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| My Latest Grievance | 
| Author: Elinor Lipman
Publisher: Mariner Books
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $4.13
You Save: $9.82 (70%)
New (4) from $4.13
Avg. Customer Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 591879
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.4
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
ASIN: B001CB0646
Publication Date: May 8, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 27 | | NEXT » |
 Intelligent AND Fun Reading About This Quirky Family...Not just Chick Lit April 1, 2008
This was my second Lipman read. I much preferred it to The Inn At Lake Devine. After reading this book, I am going to check out all of Lipman's other novels.
I thought it was a fun and intelligently written book. I especially enjoyed reading about the liberal, politically-minded David and Aviva Hatch (who are both tenured professors and dorm houseparents), the cooky Laura Lee French (the surprise ex-wife), and the sassy and precocious Frederica Hatch (daughter of David and Aviva Hatch). As a graduate of a small, liberal arts university, I thought the Dewing College humor was right on the mark.
The book's strong points, for me, were the cleverly-drawn parallels between 1970's politics and the fictional events, the sharp and sarcastic prose (especially from daughter Frederica), and the sense of place Lipman uses to describe the setting of Dewing College (Curran dining hall, the Mary-Ruths, and even the epic snowstorm). Fun reading, but smartly done. Not just chick lit.
 Wisecracking Teen Survives Hippie Parents February 27, 2008
"I was raised in a brick dormitory at Dewing College, formerly the Mary-Ruth Dewing Academy, a finishing school best known for turning out attractive secretaries..." writes Frederica Hatch, the teenage narrator of Elinor Lipman's wryly funny My Latest Grievance (2006.) Frederica has been raised by liberal college professor parents and is just beginning to rebel against their egalitarian child rearing practises when her father's unscrupulous and melodramatic ex-wife arrives on campus to stir things up in their well-ordered lives.
Elinor Lipman is one of my favorite contemporary authors; her books are funny in an understated way, character driven, with ironic plot twists and satirical observations of modern life. If you click on the other Amazon reviews, you will find reviews that get rather defensive about why funny books can also be very good literature and why women's books can rise above chic-lit, but still be popular, and why Elinor Lipman has devoted fans but really ought to be a best-selling author and is under appreciated. And of course the nod to Jane Austen to whom all good women authors who write comedies of manners or anything close are compared. Leaving aside the defensiveness about humor and the obsession with Austen as the standard for all women's writing, you should read Lipman's books if you like a sardonic look at modern life. Readers don't have to suffer through oh-so-serious tomes to enjoy good literature. To find out more about her, read some of her essays posted on her website.
 Pretty silly September 13, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I do not think anyone would really call this book humorous. To the extent that the situation at the end is ridiculous, it is also in rather poor taste. I am referring particularly to the depiction of the Mrs. Woodbury. I think the author was attempting some kind of social criticism, but the fictional universe here lacks any underlying system of shared values. We are not likely to admire the canned liberalism and political correctness of Frederica's parents, and in any event, they are revealed to be confused about their own values. They make a big point of no religion, but then Aviva insists on observing kosher dietary rules in the cafeteria. Well, do you value this tradition or not? And Frederica herself is about as nasty a piece of work as I have encountered in fiction in quite a while. She orchestrates Laura Lee's arrival on the campus knowing that this will pain and embarrass her parents. She seems to have no feelings of sympathy or tenderness for her parents, even though they have made her the center of their universe. She is sly and manipulative of everyone she meets, including Laura Lee. Actually, Laura Lee was the only character in this novel that made any sense to me, but clearly we are not supposed to admire her. She is certainly not ever presented as glamorous, but rather sort of needy and undisciplined. I found Frederica's adolescent outrage about Laura Lee's behavior particularly obnoxious. Frederica was the one who set this big affair in motion, as Laura Lee does remind her at one point. The forced resolution removed the entire situation from any connection to a recognizable American society. In the end, there just doesn't seem to be any sense to the whole, sad, embarrassing story.
2 Stars = 5 Z's... zzzzz September 11, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was the first book of Lipman's that I read, and I bought it based on the reviews that I have read here. While everyone else seems to be big fans of her work, after reading this book I am left wondering what all the hype is about.
This book was about as satisfying as a glass of tap water. Far from being "precocious" and "witty," the narrator Frederica comes off like a garden variety brat. What exists of a plot is weak and uninteresting, and we are left to meander along with the dry, dry characters hoping for something good to happen. I'll save you the $11.16: Nothing happens!
I guess Lipman is writing what she knows about since according to her author's blurb she has experience working for a university (the setting of this novel) and came of age during the same time as our little Frederica, but come on lady, if this is the best story you have inside you, I feel bad.
Another reviewer likened reading this to eating candy. I liken it to chewing a piece of gum that lost its flavor really quickly. Ptooey.
Very Entertaining June 13, 2007
I have read most of Ms. Lipman's books, and I have liked some more than others of course, and this one is at the top of the list. I liked the characters, even liked not liking some of the characters. I thought Frederica, the narrator, was a great voice, and overall, a very entertaining book.
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