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78th out of 127 books
—
189 voters
Still Life With Husband
by
Lauren Fox
Meet Emily Ross, thirty years old, married to her college sweetheart, and personal advocate for cake at breakfast time.
Meet Emily's husband, Kevin, a sweet technical writer with a passion for small appliances and a teary weakness for Little Women.
Enter David, a sexy young reporter with longish floppy hair and the kind of face Emily feels the weird impulse to lick.
In thi...more
Meet Emily's husband, Kevin, a sweet technical writer with a passion for small appliances and a teary weakness for Little Women.
Enter David, a sexy young reporter with longish floppy hair and the kind of face Emily feels the weird impulse to lick.
In thi...more
Hardcover, 272 pages
Published
February 6th 2007
by Knopf
(first published January 1st 2007)
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Oh my goodness... how to rate this book?
'Still Life with Husband' is Emily's story. She's a thirtysomething freelance journalist with a job she likes, a nice home, good friends, and a husband who loves her completely. What's wrong with all that? She gets bored. She gets stressed by the thought of living in the suburbs. She is irritated by her husband's requests that she consider having the child they'd agreed that both wanted.
So what does she do? She starts an affair with a slightly younger, sli...more
'Still Life with Husband' is Emily's story. She's a thirtysomething freelance journalist with a job she likes, a nice home, good friends, and a husband who loves her completely. What's wrong with all that? She gets bored. She gets stressed by the thought of living in the suburbs. She is irritated by her husband's requests that she consider having the child they'd agreed that both wanted.
So what does she do? She starts an affair with a slightly younger, sli...more
Is it wrong not to want to do what everyone expects? To the world, thirty-year old Emily Ross seems to be happily married to Kevin, a sensitive guy, for nearly nine years. She knows that she should be yearning to get to the next stage in her life, a house in the suburbs and a baby in the near future, at least that’s what Kevin and her mother tell her. Lately, a strangling sense of suffocation in a marriage that seems to be getting tedious is all Emily feels. A chance meeting at a coffee shop wit...more
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I am head over heels in love with Fox's writing style. This book is just as funny as her second (Friends Like Us), and populated with equally as witty characters. Emily has been with Kevin for nine years, and their marriage is comfortable… maybe too comfortable. Her best friend Meg is also married, but happily so, and she and her husband are thrilled at Meg's pregnancy. Emily, on the other hand, is being pressured to get pregnant and move to the suburbs by her husband, and she has no interest in...more
This is my favorite kind of book – women’s fiction meets literary writing, with a genius sense of humor. Discovering Lauren Fox was like discovering Lorrie Moore all over again, and I’m sure we’re going to be hearing a lot more about her in the coming years. I am in serious writer envy and aspire to someday pull of this strong a blend of funny and real. The other thing I really enjoyed in this book was that the characters were not cliché, as they so often are when delving into the territory of i...more
Emily Ross is a thirty two year old freelace writer, strikingly unique with shoulder length hair. She is married to Kevin a technical writer who is obsessed with procreation. He dislikes raises cause of their resemblance to mouses, and he tries to resurrect the flame that died in his marriage. In the midst of her busy schedule, Emily spends quality time with Meg a person she envies because of the guys that are attracted to her. While dining out, Emily meets David a sexy reporter that tries to se...more
Unsatisfying is the word I'd use to describe this book.
I really enjoyed reading the book, but in the end I felt more than a little cheated. When I invest my time in reading a book, I want it to deliver.
The characters were very well drawn. I liked them all, could really feel them. There are some very funny parts too, that had me laugh out loud.
There needed to be one more chapter. Characters story was just left hanging. I don;t like that. Even if things were "unresolvable", I want some clue as to...more
I really enjoyed reading the book, but in the end I felt more than a little cheated. When I invest my time in reading a book, I want it to deliver.
The characters were very well drawn. I liked them all, could really feel them. There are some very funny parts too, that had me laugh out loud.
There needed to be one more chapter. Characters story was just left hanging. I don;t like that. Even if things were "unresolvable", I want some clue as to...more
This book is all wrong in so many ways. There are attempts at humour in Ms Fox's writing style that just don't align with the story she is trying to tell. She's excessively descriptive with so many minor details (I found myself scanning through paragraphs at times just to get to the point), and yet the lack of clarity regarding her relationship with David leaves me somewhat frustrated and at a loss to understand why she takes the risks she does. I'm not talking about providing the reader with al...more
Suprisingly right on when expressing the inner workings of a young wife's mind. A little scary.
Oh, this was disappointing. I loved "Friends Like Us" so very, very much. And part of it was liking the characters so much. I wanted to spend time with them, and I could see the different sides in their situation.
In this one -- eh. I liked some of the characters, but if we were at a party I would have had a nice conversation and never tried to get their email addresses. I didn't quite get the dynamics of the affair, and I wasn't too invested in how the situation resolved itself.
It was fine. But...more
In this one -- eh. I liked some of the characters, but if we were at a party I would have had a nice conversation and never tried to get their email addresses. I didn't quite get the dynamics of the affair, and I wasn't too invested in how the situation resolved itself.
It was fine. But...more
Reading this book, I think Emily did what she was supposed to do in her relationship rather than what she really wanted. And then several years down the road, realizes she loves her husband but feels trapped. I really do think people shouldn't get married until they are thirty because you need time to figure out who you are. I don't know if this is a symptom of our generation or times, but marriage at an early age may sometimes not be the best decision. I disliked that the ending was left open e...more
I understand feeling disillusioned and scared and lost in a marriage: most married people have felt that way at one time or another. However, most of us try something that NEVER occurred to the spoiled Emily Ross: we talk to our spouse. We share our feelings, our disappointments, our fears. Nope, not Little Miss 'The Pill Makes Me Cranky'. Poor Kevin wanders haplessly along thinking everything's honky dory while his wife is stewing in her own self-doubt and planning her next liaison.
