Laura Zigman's new novel,Piece of Work,has stay-at-home mom Julia Einstein facing a return to the workplace after husband Peter gets bounced from his job as a management consultant. This is tough on Julia,mainly because she adores spending time with her three-year-old,Leo,who is just entering preschool and is at that stage in life when simple things like watching Tom & Jerry and playing with trains makes him happy and easy to bond with.
Julia goes back to her former work as a publicist but instead of the high profile place she worked before,she winds up at John Glom Public Relations,which specializes in engineering comebacks for has-been celebs. Julia's new boss,Jack De Marco,starts her off with one of his worst clients-Mary Ford,a former movie star who is known for excessive demands and taking off with expensive designer clothes after photo shoots. Mary also has the charming habit of poking people in the arm and launching into nursery rhymes chants to mock others.
Mary Ford's big comeback vehicle is a designer perfume,Legend,that has quite a few probelms such as it's horrible scent and lack of interest to department store chains. As Julia goes on a promotion tour with Mary,she's faced with not only keeping up with Mary's ever changing needs but worrying that her husband is fitting into his Mr. Mom role all too well. Peter's organizational skills have a perfect outlet in running the house smoothly(even the other moms in the nieghborhood take tips from him)and he shows quite a flair for cooking.
This is the first Laura Zigman book I've ever read and I only wish that I had tried her work sooner. Her characters are believable and entertaining,plus she doesn't take the easy way out with making certain characters cardboard villians. You have a delightful time as you wonder just which celebs are being playfully teased and root for everyone to come out on top.
Piece of Work has just arrived in a bookstore near you,so it's the perfect book to sit with as you wait for the leaves to change colors or for your own little one to come home from school. Please click the title link above to check out Zigman's website,which has a "brant"(combo of brag and rant)and a zippy music soundtrack!
4 comments:
Your recommendations are always intriguing, but I've been all about non-fiction lately.
Currently reading the second of a sampling of three books about class in America.
Incidentally, I wish all villains were made of cardboard. Imagine how much easier the war on terror would be...
I've been in a non-fiction reading slump for awhile so I went out and bought a copy of Jane Smiley's Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel.
I'm not a big JS fan(only book of hers I have read was her Charles Dickens bio)but I felt it was the intellectual version of jumper cables.
Cardboard villains would be fun but very sneaky,since they would be able to slip in between doorways and cracks in wall:)
This looks like something a couple of my friends might like. I'm going to pass on the recommendation to them. They'll love it.
Cool beans,PCD! Word of mouth(and of blog)helps to keep good books moving.
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