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Amanda Bright @ Home
Maybe you know Amanda. Maybe you are Amanda. Whoever you are, you will love Amanda. An important, shrewd, and laugh-out-loud funny debut novel that answers the question: What happens when Bridget Jones or the Sex and the City girls get married and have babies? Nothing ever prepared Amanda for this: not her elite college degree, not her brainy friends, not her mother the fe...more
Hardcover, 368 pages
Published
February 28th 2009
by Warner Books
(first published May 28th 2003)
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It took me a little time to get into this book. I didn't have very high expectations for it to begin with and considered it would (hopefully) be nothing more than a humorous book with very little plot that could easily be read in short snippets of time between tackling laundry, dishes, waiting in the school pick-up line, changing a diaper, wiping noses and imagining what I could get done if I wasn't attempting to both work from home and be a stay at home mom...so yes I suppose I fit a mold that...more
Have you ever grocery shopped with two toddlers?
If not, let me break it down for you. You spend half the morning chasing them around the house in an attempt to get them dressed. Get them dressed...only to undress them to change the inevitable dirty diaper. Redress. Wrangle them into their carseats. Drive to the store. Park. Unload one kid into the shopping cart. Unload the other. Zip into the store and attempt to buy everything you need in a whirlwind sprint through the aisles. You bribe. Plead....more
If not, let me break it down for you. You spend half the morning chasing them around the house in an attempt to get them dressed. Get them dressed...only to undress them to change the inevitable dirty diaper. Redress. Wrangle them into their carseats. Drive to the store. Park. Unload one kid into the shopping cart. Unload the other. Zip into the store and attempt to buy everything you need in a whirlwind sprint through the aisles. You bribe. Plead....more
Grade: F
First, it's boring. It begins with a premise much like that of Perrotta's Little Children: Amanda Bright, former career woman, is now a suburban mommy. While her husband spends each day in the company of adults at the Department of Justice, she spends each day with Ben and Sophie, ages 5 and 3. While Perrotta's book enlivens this simple premise with believable, engaging characters, Crittenden's book becomes a tedious slog before the fifth chapter. Not very much happens, what does happens...more
First, it's boring. It begins with a premise much like that of Perrotta's Little Children: Amanda Bright, former career woman, is now a suburban mommy. While her husband spends each day in the company of adults at the Department of Justice, she spends each day with Ben and Sophie, ages 5 and 3. While Perrotta's book enlivens this simple premise with believable, engaging characters, Crittenden's book becomes a tedious slog before the fifth chapter. Not very much happens, what does happens...more
There are tons of negative reviews out there that are more thorough than I'm willing to take the time to be. Amanda is whiny. Her friends are horrible. She is unhappy but she doesn't make any move to change her situation. And the big message: ALL FEMINISTS ARE VILLAINS!!!!!!!! Amanda's mother is portrayed as having no empathy for Amanda because she's a SAH. Ellie is selfish and preachy and embodies every negative sterotype of feminists there is. Her best friend is gorgeous and single and self-ab...more
This book held enough interest for me to make a trip off the back of the toilet and to the couch, but just barely. I was ready for the book to be over. The main character did nothing but bitch all the way through book. I could see why. Nothing ever interested happened to her. It was like reading about any other stay-at-home mom who secretly wanted to be doing something else. Instead of enjoying her children all she could do was whine about her life and everything she was missing. The book almost...more
2.5 stars
Well-written, brimming with sharp wit and authentic characterization, Amanda Bright @ Home was a mediocre light read.
Despite the fact that I am not a mother myself, I could sympathize with many of Bright’s plights including her innate craving to feel needed and significant. (I think, deep down we all do.) As the main character - all too human and ‘real’ – Amanda is instantly likable and true-to-life.
What hit close to home was Amanda’s frustration at being surrounded by superficial wome...more
Well-written, brimming with sharp wit and authentic characterization, Amanda Bright @ Home was a mediocre light read.
Despite the fact that I am not a mother myself, I could sympathize with many of Bright’s plights including her innate craving to feel needed and significant. (I think, deep down we all do.) As the main character - all too human and ‘real’ – Amanda is instantly likable and true-to-life.
What hit close to home was Amanda’s frustration at being surrounded by superficial wome...more
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Sep 19, 2010
bookczuk
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
bookcrossing,
skim-read-til-the-end
I'd had higher hopes for Amanda Bright -- she made decisions in her life, but lacked the convictions to believe in them. I'm sure this probably rang true for many women, either dissatisfied with staying home, or dissatisfied with working. I just kept expecting Amanda to grow up a bit, or at least act more like an adult.
I read somewhere this first appeared as a serial in the Wall Street Journal. I got the feeling that the author was a feminist wrestling with the ideas of feminism herself.
I read somewhere this first appeared as a serial in the Wall Street Journal. I got the feeling that the author was a feminist wrestling with the ideas of feminism herself.
