Growing up is a dirty business. It’s messy and uncertain, treacherous and humiliating. We greedily grab at the wrong things, or the wrong people. Along the way we become someone we don’t like, or even recognize. But if we’re persistent, and resiliant, and open to surprises, we may cobble together... ...more

Cressida Hartley is suffering from a serious case of ennui. At 28, she is stagnating in ABD status, trying to finish her dissertation in economics, wholly disliking her field of expertise. It's the eighties, and Reaganomics doesn't suit her. But she found a way to integrate her affinity with art... ...more

This book is so beautiful. Although I loved the prose and the setting from the beginning, its episodic style was hard to get into. I had a difficulty remembering who characters were, and sometimes the summarized nature made it hard to really feel invested in the heroine's, Cressida's, conflicts.... ...more

This book may inspire a new shelf, a substratum of 'the love story', which is 'the mistress's story.' A young, but not too young, woman looking for something for more in her life, more fun, more juice, something to really matter, than her economics dissertation, which seems, the longer she waits... ...more

I can more than relate to this book and that's why I liked it so much. I myself went "of course" in my early twenties..lived in a remote mountain town, spent time with all the wrong men and generally lost (and then found) myself. Its quite honestly the same story except mine didn't take place in... ...more

I stayed up late into the night to finish this book. (And then I stayed up later to go online and order a copy for a friend's birthday.) It isn't a thriller or a mystery or anything with a twist ending: it's just so damn well written and relatable that I had to find out what happened. Maybe it's... ...more

Off Course,Michelle Huneven

I don't usually bother to review my five star reads , but made an exception in this case hoping that more people might pick up Off Course.

I'm afraid readers might shy away because of the subject matter...after all , how good can a tale of obsessive love be ? But somehow... ...more

Loved it, I love everything by this author. If you are annoyed by people making a lot of bad decisions, this might not be for you. I'd consider it part of one of my favorite genres - "loser lit". Great cast of characters. ...more

“Blame” was one of my favorite novels of the last few years and so I happily purchased Michelle Huneven’s newest, “Off Course” without paying too much attention to the reviews. Huneven is not a writer of tight plots, cliff hangers and unexpected twists. Rather, her writing is like a journey down... ...more

I received Off Course as part of a Goodreads giveaway.

Cressida Hartley escapes to the small resort town in the California mountains where she spent her childhood summers to work on her long-unfinished dissertation. Despite her best intentions, she finds herself pulled into the life of the town an... ...more