Friday, August 31, 2007

WHAT DO YOU DO ALL DAY by Amy Scheibe


Jennifer is a stay-at-home-mom (better known as a SAHM). She used to work and she misses it--sometimes, sort of. Her husband leaves for days at a time and her mother-in-law is a monster. Her ex-boyfriend of her youth shows up, her husband's boss makes passes at her and she has a gay boyfriend. And her father admits that her step-mother is her mother but he's her step-father.

Yeah, there is a lot going on in this book, most of which is predictable and contrived. However, this is chick lit and one shouldn't expect art from such books. As I said in my earlier post, I was just look something to "bring me down" from A Thousand Splendid Suns and What Do You Do All Day fit the bill.

The story is, well, nothing fantastic. However, if this book is read as a collection of related essays or short stories without trying to impose a plot, it's actually quite entertaining. Scheibe is a good wordsmith, if not a strong plotter. Jennifer, the central SAHM, is a complex character--one to whom I think most women could relate.

I would recommend this book...just don't think too hard about it.

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