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I Don't Know How She Does It [Paperback]

Allison Pearson (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (118 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 1 Sep 2011
Now a Major Motion Picture

Delightfully smart and heartbreakingly poignant, Allison Pearson’s smash debut novel has exploded onto bestseller lists as “The national anthem for working mothers.” Hedge-fund manager, wife, and mother of two, Kate Reddy manages to juggle nine currencies in five time zones and keep in step with the Teletubbies. But when she finds herself awake at 1:37 a.m. in a panic over the need to produce a homemade pie for her daughter’s school, she has to admit her life has become unrecognizable. With panache, wisdom, and uproarious wit, I Don’t Know How She Does It brilliantly dramatizes the dilemma of every working mom.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage (1 Sep 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0099570238
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099570233
  • Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (118 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 655,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon Review

For some considerable time, Allison Pearson's journalism and television punditry have represented an oasis of wit and intelligence in an era of dumbing-down. Her speciality is the perfectly judged observation: the devastatingly spot-on anatomising of the foibles of human behaviour--always unsparing, but always full of good humour. It’s hardly surprising, then, that I Don't Know How She Does It: Kate Reddy is crammed full of those same qualities: this beguiling and sharply observed novel is based on her weekly Daily Telegraph column. The publishers tell us that this is "a comedy about failure, a tragedy about success", and that gets it about right; at the centre of this utterly readable tale is the beleaguered Kate Reddy.

Pearson's heroine spends her life dealing with nagging guilt and the impossible demands of an over-busy life. Yes, we're talking about the crushing demands put on modern women--and Kate is a classic case of just how difficult it is to "have it all". Career, relationships, marriage--as many women know, managing them all is a Herculean task. And as Kate's juggling act carries her closer and closer to disaster, Allison Pearson herself pulls off a particularly jaw-dropping juggling act herself: certainly, I Don't Know How She Does It is a delightful comedy of manners with a beautifully observed heroine (with whom it's very easy to identify), but there are some razor-sharp points made under the surface here about women in the new century. But this is never at the expense of an unputdownable read--Pearson is much too canny a writer to forget the fact that we want to be entertained first and foremost, whatever else an author may freight in to their narrative. No wonder all those Hollywood film studios are already putting up millions for the screen rights. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'Pioneering 2002 novel.'
-- FT Magazine

A grown-up novel that is hilarious, heartbreaking and brimming with the bitter-sweet tang of all our lives -- Tony Parsons --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
48 of 51 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Something missing 12 July 2002
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
Allison Pearson can, as we already know, write. Her forte is wonderful observations, pithily put. The resonance of what she writes about (I have two children; my wife and I both work) made me laugh and cry several times.

You should read the book if the above sounds good to you. If you want to read a story, however, be warned. The story doesn't start until page 288. Before that, you'll be embroiled in the hectic life of Kate Reddy, forever wondering if the plot possibilities she tees up will ever come to pass. Once you get to page 288, when Kate Reddy is confronted by events that require her to start making choices, you'll find major events dealt with very sketchily or barely mentioned in passing; the author skims over the few elements of real story that exist in the book. At times, it seems the author 'chokes' when faced with exploring how her heroine might develop when not merely coping with working motherhood.

I like a good storyline in novels. Maybe Ms Pearson was just too busy to put one in.

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42 of 46 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Very entertaining, but..... 17 Feb 2003
By goldenman
Format:Hardcover
This is a fun, read-in-three-days kind of novel, but pretty much forgettable. The major problem I had with this book was that I loathed Kate - partly for her snobbishness, but mainly for her stupidity. I mean, how can she really think that she can have it all? I had no sympathy for her at all and I really wanted Richard not to come back to her. She says that her family are the most important thing to her and that her family are suffering because she is nearly always at work, but it takes three quarters of the book for her to do something about it.

I also thought that Allison Pearson was trying to have it both ways, in that she perhaps was trying to paint an accurate picture of working women's lives in modern society, but the fact that Kate is such an incredibly high earner - not being representative of most working mothers after all - really undermines her argument.

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45 of 50 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Great fun, but not much substance 6 July 2002
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This is a perfectly judged piece of marketing - it's like Bridget Jones for the older woman, and it has exactly the same virtues and exactly the same faults. The virtues first - it's laugh-out-loud funny, readable, and not very taxing. The flaws; it's soooo light that it might blow away if you took it to the beach (as is no doubt intended). It does have moments of real poignancy, but they don't strike very deep. And the ending is so contrived it leaves Mills and Boon looking natural.

Two things really got to me, though, and made it hard for me to accept this book for what it is. First, the children - ostensibly the focus of the heroine's thoughts - are so poorly characterised that they might be anyone's. I know it's idiotic to compare this to Tolstoy, but Anna Karenin does show that it's possible to write about a mother's dilemma without erasing the child altogether.

The second thing is the heroine's extreme wealth. Of course some working mothers do have jobs in the city, but it's pitifully unrepresentative of working mothers as a whole, most of whom cannot afford Paula and Juanita (the nanny and the cleaner). And even though Kate doesn't get her bonus, she never seems overdrawn, or over the limit on her credit cards. She never worries about money, dialling up limos like there's no tomorrow. This extreme solvency seems to me a sign that this book is actually fantasy, not reality. If you are looking for a romance of Working Motherhood, this is for you. If it's truth-telling you want, try Helen Simpson's Hey Yeah Right Get A Life.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read
Enjoyed this book, as a mother myself sometimes felt frustrated that the main character was allowing her work to impact so much in her home life - maybe there are really people... Read more
Published 15 days ago by Kaygee
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it!
I loved this book. It was exactly what I hoped and expected it would be, being a big fan of the equally good film.
Published 1 month ago by Ms. Rebecca Ryan
2.0 out of 5 stars Bitter taste in my mouth after reading this.
This book left a really bitter taste in my mouth. I was expecting a light, easy-going, funny read (something like chic-lit for mothers that you can finish in a couple of hours) but... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Cassandra
4.0 out of 5 stars I don't know how she does it!
I am only about one third of the way through this book so far but I am enjoying it. It makes me glad to have chosen to stay at home with my children for as long as I could though.
Published 4 months ago by MazDaz64
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read
It often made me laugh out loud! I liked it so much that I gave away a couple of copies as Christmas presents.
Published 4 months ago by Sara
3.0 out of 5 stars I Don't Know How she Does It
This is a lightweight story, wittily told. I found it easy to pick up and put down again - ideal for holidays.
Published 4 months ago by Avronnymous
4.0 out of 5 stars Gift
Received quickly and well packaged. The person receiving the book enjoyed it as a holiday read, easy to read and easy to forget...not a critism.
Published 8 months ago by JC
5.0 out of 5 stars Better than i expected
Bought his book on the back of the reviews on here and i have to say i was not disappointed. I loved it! Read more
Published 8 months ago by julz-on-a-mission
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I've read recently
I had just watched the film and was curious about the book (the reviews did help me decide). It did not disappoint. A very well written book and a page-turner. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Anna T
5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, well-written book.
This is a must-read for all working mums - that is if they can find the time to sit down and read an entire novel! I loved this book. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Helen O' Toole
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