise's mother is pushing her to marry and raise children and can't or won't grasp the fact that her daughter is a clever,educated woman who is holding down a well paid corporate job.Lise has compensated for the lack of love in her family by becoming,in her teens and early twenties,what used to be known as "the town bike",and in her early twenties,had an abortion because of her total disregard of precautions against pregnancy and transmitted sexual disease.The only member of her family that she truly loves is her gay cousin Dodie.Despite the seemingly light hearted telling of this story,there is a very dark undercurrent and I found myself crying at several points ( I'm NOT a book crier )Pink Slip really moved me and I'd certainly recommend it to those readers who enjoyed Ms.Ciresi's other books.

Rating:
Summary: Funny and moving!
Review: Like her other books Blue Italian and Sometimes I dream in Italian, Pink Slip starts by being a fun,light hearted story about the difficulties encountered by Italian girls who are still dominated by their mothers.Lise's mother is pushing her to marry and raise children as she sees that as the only possible reason for a womans existence, and can't or won't grasp the fact that her daughter is a clever,educated woman who is holding down a well-paid corporate job.Lise has compensated for the lack of love in her family by becoming,in her teens and early twenties,what used to known as the "town bike"(here in Australia at least)and still suffers guilt about her abortion of an unwanted pregnancy.As she had shown total disregard of any precautions against pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases,she is now feeling doubly guilty as she matures and realises how irresponsible she has been.The only member of her family that she really loves is her gay cousin Dodie who is also beginning to suffer the consequences of a promiscuous youth.Despite the seemingly light hearted telling of this story,there is a very dark undercurrent and I found myself crying at several points (I'm not a book crier!)Pink Slip really moved me and I'd recommend it wholeheartedly to those who enjoyed Ms.Ciresi's other books.

Rating:
Summary: Growing Up Is Hard To Do!
Review: Rita Ciresi puts together a cast that should be on Broadway. Pink Slip reads like the acts of a play. Although, Lisar, Lise, Lisa, Elisabetta (which ever you prefer) would have been that girl voted, "Most Likely To Sleep With You" in high school, her need to connect to people makes her charming and endearing. You can picture her alone on stage sharing her stories.

Lise is at that point where each of will be or have been. She is living her adult life. Much like going to a high school reunion, you can't help comparing yourself with her. Rita Ciresi has captured honesty in her character interactions. Some are uncomfortable like her reaction to Al, her brother-in-law. (Sorry, you'll have to read it to find out).

I thoroughly enjoyed the journey with Lise until the last chapter. I wanted to finish the trek with her but felt like I got sent home before the trip was complete. Despite the abrupt ending, I cannot discount the writing, storyline or characters. If you enjoy books where the heroine is not perfect and may never be, I suggest A Certain Age by Tama Janowitz. I can only hope Rita Ciresi continues Lise's journey and that we get to share in it.

Rating:
Summary: an interesting read
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend. It was a little heavy, dealing with issues such as terminal illness and work place affairs. But it explored Lisa's issues that keep dragging her down. It is only once she is able to face the issues stemming from her childhood that she is able to keep from sabatoging herself and get what it is that she truely wants. As she confronts her issues along her journey there is a lot of saddness. It made me cry. Rita Ceresi is so good at character exploration that the characters become real.

Rating:
Summary: A great book.
Review: I read this book after taking a class taught by Rita Ciresi. I love her style and her humor. I would definitely recommend this to all of my friends.

Rating:
Summary: weekend entertainment 101
Review: I try SO hard to be stingy with my 5s. I always sit there and think about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the book based on everything from literary merit to emotional appeal to pure entertainment, and in the end I just give it a five if I loved it, and say screw the critical analysis. I'm all too familiar with the saying that there's a reason the word "analyze" begins with "anal."

Anyway, that's exactly what I did with this book. I can't say it's the most edifying, most enlightning, best written, or even funniest book I've ever read. But I couldn't rate it anything lower because it was all of the four adjectives above, in different ways, and because it was the catalyst for something I haven't done in a long time: a whole weekend of reading a single (fiction) book.

