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Title: I Don't Know How She Does It by ALLISON PEARSON ISBN: 0-375-71375-1 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 26 August, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.81 (246 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: I Don't Know Why She Wrote It
Comment: Having read the critical reviews which raved about this book, I must say I alternated between being amused by the witty style and good dialogue to thinking, "And how exactly is this supposed to be about an average working mom?"
Kate Reddy is a London-based hedge fund manager, married, two kids aged 6 & 1, with a nanny and an incompetent cleaning lady. Her job requires her to jet all over the Western world at the drop of a hat, work late hours, miss all those important "mom times". She spends most of the book whining about how she wants to spend more time with her husband and kids, meanwhile she is enjoying the power and status her job gives her. Where I had a problem is feeling like she was a sympathetic character. I, too, am a working mom. I also work in a very male dominated field, where taking time for your kids if you are a woman means you are weak. I have three kids to her two, one with special needs. My husband is like most modern men, far less incompetent than those we see in sitcoms or read about in books like this one. He can actually hold down the fort for weeks at a time if need be and does all sorts of things around the house, all the time, without being asked, and does them well(!). No, he is not a saint. He's just a partner, not an idiot.
I kept wanting to give Kate a swift kick in the [rear] and say, "Quit whining, you have NOTHING to feel sorry about! What about the millions of us who cannot afford a nanny, have to drop the kids at school and day care, do the shopping, clean the house, cook, pick up after pets, take care of the garden, and somehow still find time to be a wife, and not just a working mom!"
If she's such a hot shot in the City, surely Kate could find something else to do that would allow her to put her kids to bed at night. Get off the fast track if your kids mean so much to you.
And of course that's exactly what she does in the end. She quits work. Couldn't find a happy medium there, could you, Ms. Pearson? Ah, but then in the end Kate is contemplating buying a company and . . .
I am certain millions of us who work not just to afford the finer things in life but to be able to have a house in a decent school system, a car that is reliable, and be able to pay for the music lessons, ballet, martial arts, etc., kids want to do, would LOVE to be able to step off the treadmill and be there for the kids more than we're able. Then there are those of us who enjoy what we do, want to do it, but are able to not be so obsessed with our work that we actually have time for our kids. This book was hailed to be a must-read for every working mom. Personally, it made me realize what a great job I have done of making sure the first things come first--and they aren't things found at my office.
If you're looking for a book that makes you want to slap the heroine, this is a great one. If you want to read some amusing dialogue and good writing, this works for that, too (that's why I gave it three stars). But if your working mom life is based in reality and you've already figured out that some things are more important than Success, you'll probably feel the same way I do right now--[cheated.] I was told Kate was the heroine for working mothers. I found her to be a spoiled brat.
Rating: 5
Summary: It's not my life but almost
Comment: I read it in 2 days while on a business trip away from my toddler and disabled husband. Literally could not put it down. Eye-opening look at the pressures on working women. Her internal dialogue is my internal dialogue. Her guilt is mine as well. Glad for how it ended.
Rating: 4
Summary: A guilty pleasure
Comment: I didn't want to like this book. In fact, I didn't when I first read it. However, when I got into it, I couldn't keep from giggling. While Kate is far busier (and crazier) than most working moms I know, most of us can find some aspect of her life to relate to. I was clueless about many of the "British" things, but, then, the book wasn't written for me and there were universal Mommyisms to get past any language barrier. This book won't change your life and it won't win the Nobel Peace Prize...but it is a good read. Think of Bridget Jones after she gets a husband and kids.
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Title: The Nanny Diaries: A Novel by Emma McLaughlin, Nicola Kraus ISBN: 0312291639 Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Pub. Date: 18 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Bitch in the House: 26 Women Tell the Truth About Sex, Solitude, Work, Motherhood, and Marriage by Cathi Hanauer ISBN: 0060936460 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 16 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Devil Wears Prada : A Novel by LAUREN WEISBERGER ISBN: 038550926X Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 15 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: In Her Shoes : A Novel by Jennifer Weiner ISBN: 0743418204 Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 08 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Three Junes by JULIA GLASS ISBN: 0385721420 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 22 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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