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The Pursuit of Alice Thrift
 
 
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The Pursuit of Alice Thrift (Paperback)

by Elinor Lipman (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: HarperPerennial; New Ed edition (5 Jul 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0007161204
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007161201
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 147,172 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #5 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > L > Lipman, Elinor

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Product Description

Daily Mail, Books of 2003
'A wonderful tale.'

Daily Mail
'Lipman dishes up her tart, witty tales without sugary sentiment...you're in for a treat...'

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The Pursuit of Alice Thrift
49% buy the item featured on this page:
The Pursuit of Alice Thrift 4.2 out of 5 stars (5)
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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
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3 star:
 (2)
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Pursuit of Alice Thrift, 12 Aug 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: The Pursuit of Alice Thrift (Paperback)
An enchanting novel, I read it straight through, and stayed up late to finish it on a work night! The story concerns Alice Thrift, a hospital intern who feels she can't connect emotionally or socially and takes things very literally (a spock-type soul).
Over the course of the book, Alice meets a man (who pursues her), makes friends and learns about the softer side of patient care. It's written in the third person, but with a no-nonense tone that matches how Alice's internal monologue must sound. There are a number of touching moments, the characters are intelligently drafted and some funny situations are found; I found it heart-warming and have enjoyed thinking back on it since I finished it last week.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Another Lipman wonder!, 1 Jul 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: The Pursuit of Alice Thrift (Paperback)
Elinor Lipman has excelled with this one. For her band of faithful readers this is the funniest and poignant so far.
The heroine Alice Thrift is a doctor in training and somewhat lacking in social skills and bedside manner. Two friends come to her rescue. The dialogue is pure comedy reflecting life. Ms Lipman's talent for capturing ordinary conversations is amazing.

I loved this book as I did Isobel's Bed.

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5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars The poor decisions made to alleviate loneliness, 20 Jul 2004
By Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
If you're over the age of, say, twenty, THE PURSUIT OF ALICE THRIFT probably won't tell you anything you haven't already learned in the demanding School of Relationships.

Alice Thrift, M.D., is a hapless first-year surgical resident at a Boston teaching hospital. Expected to work a zillion-hour week, she doesn't have a life outside her scrubs. She's the epitome of boring. Her only contact with the outside world is her platonic male roomy and friend, Leo, an extremely popular pediatric RN at the same institution. Alice doesn't have a boyfriend, much less a pet goldfish.

One day while rotating through Plastic Surgery, Alice is consulted by a forty-year old widower, Ray Russo, seeking advice about a nose job. After being talked out of it, Ray embarks on his romantic pursuit of Thrift. Russo is a fudge salesman. Or so he says. He's also extraordinarily glib, and, obviously to everyone but Alice, up to something.

The problem with THE PURSUIT OF ALICE THRIFT is threefold. The ending is revealed on page 6 when Thrift tells the reader that Ray is a "LIAR", and that they had a failed marriage. One only reads further in hope of learning the sordid details. Secondly, Alice is numbingly ordinary. Having that goldfish, or even a tabletop ant farm, might have made her more interesting. And her social interactions with more socially developed friends and colleagues are only marginally amusing. Finally, since this is a story about the poor decisions a person makes to escape the throes of loneliness, it shouldn't be revelation to any reasonably contemplative individual beyond adolescence. Indeed, on finishing this novel, the average reader should be able to state, "Yup. Been there; done that; will likely do it again."

THE PURSUIT OF ALICE THRIFT isn't a bad book, just decidedly so-so.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Roll over Bridget Jones Alice Thift is here..
Superb book, for a time I could recognise myself so much in Alice Thift that I even imagined wearing a white coat and becoming a doctor. Read more
Published on 24 Jun 2006 by Dawn Louise Herbert

3.0 out of 5 stars Witty and surprising
Funny little book! Very readable and we all know someone like Alice who is so surprised when someone takes an interest in them they get duped!
Published on 27 Feb 2005 by bookwormoncrete

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