Worth wading through the tears for the generous helping of Daisy Dooley wisdom.
Self-help junkie comes to terms with her divorce.
Daisy knew she married the wrong man. It was obvious, yet rather than trust her instincts, she forged ahead with her marriage plans to avoid becoming that desperate cliché—a desperate-for-babies career gal in her late 30s. A few years into her painfully dull marriage, Daisy has the courage to get out and try again. Don’t be mistaken by this one heroic act. Daisy isn’t naturally prone to action. To the contrary, after she leaves her husband, Daisy enjoys a nice long pity party held at her mother’s country digs. Besides her tireless mum, Daisy relies on her two closest pals, Jess and Lucy, to help mend her wounds and to listen to her ramblings. Be prepared for the tear fest that ensues as Daisy performs a postmortem on her marriage. Things appear pretty gloomy for this jobless divorcee as she prepares to re-enter the dating pool. Cue more floodworks when Daisy has a disastrous first “PPD” (post-divorce date). It gets so bad that readers stand the chance of drowning in Daisy’s misery and misfortune. But Pasternak (Princess in Love, 1994) gets things moving again. Daisy lands a job and starts revamping her love life. Reinventing herself as a self-help guru, she garners attention from book lovers and publishers as she helps London’s singles mend their hearts. Romantically, things start to look up when Daisy reconnects with Julius, her lifelong love. But don’t wait for the neat and tidy happy ending. Pasternak’s second novel is an unexpected treat: Daisy challenges everyone in her orbit to embrace living in the moment and to let go of expectations.
Worth wading through the tears for the generous helping of Daisy Dooley wisdom.Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-446-17794-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: 5 Spot/Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In his quest for easy moolah, Owen learns that the road to financial solvency can be rocky and fraught with work. Greene (Owen Foote, Soccer Star, 1998, etc.) touches upon the often-thorny issue of chores and allowances: Owen’s mom wants him to help out because he’s part of the family and not just for the money—while Owen wants the money without having to do tedious household chores. This universal dilemma leaves Owen without funds and eagerly searching for ways to make a quick buck. His madcap schemes range from original—a “free” toilet demonstration that costs 50 cents—to disastrous, as during the trial run of his children’s fishing video, Owen ends up hooking his ear instead of a trout. Enlisting the aid of his stalwart, if long-suffering, friend Joseph, the two form a dog-walking club that becomes vastly restricted in clientele after Owen has a close encounter with an incontinent, octogenarian canine. Ultimately, Owen learns a valuable lesson about work and money when an unselfish action is generously rewarded. These sudden riches motivate Owen to consider wiser investments for his money than plastic vomit. Greene’s crisp writing style and wry humor is on-target for young readers. Brief chapters revolving around a significant event or action and fast pacing are an effective draw for tentative readers. Weston’s (Space Guys!, p. 392, etc.) black-and-white illustrations, ranging in size from quarter- to full-page, deftly portray Owen’s humorous escapades. A wise, witty addition to Greene’s successful series. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2000
ISBN: 0-618-02369-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
A presold prefab blockbuster, what with King's Carrie hitting the moviehouses, Salem's Lot being lensed, The Shining itself sold to Warner Bros. and tapped as a Literary Guild full selection, NAL paperback, etc. (enough activity to demand an afterlife to consummate it all).
The setting is The Overlook, a palatial resort on a Colorado mountain top, snowbound and closed down for the long, long winter. Jack Torrance, a booze-fighting English teacher with a history of violence, is hired as caretaker and, hoping to finish a five-act tragedy he's writing, brings his wife Wendy and small son Danny to the howling loneliness of the half-alive and mad palazzo. The Overlook has a gruesome past, scenes from which start popping into the present in various suites and the ballroom. At first only Danny, gifted with second sight (he's a "shiner"), can see them; then the whole family is being zapped by satanic forces. The reader needs no supersight to glimpse where the story's going as King's formula builds to a hotel reeling with horrors during Poesque New Year's Eve revelry and confetti outta nowhere....
Back-prickling indeed despite the reader's unwillingness at being mercilessly manipulated.
Pub Date: Jan. 28, 1976
ISBN: 0385121679
Page Count: 453
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1976
PERSPECTIVES
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