I had a hard time getting into it, and I just did not like Amanda, the main character. She was a bit whiny and self-conscious, although in self-reflection, as a stay-at-home mom, I can be just as whiny. Her entire view of stay-at-home motherhood was tempered by a group of women from more social elite circles who embrace plastic surgery as a religion and summer vacation in Europe. The ending is satisfying, but it seemed like it took a long time to get there.
an ok book that originally appeared as installments in the Wall Street Journal. Danielle Crittenden is not a bad writer but often her characters appear as stalking horses for her ideas...she is a 'conservative' feminist who wrestles with ideas in essays and infrequent forays into fiction. This should be seen as an inquiry into modern domestic life as experienced by a woman who originally thinks of her self as liberated.
This was the story of Amanda Bright, an Ivy League graduate who decided to stay home with her children but wasn't really feeling it, if you know what I mean. I didn't get anything out of this. In fact, this was one of a long line of books that surprised me it was even published. It was just very very regular, uninspiring and almost boring. Makes me think I could write a book, too.
Cute book, easy read, quick read. At times I really identified with the main character - sometimes staying at home is less than wonderful, sometimes the house looks terrible, sometimes we have to really eek by with the finances. But I don't know .. the book still felt just okay to me.
Breezing through this hen-lit novel that's been sitting in my "to read" pile for 4 years now. Thought I'd find humor with this stay-at-home-mom's adventures, but finding it ridiculous and unrealistic. For an educated, corporate exec-gone maternal, she's really stupid! Might finish it, might toss it...we'll see! Just enjoying the idea of having one less book on that damn shelf!
This was a good domestic drama from the wife's and husband's point of view. It was originally written as a serial story in the Washington Post, and at times it feels like that. starts of plot lines, then they're dropped. But Amanda's story is worth reading.
A novel about a frustrated SAHM in Washington DC. It's an unexpected honoring and support of motherhood from the left wing. At some points I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but the ending was good. :) Overall it was very well-written.
ok book, Would not recommend cause the characters are not very likable. Passed time but am sure there are much better books out there to pass your time
Woman undergoes minor mid-life crisis while spouse undergoes political crisis. I thought this would be more than it was, but it wasn't.
Read when I was a stay at home mom. Will never forget it.
I hate weak woman characters...arrrg!
This was another find from the "Giant Book Sale" that MKS and I found in River. I saw a Wall Street Journal review on the back and thought "Jackpot" it's got to be good. Turns out the author has a friend who works at the WSJ. Coincidence?
Anyway, this book was okay, even pretty good. I didn't fly through it but I enjoyed the complexities the lead character felt in her role as a stay at home mom and the drama of their lives.
Happy to loan it out if somone wants an easy read.
Anyway, this book was okay, even pretty good. I didn't fly through it but I enjoyed the complexities the lead character felt in her role as a stay at home mom and the drama of their lives.
Happy to loan it out if somone wants an easy read.
I wasn't sure about this one at first. I think I found it on my sister's bookshelf so I picked it up one day. I figured it would be a typical stay-at-home-mom story about coming to terms with that lifestyle. But I was pretty surprised at the different turns the story took that did not go where I thought they would. It was a very interesting ending and I didn't get bored with it like I thought I would. I wouldn't say it was my favorite book, but better than I expected it to be.
I felt this books just drug on and didn't really go anywhere. The last chapter was probably the best in the whole book...but I wouldn't say it was even close to sticking around for. It was okay enough that I didn't give up on it...but it wasn't good enough that I couldn't wait to find time to read. I didn't find myself becoming attached to Amanda. Probably because I'd love to be in her situation (stay at home mom) and all she did was whine about it.
It was a slow read for me, but got pretty good towards the end. It wasn't what I was expecting it to be about at all.
Amanda Bright is a stay-at-home mother of two young children. When challenges come up in her husband's job and consequently, her marriage, Amanda begins to re-evaluate the choices she has made for her life. This book is not your typical chick lit and explores deeper issues than most. However, I was not blown away and thought this selection lacked a little oomph.
Feb 19, 2008
Jessica Savage
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
most people, but would recommend others first
This book was pretty good, but nothing too heavy. It is a good story for someone to read that wants to stay home with their children while still maintaining a career. It give some insight to what you may encounter trying to lead both lives. The story was not anything that went any deeper than surface story, but it still was pretty good.
I read this before I had kids and it brought up so many issues and feelings I never thought I would have about leaving work and being a stay at home mom. After I had kids I was shocked at how true those feelings were and looked back to the book for entertainment.
I really enjoyed this book about a professional woman who chooses to stay home to raise her children. Brilliantly addresses the doubt, conflict, and joys that staying at home with your children can bring.
I guess you could call this "mommy lit" - but I like it from the perspective of women's roles and what our culture values, especially in a status/power driven place like DC...
Eh.
May 08, 2007
Kimberly
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Moms in DC
Shelves:
chicklit
I hated this book. It was silly. But I did connect with it a bit, seeing as I am a mom in DC, so I finished it. I bought it for $3 at an airport. Hardcover.
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Sep 07, 2010 07:00pm