[.ca] Otherwise Engaged: A Novel (ISBN 0375706429)

From Amazon.com:
After 18 months of dating, hemming, hawing, begging, badgering, and threatening--as well as performing "really sincere fellatio"--the heroine of Otherwise Engaged has finally finagled an engagement ring. Eve seems confident that Michael, "the epitome of a Nice Jewish Man," is the person she wants to spend her life with. Yet she nearly kills herself soon after the celebratory dinner, staring at her newly acquired rock while speeding along a San Francisco freeway. And she may kill Michael, too, but not accidentally: "Michael leaves his socks on the floor when he takes off his shoes after work. This used to be fine. But now a sock on the floor isn't just a sock on the floor. It's a sock on the floor for the rest of my life." Suzanne Finnamore's comic novel chronicles the happy couple's year-long engagement--which, to judge from Eve's Valium intake, is about 11 months too long. Eve and Michael bicker over every last detail: whether to hire a professional photographer or one of Michael's advertising-director buddies; which one of them wastes more money; who used up the last can of chicken stock and didn't add it to the shopping list. At 36, Eve throws more tantrums than the average toddler, and Michael's moodiness and problems with his ex-wife certainly don't help. The result is one drama-queen dilemma after another, none of them much ameliorated by Eve's slapstick sessions with "a seventy-year-old Marin County prominent Jungian." Eve's troubles are primarily self-induced, of course, and the lush life she leads as a lavishly compensated advertising copywriter makes it hard to regard her as a tragic figure. Still, Otherwise Engaged is worth a quick read by any anxious bride-to-be who's delaying that inevitable appointment with Martha Stewart's premarital to-do checklist. --Erica Jorgensen

Horrible:
This was close to the worse book that I have ever read. It was boring and not at all funny.

Smiled throughout the whole book:
I am amazed at the reviewers who panned this book. Can only wonder if they are unclear on the concept or simply take themselves too seriously. For me, this was laugh-out-loud fun. Brilliant, wry and full of clever lines, even this old longtime married woman got plenty out of it. But more than that, this is a tender-hearted, observant commentary on relationships and the whole merry-go-round of insecurities and joy therein. I admire the author immensely for her ability to present fully-fleshed characters with such crisp, almost staccato phrasing. Anyone who has ever tried to write a novel should appreciate how difficult this is and what an accomplishment it is for a first-timer. As an added bonus, being a San Francisco Bay Area resident for most of my life, I found the specifics of life in The City to be wonderfully engaging (pardon the pun), too. Easy to read, hard to put down. Loved it. Want more.

FUNNY AND TOUCHING:
I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down. It had me laughing with admiration for the whip-smart heroine, Eve, and nodding in understanding at her thoughts and fears as the wedding approaches. You don't need to be a young, newly engaged woman to enjoy this book, in fact I am going to give copies to my friends of all ages. My only complaint is that the author has only written one other book! We need lots more from this talented writer!!!!

As interesting as a text book:
Once I start a book, I feel as though I must finish it no matter how dreadful it is. However, this one was one I just had to put down. The author has the ability to write without generating any feeling or interest. You might as well bring out some old textbooks from school. They would be far more entertaining

Absolutely Fantastic.:
This one was passed on to me from a friend and has made its way to every woman I know...it is a hoot and touching as well. I haven't enjoyed a novel this much in years. I was sick to see it end. The heroine is a smart sassy babe who has her faults in spades and admits to every single one. Her love life is under the magnifying glass as she contemplates and lives through a year full of not only being engaged, but being alive and past 30. The world of advertising is delightfully sent up in this uproarious story of marriage and career for the modern woman. From the Ultimatum to the Walk down the aisle, you'll be entranced. Just wanting more now. More! More! More!!!