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alison_marie's review
2.0
I liked parts of it, but I found it to be disjointed. I would have preferred if Dana wrote short essays instead of trying to make it one continuous arc.
sheila_p's review against another edition
2.0
I had a really hard time with this book, it is so full of cliches and caricatures. He loses his religion, she finds it and they make fun of each other, evoking every possible stereotype in the process. There were some heartwarming moments, enough that I finished the book, not enough that I would recommend the book.
jrobinw's review
4.0
I loved this book. It's a fun read. Dana's writing is beautiful one moment and humorous the next. While there are not earth-shattering discoveries in the book, it is still a worthwhile read for those of us who have been disenchanted by organized religion. The story also gives insight to those who have been so captivated by religion that we shut our eyes to the beauty of others.
jaclynday's review
2.0
This memoir of an occasionally hard-partying, fashion-obsessed Manhattan woman who relocates to the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn after a break-up to become the platonic roommate of a jujtisu-studying Hasidic Russian rabbi named Cosmo seems like a good premise, right? What’s not to like?
For some reason, I could not get through this book. I have a new policy about putting books aside if I’m not feeling them—something I didn’t do for a very, very long time. Despite that policy, I stuck this one out. I kept telling myself that I must be missing something. It was named an Amazon best book of the month in January, it’s been reviewed by several dozen major publications, I’ve seen it on several “must read” lists and yet…I really didn’t care for it.
As a story of self-discovery and a narrative about the intersection of the secular and the very religious in modern society, it is mildly successful. All the parts that make for a good book are there. Dana is a good, technical writer. She was living an interesting life. Where did this book go wrong? Why did every page feel interminable and why did I wake up each morning with no recollection of anything I read the night before? It’s an utterly forgettable book.
It’s clear that Dana was constructing a hybrid of many recently popular types of books. There is an Eat, Pray, Love-ish sense of narcissism, a Wild bit of introspection, and of course, a healthy dose of Sex and the City-ish stereotypes just to round everything out. It’s ironic that without Cosmo’s presence she’d have little to no material at all (let alone a catchy title), but he doesn’t appear often in the book. When he does, he feels one-dimensional. His jujitsu-studying is mentioned off-hand. He’s as flat as a pancake, but then again, so is Dana. I didn’t care much about any of them and I read the last page not caring that it was ending. It’s not a bad book. It’s not a great book. It’s not even a good book or an okay book or a so-so book. I’m totally indifferent and I think that’s probably worse than hating it.
For some reason, I could not get through this book. I have a new policy about putting books aside if I’m not feeling them—something I didn’t do for a very, very long time. Despite that policy, I stuck this one out. I kept telling myself that I must be missing something. It was named an Amazon best book of the month in January, it’s been reviewed by several dozen major publications, I’ve seen it on several “must read” lists and yet…I really didn’t care for it.
As a story of self-discovery and a narrative about the intersection of the secular and the very religious in modern society, it is mildly successful. All the parts that make for a good book are there. Dana is a good, technical writer. She was living an interesting life. Where did this book go wrong? Why did every page feel interminable and why did I wake up each morning with no recollection of anything I read the night before? It’s an utterly forgettable book.
It’s clear that Dana was constructing a hybrid of many recently popular types of books. There is an Eat, Pray, Love-ish sense of narcissism, a Wild bit of introspection, and of course, a healthy dose of Sex and the City-ish stereotypes just to round everything out. It’s ironic that without Cosmo’s presence she’d have little to no material at all (let alone a catchy title), but he doesn’t appear often in the book. When he does, he feels one-dimensional. His jujitsu-studying is mentioned off-hand. He’s as flat as a pancake, but then again, so is Dana. I didn’t care much about any of them and I read the last page not caring that it was ending. It’s not a bad book. It’s not a great book. It’s not even a good book or an okay book or a so-so book. I’m totally indifferent and I think that’s probably worse than hating it.
becksbestbooks's review
2.0
While some of the episodes are funny, as a whole I found the book disjointed and choppy.
sbaunsgard's review
3.0
A memoir of an atheist woman who loves Sex and the City who moves to Crown Heights to live with an Orthodox rabbi who's doubting that he wants to be Jewish while she gets over a breakup. Less funny than I thought, but not in a bad way. It's a melancholy book. Every once in a while there's a really beautifully written paragraph that makes it completely worth reading. There's some of that same relatable/unrelatable quality that Joan Didion has in The Year of Magical Thinking. Emotionally I can lock into the descriptions, but essentially, the lifestyle is very NOT ME. I prefer Didion, but this was a pretty decent read, once I got into the meat of it. Also, it took about 75 pages to get to the compelling part of the book (where Eeyore appears.)
pennydaniels's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting philosophy on life, however I found myself wishing for the end so I could move on to something new. Guess I didn't like it that much!
florinereads's review against another edition
2.0
I was expecting something funnier, with a more detailed relationship between the rabbi & the blonde.
It is really more about the author's journey after a breakup, thinking about life, future, how to cope & what to do with her life. I wanted more of the relationship with Cosmo, and felt short-changed a little.
It is really more about the author's journey after a breakup, thinking about life, future, how to cope & what to do with her life. I wanted more of the relationship with Cosmo, and felt short-changed a little.
blueranger9's review against another edition
2.0
The best way I can describe what it felt like to read this book is, "...like trying to find meaning in a Pauly Shore movie." Rebecca Dana's chronology of her personal evolution, (if it can really be called that), started off with so much promise and ended so anticlimactically that I sat on the train going, "That's it?"
To sum it up: meh.
To sum it up: meh.