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Fromage de Jour
Posted by Lisa
on
9:39 PM
in
book review
Yes I admit it, I read chick-lit. No, it's not all I read, but sometimes, such as the times when you're a little under the weather, you're looking for something to amuse and entertain without much effort on your part. For me, chick-lit does just the trick.
There's only one problem with this little equation, and that's the fact that when I am sick, I become extremely emotionally vulnerable. Which means that these silly little books often make me cry. And by often I mean always. And by cry, I mean gut-wrenching sobs. By all accounts it's not pretty.
The fromage de jour yesterday was a cute little story about three friends, all with different attitudes about relationships, and all suffering from her own individual issues. They make a pact over a year to drastically change their lives, and though they fail to meet the goals they originally set for themselves their attempts to change ultimately make them happier. I couldn't remember the title if my life depended on it (Chasing Harry Winston - I just found it in my bed!) but it was written by the same woman who brought us the literary classic The Devil Wears Prada.
By all English teacher standards it was a terrible book. But by chick-lit standards I really enjoyed it. I laughed, I cried, and I barely noticed the bloody nose I gave myself from too much nose blowing. But as entertaining as it was, something about it really bothered me. In the final chapters, the serial-monogamist girl who takes a job touring the world looking for serving ideas for the restaurant she works for and vows to sleep with a different man on every continent she visits ends up running into the guy who "rejected" her in Paris while in a bar in L.A. only to find out he:
a) Actually didn't reject her, but left her a note that was never delivered to her by the hotel staff
b) Was visiting L.A. but had just moved to New York (which is conveniently where she was also living)
c) Was just about to leave the bar to go do "night duty" at his brother's place watching his new nephew so his brother and wife could get some rest (her last boyfriend, a jerk of course, had left her because he didn't want kids and she did)...
...ok, I'm going to pause here while you take that all in, because it's quite a lot to absorb.
All good?
Ok, so anyway, I know we all love a good happy ending, but really, this was pushing it. Also, part of the point was for this girl to realize she could be happy without a man, so she realizes it and then 5 minutes later this new, independent her finds the perfect man? I know I'm not the most idealistic person, but come on, even a dreamer with her head in the clouds knows life doesn't work like this. It just doesn't!
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