Rating: 
Summary: Interesting.....
Review: I have just put down Rita Ciresi's Pink Slip, after reading it from cover to cover. The book is insightful and very engaging. However, I found that Ciresi's character development to be a bit confusing. First of all, the main character, Lisa, has a very close relationship with her cousin, Dodie. Dodie happens to be gay, and although the book seems to have been written rather recently, the use of stereotypes and cliches centered on homosexuality is rampant. Furthermore, Lisa, our protagonist, has recently cleaned up her act, after years of promiscuity and drug abuse. However, we are never really given the reason for her conversion. Ciresi also makes it hard for us to believe that such an intelligent, outspoken woman as Lisa is so incredibly uncomfortable and unsure of herself. How can one be so opinionated and outspoken if one has no confidence in their own beliefs?
Rating: 
Summary: I love it
Review: I absolutly love this book. At firt, when I began reading it I wasn't sure if I would like it because it's a bit confusing at first: there a lot of related memories mixed with the actual events but once you read the first 30 pages I assure you that you won't be able to put that book down. I like it so much that when I realizes that I just had 6 pages left before i finish it, I was disappointed! I didn't want it to end! I love how she decisbed her family. Even if i'm not from an italian-american family, I relate to Lisa - the heroin. I laugh when she talk about her mother. Lisa is kind like me: at 25, she's still not married! Has no children! Lives in a big city -new york in her case- Rarely goes to church! She has a job she hate but then all of sudden, she get a job at a pharmaceuticals company where she edits brochure and where she also write a novel. And then, she falls in love with her boss, a guy who is exactly her opposite. I cannot say more, go and read the book.
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Summary: Corporate romance in the 80's
Review: This is the first book that I've read by Rita Ciresi, though I know that she's written a few. I liked this book, in fact it reminded me of Bridget Jones. Lonely, single, twenty something female who is looking for love and falls for her boss. I think that this book actually read better than Bridget Jones' Diary though. I found myself laughing out loud at some of her antics and the scene with the blow up security doll was a hoot! Like several other readers however I felt that there were too many subplots. There was almost too much going on, for example, with her sister and brother-in-law, the whole background history of the holocaust with Eben, her lesbian boss and the story that revolved around her. While it was all interesting to read, I just don't think that it all came together too well. The story itself centres on Lisa, a corporate employee who is from an Italian Catholic family and how she's looking for love in all of the wrong places. Her closest ally and confidant is her gay cousin Dodie, who has his own issues and ordeals to face. Lisa falls in love with her straight-laced boss, Eben Strauss. I just didn't see them as a couple though. Lisa is a very direct individual who has no trouble speaking her mind while Eben is the one who always follows the rules and doesn't like to stray from the norm. In any case, they begin to see each other and have to find a way to keep it from everyone at work. Eventually the problems between the two take their toll on the relationship and things go very wrong for everyone involved. I think that the book would have been more interesting and humourous if we had seen more of Lisa and her interactions with her family. These were some of the best moments in the book. It was entertaining to see Lisa deal with the pull of the inescapable bond with her family and her more modern ideals of what a real 80's woman should be. All in all, an enjoyable summer read.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Pink Slip is a great book to lose yourself in. Lisa is a woman who knows what she wants...sometimes. She is a fun character who gets herself into situations I have often found myself in...embarassing. She is honest, witty, and outspoken. All of these things make for an interesting story about her ventures as a novelist, her falling in love, and her trip into the world of corporate life! Definitely a must read!
Rating:
Summary: good beach read
Review: I read this in one weekend on the beach. It's not a very intellectual read by any stretch of the imagination, and the language grated on my nerves at certain points (like every single time the lead character's boyfriend called her "Liser" instead of "Lisa"). I wish that Dodie, Lisa's cousin, had had a bigger role in the book, especially since he's jacked up to be so much more than what he was. BUT, that said... I wouldn't necessarily BUY this if I were you, but ask around and see if someone will lend it to you. Definitely worth a look.
Rating:
Summary: Sexy and Full of Humor
Review: I truly loved this book. I must have read it (cover - to - cover) in less than 6 hours. This is certainly my idea of a great weekend. I found this wonderful tale of young Lisa Diodetto's life a bit too like looking in the mirror. God Forbid that we both be unmarried and without children at age 25. Her bold and brash changes serve as a wonderful vehicle for this crafty story. I read a review that said, "This is Jane Austen in New York at the end of the 20th century"... how true. I'm a faithful Austen girl - and I would certainly see glimpses of my "religion". It's a great book with loads of charm and humor. And, a bit naughty too... You just can't go wrong.
Rating:
Summary: A little too long, but exceptionally well written
Review: This book seemed to go on forever. Ciresi is an incredibly adept writer, but for some reason there just seemed to be too much of it. I found it very hard to be sympathetic to Lisa--her reckless and self-destructive behavior was just plain annoying by the end. However, it is an insightful glimpse at a 20-something during the 80's. The front cover copy is misleading though, as it makes the book sound as if it about Lisa and her overbearing mother. That is a part of the story, but not the most important part. Overall, and enjoyable read.
Rating: 
Summary: Pass this one up
Review: This book was a major dissapointment. The review on the back stated that Rita Ciresi was a modern day Jane Austen. I have read all of Jane Austen's stories and this was nothing like it. This novel was devoid of all the charming wit and humor in Jane Austen's novel. The plot wandered, and the characters were unsympathetic; after all, who wants to read about a girl who's problem is she works-out too much and is too skinny?
Rating:
Summary: The main character is so detestable, she ruins the novel
Review: Rita Ciresi's writing style cannot really be faulted. She writes with a witty, clear pen. However, what she creates amounts to 400 pages of wasted time. Lisa is a truly loathesome character. The reader is confronted with a young woman with no self-respect; she is someone who never feels sorry for her actions, but always feels sorry for herself when faced with the consequences. She is surrounded by stock characters--her stuffy lover, her gay cousin, her lesbian boss, her Italian mother. Don't waste your time.
Rating:
Summary: delicious and heartwarming
Review: although there were periods of boring passages, i found this book to be sweet and romantic and appealing. i cried over Dodie and i loved the characters, even though the romance between Strauss seemed predictable to me from the moment he was introduced. but altogether, i love this story!
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