Smart Women

Rating:
Summary: Much better...
Review: After getting over my distress from reading Wifey, which creeped me out more than any other book ever, this helped me feel more sane again. This book was much better than Wifey in my opinion. It's fast moving and the characters are well developed and the story seems realistic. There's no second guessing as to whether the story could possible occur. You can accept what is written at face value.

Rating:
Summary: Not one of Blume's Finest Novels
Review: Although I enjoyed Summer Sisters, I was completely disappointed in this particular book by Ms. Blume. All the characters were disfunctional and not very appealing. If you must read this book, save your money and check it out from the library.

Rating:
Summary: Not one of Blume's Finest Novels
Review: Although this book is enjoyable, the women in it definitely aren't very smart. They are way too concerned about finding a man and not concerned enough about raising their children. Margo, for example, asks her boyfriend- who also happens to be the ex of one of her friends and has a daughter of his own- to move in with her after only a few months of dating! Even without all the extra complications it is not very "smart" to move in with someone after so short a period of time. And meanwhile, her teenage daughter Michelle is getting involved with one of her many no-good ex-flings- right under her own roof (literally)- and she does almost nothing to intervene. Meanwhile, the another "smart" woman, B.B., marries a guy she is only lukewarm about, while our third Mensa candidate Clare takes back her ex, the jerk who left her to run off with a "donut". Better to be in a bad relationship than to be alone? I don't mean to sound too harsh- this book is actually entertaining- the women just aren't smart. The author was very successful in writing about the same situation from different characters' points of view.

Rating:
Summary: Not so smart women
Review: I gave this book four stars because it is a good read. The kind of book you can sit and read on the beach or a plane ride and not get bored. But, I must say the title "Smart Women" is not appropriate at all! I spent the whole book marveling at how dumb these women really are. The only females in the book who were smart were Margo's daughter and her boyfriends daughter. The adults are truly lacking. I could not believe that a woman in her 40's would have a boyfriend of two months move in with her and her teenage children simply because his lease was up. The other women in the book are just as desperate and live their lives in accordance to men just as Margo does, sleeping with whoever came their way. The teenage characters are truly the most interesting in the book. The story is flawed but Judy Blume is as ususal able to keep me engrossed.

Rating:
Summary: Take me back
Review: I was a member of the book of the month club once, which was responsible for me owning some notable hardcover books, and I doubt if anyone actually read any of them more than the number of people who read my copy of SMART WOMEN by Judy Blume. I thought of it today because I was trying to think of a euphemism for the one word I never say in a review, which comes down to a simple summary of the plot of this book, if you are familiar with the Loving Spoonful song `Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?' as it relates to the problem of one guy choosing between two women, only the song was about sisters and the plot in this novel is mother-daughter romantic disaster. This book clings to the mind, even while you are reading it, because it attempts to examine the kind of problems that just get worse when you are growing old and can't go back and be absolutely devastating like the famous old philosophers expected their students to be eventually. Students? I can't believe I actually said that. If this book is about learning something, most reviewers seem like the kind of people who don't want to know.

Rating:
Summary: Like revisiting an old friend
Review: Reading Smart Women is like catching up with an old friend you haven't seen in a while--Judy Blume. If you, like me grew up reading Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret and Forever, and loved those books, then you will love Smart Women. Judy Blume's writing style is so fabulous, so comfortable. There is no one else writing like her today. This is a terrific book about contemporary women and the crises they face after divorce, and, as with all other Judy Blume books, she does not disappoint. Enjoy this one, it is so easy to read, yet it's not "light reading" because it makes you think.

Rating:
Summary: Smart Women
Review: The title of this book is all wrong. Rather than make the women in this book appear smart, Judy Blume has done an excellent job of making the women weak and stupid.

Why must Margo's self esteem be associated with having a man in her life? And to allow her friend's ex-husband move in with her? Is there no honor among women? Oh, but, she justifies it by saying that "he makes her feel good".

B.B. has a nervous breakdown - more like post-traumatic stress disorder, but not before she marries a dude old enough to be her kid's Grandpa. (She can't stand to be alone!)

Claire takes back the jerk who left her for a fling with another women. And he still doesn't seem very sincere about being with her.

Can't these women see that their children should come first? Second should be their own self-dependence. Take care of the children and then make a stable home life before you start trolling around for a man.

These women are not Smart Women, they are just plain S-T-U-P-I-D!

Rating:
Summary: judy's best one yet
Review: this is my second time reading Smart Women. i love this book and i love the characters. i wish judy blume would write more adult novels. i can't wait to read summer sisters.