Her - Hardcover

Zigman, Laura

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 037541388X ISBN 13: 9780375413889

Publisher: Knopf, 2002

Synopsis

A smart, deeply satisfying romantic comedy about a woman's obsession with the return of her fiancé's ex.

On the Delta Shuttle between New York and Washington, Elise finds herself sitting next to Donald—tall, with dark wavy hair, a big easy smile. She’s left the world of women's magazines in Manhattan for graduate school in D.C. He’s left investment banking to become a teacher. They are both unattached. They exchange stories. They fall in love. One year later they’re headed for an April wedding. Storybook finish? Not quite.

Donald has some serious baggage: an ex-fiancée named Adrienne. And she's not just any ex: she is "the mother of all exes." Yale educated, French extraction, ravishing, and she's just shown up in D.C. Adrienne is Elise's worst nightmare incarnate--and before too long her all-consuming obsession. Every man comes with baggage. But did it have to be her?

About this title

Review:

The problem with most of the post-Bridget Jones fiction is that the dithering heroines tend to inspire impatience rather than sympathy, but in the novel Her, Laura Zigman skillfully avoids that common pitfall. Elise is engaged to be married to Donald. Displaced New Yorkers living in Washington, D.C., they bond over the foibles of life in the capital: pundits at the grocery store, power brokers at the baggage claim. Donald seems a truly amiable fellow, a fine fictional creation worth fighting over. Enter the titular her, Donald's ex-girlfriend Adrienne, a dark beauty who's catty and gracefully catlike all at once. When Adrienne relocates from New York to D.C., Elise fights a pitched battle over the hapless Donald, who of course has no idea of the warfare on his behalf. Unfortunately, Elise can be so insecure and jealous that the reader guiltily begins to root for Adrienne--at least she's got a little self-respect. Such is the power of romantic formula, however, that when it all comes right for Donald and Elise, we close the book with a satisfied feeling. --Claire Dederer

From the Back Cover:

"It's fun; it's smart; it's sassy, and it's about a subject most women have no problem relating to: the other woman. We love it...Zigman's dialogue is witty and right on...[Her] will win you over, give you something to smile about (in the end) and give the little green monster in all of us a chance to get out of his cage, if only for a short while."
–Michelle Rupe Eubanks, TimesDaily (Alabama)

"Her is a bitter gem...taut and gripping, true and painful."
–City Paper (PA)

"This is one rampaging hoot of a book, likely to strike a resounding chord with anyone who has ever felt a reluctant and horrid fascination with the 'ex' of [his/her] significant other. It's witty, snappy, a bit disquieting and always hugely entertaining, even when the heroine for whom you are rooting runs totally amok....The fun here is in the details....A romp of a tale."
–The Seattle Times /Post Intelligencer

"Zigman is a smart writer, part Dorothy Parker, part Gilda Radner. [She] has perfect pitch in getting the comic details of urban women's lives and relationships, as well as the emotional mix of exuberance and loneliness, self-doubt and self-confidence, dreaming dreams and not giving up on them."
–Sandee Brawarsky, The Jewish Week

"[A] delightfully frothy novel...Zigman's strength is creating lovably frazzled and charmingly insecure heroines...It's a fun ride..."
–Chicago Tribune

"In Zigman's zany romantic comedy Her, "ex" marks the spot . . . Her is as scary as it is funny. . . . A howl."
–USA Today

"A captivating tale of jealousies and misconceptions."
–Booklist

"Lively and funny. . . . Her is as addicting as Zigman's previous work. . . Sharp, hilarious."
–Bookpage

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 037541388X
• ISBN 13: 9780375413889
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224