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A review by khornstein1
Alternate Side by Anna Quindlen
2.0
Well this was disappointing. I usually love books set in New York and am tolerant of the most silly chick lit if there is a strong New York flavor.
The characters are believable--but also unbelievably dull. And unlikable--by their own admission, the "upstairs" characters are mostly concerned with "first world problems;" the "downstairs" ones are stereotypes. Charlie can't get a promotion. Nora doesn't really like him, but can't say why.
The central drama of the story, which seems to me like Quindlen wanted to write her own "Bonfire of the Vanities," quickly fizzles out and goes no where.
That said, there are two books hidden in this novel that might really have been interesting: Nora talks about how her mother died suddenly when she was a child and then her father married her sister's second grade teacher and it was both weird and wonderful. That's a book! And then she had a long-term relationship with a boy in college who turned out to be gay, back in a more closeted earlier time...and weirdly she's still a bit caught up in that old drama, and he with her. That's a story!
And there are pugs--3 of them, rescue pugs owned the books supposedly most despicable character. And Quindlen disses them. Ugh. I love pugs! The George character could have been interesting too but it went nowhere again!
Full confession: listened on audiobook and found the narrator grating. I had liked "A Short Guide to a Happy Life" years ago. This book was a downer and a snooze.
The characters are believable--but also unbelievably dull. And unlikable--by their own admission, the "upstairs" characters are mostly concerned with "first world problems;" the "downstairs" ones are stereotypes. Charlie can't get a promotion. Nora doesn't really like him, but can't say why.
The central drama of the story, which seems to me like Quindlen wanted to write her own "Bonfire of the Vanities," quickly fizzles out and goes no where.
That said, there are two books hidden in this novel that might really have been interesting: Nora talks about how her mother died suddenly when she was a child and then her father married her sister's second grade teacher and it was both weird and wonderful. That's a book! And then she had a long-term relationship with a boy in college who turned out to be gay, back in a more closeted earlier time...and weirdly she's still a bit caught up in that old drama, and he with her. That's a story!
And there are pugs--3 of them, rescue pugs owned the books supposedly most despicable character. And Quindlen disses them. Ugh. I love pugs! The George character could have been interesting too but it went nowhere again!
Full confession: listened on audiobook and found the narrator grating. I had liked "A Short Guide to a Happy Life" years ago. This book was a downer and a snooze.