Simplest-shop.comonline shopping, the simple way |
Welcome | Help  |
| Search for |
|
Home > Books > Be Single Novel
This website will be shutdown on 2008-04-01.
|
 Add to shopping cart |
How to Be Single: A Novel | |||||||
 
| 60% Recommended by our customers. Publisher: Atria Catalog: Book Release date: 2008-06-10 Media: Hardcover Number of pages: 368 Ean: 9781416534129 Book Isbn: 1416534121  Tip: compare prices with similar booksAuthor:
|
| |||||
| Top stores | Description | Price | Link to shop |
| amazon.com |
Availability: in 24 hours Current discount:28% off !! |
$17.72 | |
| used | 31 used offers, as low as... | $6.25 | see more used offers |
| all new | 40 thirdParty new offers, as low as... | $7.00 | see more ThirdParty new offers |
| Professional Review: |
|
It's the most annoying question and they just can't help asking you. You'll be asked it at family gatherings, weddings, and on first dates. And you'll ask yourself far too often. It's the question that has no good answer. It's the question that when people stop asking it, makes you feel even worse: Why are you single? On a brisk October morning in New York, Julie Jenson, a single thirty-eight-yearold book publicist, is on her way to work when she gets a hysterical phone call from her friend Georgia. Reeling from her husband's announcement that he is leaving her for a samba teacher, Georgia convinces a reluctant Julie to organize a fun girls' night out with all their single friends to remind her why it is so much fun not to be tied down. But the night, which starts with steaks and martinis and ends with a trip to the hospital, becomes a wake-up call for Julie. Because none of her friends seems to be having much fun right now: Alice, a former legal aid attorney, has recently quit her job to start dating for a living; Serena is so busy becoming a fully realized person that she can't find time to look for a mate; and Ruby, a curvy and compassionate woman, has been mourning the death of her cat for months. So, fed up with the dysfunction and disappointments of being single in Manhattan, Julie quits her job and sets off to find out how women around the world are dealing with this dreaded phenomenon. From Paris to Rio to Sydney, Bali, Beijing, Mumbai, and Reykjav'k, Julie falls in love, gets her heart broken, sees the world, and learns more than she ever dreamed possible. Back in New York, her friends are grappling with their own issues -- bad blind dates, loveless engagements, custody battles, and single motherhood. Through their journeys, all these women fight to redefine their vision of love, happiness, and a fulfilled life. Written in Liz Tuccillo's pitch-perfect, hilarious, and relatable voice, How to Be Single is the ultimate novel for the adventurer in us all. |
| User Reviews: |
 Written on July 21, 2008 Summary: HOW TO BE SINGLE will appeal both to fans of Carrie & Co. and to readers looking for their own answers to that question. "Why are you still single?" Thirty-eight-year-old Julie Jensen is really tired of that question. The problem for Julie is that no one --- not meddling aunts, not well-meaning strangers --- wants to know the answer more than Julie herself. Attractive, fit, kindhearted, with a good job and a fabulous New York City life, Julie would seem to be any man's prize. But yet, she's still single. So are her friends Alice, Ruby and Serena. Even her formerly married friend Georgia is single again. Is there something wrong with these women? Or are they just dealing with a phenomenon that plagues millions of women around the country? Where are all the decent men? Julie's friend Alice is so desperate to find one that she's quit her successful job in order to devote herself full-time to pursuing love. But, when disappointment follows disappointment in this guerilla dating mentality, Alice resolves merely to settle for the next guy who comes along --- regardless of whether she's head over heels in love. Will compromising her ideal of romantic love and undying passion result in long-term happiness for Alice? Ruby is mourning the death of her beloved cat, so much so that she's having a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. But her grief over a lost pet is nothing compared to how she deals with bad break-ups --- which have been so devastating that she is reluctant even to try dating again. Can she find love when she's having a hard time even being happy with herself? Serena has outright renounced her desire for love, even going so far as to take a vow of chastity and become a yoga swami. After a series of betrayals and losses, though, will Serena close herself off to love forever? Or will she finally realize what she's been missing all along? Georgia thought she was happily married with two children --- until her husband left her for a nubile young samba instructor. Now she's determined to get back into the swing of dating and not let Julie's dating horror stories ruin her optimistic approach toward finding love again. But after a series of dating mishaps results in near-disaster for Georgia's family life, will she give up on ever re-achieving happiness? As for Julie, a completely disastrous girls' night out provides the much-needed impetus for her to quit her job, buy a round-the-world plane ticket, and pitch the idea of a self-help book about how women the world over deal with being single. While she's busy jetting from France and Italy to Brazil, Bali, Australia and India, searching for answers, her friends (none of whom knew each other previously) are forging their own bonds, making their own mistakes and finding out for themselves how to be single. Liz Tuccillo, who was one of the co-authors of the phenomenally successful book HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU, clearly understands the self-help market. Despite several snarky asides about the monotony of self-help tomes marketed to single women, Tuccillo often relies on their language to make her points: "We have our jobs and our friends