BOOK REVIEW: "Pink Slip"

Pink Slip

By Rita Ciresi

Copyright 1999

Delacorte Press

Adult Fiction

2.5 Bookmarks

I swear this book felt like it was written in the 1980s.  I just looked up the copyright and couldn't believe it's only 13 years old!  The style of the book seemed really old-fashioned.  And it didn't help that some of the mentions in the book (World Trade Center Towers, certain medicines, etc.) seemed so out of touch with today. 

The story begins with Lisa Diodetto deciding she needs a fresh start.  She's tired of her mother trying to marry her off to every eligible bachelor around, and she is very unhappy with her editing job and postage stamp-sized apartment in the city.  So she moves to a smaller town and gets a new job at a pharmaceutical company. 

Lisa doesn't intend to, but ends up in love with her boss (Yes, you are correct.  Uh Oh).  While Lisa is dealing with the secrecy involved in her relationship, she gets some very bad news from her cousin which threatens to end her relationship with the bossman.  Drama ensues. 

Other than the aforementioned oddities related to being able to accurately picture the timeframe of the story, it was a somewhat decent read.  Sort of entertaining, although there wasn't much left up to the imagination.  And, frankly, it just never seemed to really get going for me. 

I really enjoyed one of the author's other books (Remind Me Again Why I Married You, reviewed HERE, which involves the same characters a few years down the road), so it was a bit disappointing that this one seemed so blah.  If you want to meet the characters from the beginning, this is the one to read.  But I do really think this author gets better with age.

BOOK REVIEW: "Remind Me Again Why I Married You"

Remind Me Again Why I Married You
By Rita Ciresi
Bantam Dell/Random House Publishers
Copyright 2003
Adult Fiction
4 Bookmarks

A funny title for a funny book. Lisa Strauss thinks she’s a writer, although she must pretend to be a suitable corporate wife for her husband’s business associates. Lisa struggles to come up with interesting writing material since her world consists mainly of cooking, cleaning and other stay-at-home-mom duties. Soon Lisa turns to Eben, her husband of five years, and begins to write detail after thinly-veiled detail and weaves a tale that eventually becomes the book Lisa had always wanted to write.

Lisa wants so much from life, but feels trapped in a moment, a moment where she must be mother, supporting wife, cook, housekeeper and more. Lisa hides in her writings and draws a portrait of her fears with words. She lives and breathes, like any normal woman would, and like many of us, she wants more out of life than what she has.

Ciresi’s writing style is witty and lively. The description of the character’s mundane life made me laugh on numerous occasions. I could easily compare certain moments in the book to things I’ve experienced in my own life, and it made it very easy to relate to the character.

In the end though, Lisa finds happiness in her existence and with her family, and even finds some success with her passion for words.

A good read.