I was visiting my parents this weekend and just happened to see it in the "new paperback" section at the local bookstore. On a whim, I bought it, though it's nothing like my usual reading material, and in two days, I devoured it. It's amazing. It never made me scream with laughter, like Bridget Jones' Diary did, but it kept me laughing quietly throughout pretty much the whole thing. It didn't make me cry, like The Thornbirds did (numerous times), but I did feel real sadness at the pitfalls of Lisa's (and Eben's) life. It DID totally involve me in the character's lives, to the point where my mother's polite inquiries (would you like some coffee, dear?) made me snap at her for interrupting. Then of course I felt guilty, but before I could analyze that I was back in Lisa's apartment, listening to one of her wild conversations with her hilarious gay cousin.

The bottom line here is that it's a slice of a poignant, strange, dirty, joyful, sarcastic reality that demands your entire attention -- not because it's one of those impossible Conrad-esque jungles of intellectual revelations (hardly!), but because it's just so damn interesting, not to mention a little bit naughty and a whole lot of fun. I couldn't put it down, and that is a rarity for me. I highly recommend PINK SLIP, and I can't wait to read Rita Ciresi's other work.

Rating:
Summary: Love, work, and its wonderful complications
Review: I had seen this book MANY times in various book stores and never picked it up thinking it that it would be the same premise over and over and over again. Then, on a layover in Charlotte, I picked it up again and said, okay...go for it. I did. And granted, although it was the same thing over and over I found warmth in these characters. It seemed hard to believe that our heroine was a mere 25 years old as she acted more like 35. It seemed hard to believe that she would be promoted to such a high position in her company after such a short tenure. It seemed hard to believe that all of this was happening. BUT(!) it was still engrossing. You pull for this relationship because you want her to be happy. Because Eben Strauss might actually be good for her. Because you want to believe that love does conquer all. Pink Slip was an adorable read full of family complications and love entanglements which despite (in my opinion) some pretty unorthodox plot twists shines through with a true story of love, friendship, the office, and how any two of those things shouldn't be combined.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best I've read so far!
Review: I have to say that this book is so incredible, that I would read it again. Rita Ciresi created the main character, Lisa, in a truely honest manner. I could really relate to Lisa. The pure honesty of this book is what sucked me in. I was laughing out loud on the plane! I cried, too. I found myself really rooting for Lisa to find herself and to succeed in her life. I became emotionally attached to her. I love this book because it tells a story of a "real" young woman dealing with her "real" life. This story deals with all aspects of this woman's life--not just her love life. I actually cried when I read the last paragraph because I didn't want this story to end. I recommend this to women who just don't want to read a book about a twenty-something dating, but a twenty-something experiencing the highs and lows of "real" life. A masterpiece!!!

Rating:
Summary: Distracting and delightful...
Review: I found Pink Slip to be a very enjoyable, engrossing read that was pretty well-written, interesting and had fairly well-developed characters. There's a lot of humor interspersed with some very perceptive exploration of the corporate climate, inter-office dating and family life.

The novel revolves Lisa, an Italian American whose mother has certain expectations of her, ones that she doesn't necessarily want to fill - that her sister seems to have done what her mother wants complicates the picture. And then there's her cousin, her dear friend, who doesn't really fit into the family either because he's gay. With Lisa at the center and Dodie playing a significant role, the book explores Lisa's experience as she leaves New York City for a suburban corporation where she gets involved with a co-worker who also happens to be her superior.

There's lots in the book that is funny, some that's sad and a lot that is touching. Lisa's relationship is far from perfect from the start yet the reader understands what draws her to this person, although on some levels I found her interactions with and relationship with her cousin more compelling. Many aspects of Lisa's life are explored in detail - sometimes a little overdone - there are others that are glossed over, which at times can be a little unsatisfying. On the whole, though, as light entertainment, I found Pink Slip to be a lot better than many books out there and would recommend it without hesitation to anyone looking for a fun, distracting read.