and our passions and our churches and our gyms and yet we still can't escape our essential nature of needing to be loved and feel close to another human being. How do we keep going when that's not what life has given to us?" Particularly when Julie analyzes the cultural and romantic mores of other nations, some readers may feel that they're reading another how-to book rather than a cohesive novel. Many more, however, will respond both to Julie's own revelations as well as the combination of self-awareness and gal-pal bonding that characterizes her friends' stories. Tuccillo also clearly owes a debt to "Sex and the City." With her analytical eye for male-female relations and her gift for bringing together disparate personalities into a unified "girl posse," Julie Jensen is a veritable Carrie Bradshaw. Filled with the glamorous details of living and loving in Manhattan but tempered with thoughtful reflection and a realistic but hopeful outlook, HOW TO BE SINGLE will appeal both to fans of Carrie & Co. and to readers looking for their own answers to that question. --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl  Written on July 18, 2008 Summary: Barely through... Oh, my good heavens. I'm going to make this brief, but first-off, what's with the 5-star reviews? I'm ALMOST finished with the book and the only reason I'm going to finish it is because I want to see what the point was. Julie's whole trip overseas could have been accomplished in about a chapter. I found the 'Back in the States' parts far more entertaining, and I'm using the word 'entertaining' lightly. I think a few of the characters/scenes were pretty unbelievable, and yes, I know this is fiction, but shouldn't there be elements of truth? I also found nuances of Sex and the City littered throughout the book which was disappointing. I'm an AVID book reader and this is an interesting concept, without an enjoyable climax. I urge anyone to buy a used copy, if you absolutely have to read this, or buy it new and keep your receipt. You'll need it.  Written on July 17, 2008 Summary: So Realistic! This was such a good book; I couldn't put it down! And it was just like watching an episode of Sex and the City (albeit a pretty long one). I've already loaned it out twice and plan on reading it again and again... :) ENJOY!  Written on July 11, 2008 Summary: Let down This book only had a few marginal good spots (the intro about people asking "why are you single" is probably the highlight of the book...its downhill from there). It does do a good job of sharing insights that only a single woman over 35 would understand, but I kept thinking that this book was too similar to "Eat, Pray, Love" or "Chasing Harry Winston" both of which I didn't really care for. The characters seem to think that if they just take their lives on the road, things will be better--but if drinking in bars and hitting the club scene wasn't working for them in New York, then it isn't going to be any better in Italy, China, Bali, India or Australia. Really, sleeping with married men, one-night stands, hiring a prostitute, using narcotics w/o a prescription...what part of these women's lives is put together? It also seemed like there were a few too many women in the group...hard to keep track of who was who and which sad life belonged to whom. I generally read books for lighthearted entertainment and that leave me with a good sense that everything is going to be "happy ever after"--this book did not leave me with a sense of closure or that any of the characters were going to get what they wanted (seriously, after everything that they go through they end up right back in the club scene in New York...and this is somehow supposed to lead them somewhere different this time?) I certainly hope other single women don't think that this is way to be single. The author uses the f-word liberally and writes in a couple of sex scenes. Written on July 10, 2008 Summary: A Fabulous LOL Read! This book was hysterical. The cover was appealling, other than the girl on the front cover showing bones (please, show us a real girl's back!). This novel was sheer, single girl, bliss. I had so much fun reading it and caught myself LOL in public. It reminded me of Eat, Pray, Love with more of a fun single girl twist and humor. It was fascinating to learn the single women/men cultures and not surprising to learn her lesson learned. I am anxious for her next book. |
| Comparison map |
| Wondering how the book "How to Be Single: A Novel" relates to similar books? Find out at a glance here: |
| Price comparison |
 How to Be Single: A Novel |
 Chasing Harry Winston: A Novel |
 Love the One You're With |
 Whacked |
 The Beach House |
 Certain Girls: A Novel |
| Our price | $17.72 | $17.13 | $16.47 | $16.29 | $15.63 | $17.79 |
| List price | $24.95 | $25.95 | $24.95 | $23.95 | $24.95 | $26.95 |
| Lowest used price | $6.25 | $6.95 | $9.35 | $2.90 | $8.43 | $5.45 |
| Lowest new price | $7.00 | $9.86 | $13.39 | $6.00 | $12.20 | $12.00 |
| Collectible price | - | $25.95 | $24.95 | $23.95 | $24.95 | $26.95 |
| Catalog | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book |
| Release date | 2008-06-10 | 2008-05-27 | 2008-05-13 | 2008-06-03 | 2008-06-17 | 2008-04-08 |
| Media | Hardcover | Hardcover | Hardcover | Hardcover | Hardcover | Hardcover |
| Number of pages | 368 | 288 | 342 | 304 | 352 | 400 |
| Ean | 9781416534129 | 9780743290111 | 9780312348670 | 9781602860179 | 9780670018857 | 9780743294256 |
| Book Isbn | 1416534121 | 0743290119 | 0312348673 | 1602860173 | 0670018856 | 0743294254 |
| Link to shop* (opens in a new window) | BUY IT NOW* | BUY IT NOW* | BUY IT NOW* | BUY IT NOW* | BUY IT NOW* | BUY IT NOW* |
| take one out? |
|
I am here: Home > Books > Be Single Novel
This website will be shutdown on 2008-04-01.
|
 E-mail this page |
|
About the Simplest Shop | Help | Term of Use | Privacy Policy
Home | Contact us | Bookmark us | get paid for writing |
|
Copyright Simplest-Shop.com 2004. All rights reserved |