Life with K...more
Despite Knopf saddling this novel with an atrocious, obvious-as-hell marketing ploy of a cover, this novel wants to be taken seriously. I mean, Ms. Michiko Kakutani herself gives it her imprimatur (or at least Lauren Fox's writing), as the copy makes ample note of.
And, while I was reading this novel (as a much needed speed read break from W.G. Sebald's On the Natural History of Destruction) I did it enjoy it enough. But, as soon as I had finished it, and really started thinking about how sligh...more
And, while I was reading this novel (as a much needed speed read break from W.G. Sebald's On the Natural History of Destruction) I did it enjoy it enough. But, as soon as I had finished it, and really started thinking about how sligh...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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My sister-in-law gave this book to me after she'd finished it. We were in a cabin (read: decked out wooden house) on the Pacific Coast. She seemed mixed about it. I read it. It was like candy. Maybe liquor. Smooth, went down easily, spelled destruction. The moment I finished it, I didn't like it as much as I had the moment before. I had the feeling it began as a much, much longer book, as parts of it felt like they were missing. It may take this kind of editing to be a NY Times bestseller.
Ugh. This book was just bad. I didn't even want to finish it, but I kept going, hoping it would get better. It wasn't the writing that was the problem. It was the main character. She was just not a nice person. She was annoying and selfish and just awful. I was hoping she'd redeem herself in the end, but she didn't. I don't mind a book not having a happy ending because that's reality. But this character just never got any better. Very disappointing.
Wow, 2 books back to back that I didn't love, this must stop! This book was so boring and I feel as though nothing really happened. It seemed like everything just went round and round in circles and Emily was so freaking annoying. There was absolutely NO resolution to the story. You never find out what happens to Emily, the baby, the dudes, or anything else. I just really didn't enjoy this book. I only finished it because I have my own issues about not finishing books I start but I really did no...more
I read this book in one night. I have to start by saying I don't enjoy fiction too much, particularly when the main character is a superfluous man (see Russian literature) or the narcissistic American type. This book's main character is the latter. Hard to relate to the main character. She seems needy, self-obsessed, thankless and generally unappealing. So rooting for her is tough, even though that seems to be what the author is aiming for.
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The book touched on experiences in my life in a very real way. I felt the experience of the main character was honest and you don't see that often in these types of books. However, just as I felt with Lauren Fox's other book, the ending is very blunt. It just stops without a complete sense of everything. I can assume what happened but I just felt unsatisfied at the end.
Embarrassed to have read this book, which I mistook for a memoir after reading an excerpt on Kindle. Lauren Fox story of a woman's extramarital affair reads like a skimpy script for a made-for-TV movie. The transitions are clumsy and unrealistic, and there's little to account for the motivations at play. One step shy of a creepy "romantic novel," this book left me feeling disappointed in both myself and the author.
I enjoyed it, but abrupt endings always bother me. I know that's a more realistic way to go, but at least give me an epilogue!
Also, some of Emily's relationships didn't go far beyond the surface. I found myself wanting more dialogue with Kevin so that I'd be able to form an opinion of him based on things beyond recounts of their conversations from Emily's point of view.
Did not enjoy this book at all. Read a great review for her second novel, "Friends Like Us." The library did not currently have it so I figured I try out her first book instead. I kept waiting for something to happen, which nothing did. There is hardly any character development and there is absolutely no conclusion to the story. Waste of time.
I had a hard time rating this book. While I connected with aspects of the main characters discontent with life and the feeling of being lost and not wanting what everyone else thinks you should want... but I was turned off my some of her choices. I also hated the way it ended. I prefer more closure and this left me feeling, "Is that all???"
Descriptions like "hysterically funny" and "heartbreaking" tend to get thrown around in book reviews, but in all seriousness this book had me doubled over with laughter and breathless with grief.
The character makes terrible decisions, but she's sympathetic, and ultimately shows her inner strength, and I would absolutely love a sequel.
The character makes terrible decisions, but she's sympathetic, and ultimately shows her inner strength, and I would absolutely love a sequel.
I liked the humor in this book but I thought it lacked a bit of substance and I was bothered by the ending.
Emily Ross is 30 and being pressured by her husband to have kids and move to the suburbs. She meets another man one day at her favorite neighborhood coffee shop...a relationship ensues.
Emily Ross is 30 and being pressured by her husband to have kids and move to the suburbs. She meets another man one day at her favorite neighborhood coffee shop...a relationship ensues.
I loved this book up until the time the character made a really stupid choice. But then I decided that we all make really stupid choices all the time. So, I stuck around to see what would happen. To see it unfold before your very eyes with someone else makes you want to scream "don't do it!" And then when they do it any way, you want to scream, "Oh no she didn't!" That's how I felt through this whole book. I simultaneously wanted to slap and shake and hug the main character. And then I was cring...more
I'd never heard of this book or author, and just picked it up in a thrift store. It was so good I finished it fast, and actually loved the ending. I guess it could be defined as well-written chick lit, but I mostly loved the commentary on relationships. It was sad and funny, but mostly just real.
I re-read this by accident, thinking I hadn't read it, but I couldn't remember the ending so I kept going. I liked this story of a woman who embarks on an affair while (because?) her husband is pressing her for kids and move to the suburbs. I did not like the wishy-washy ending.
Second book I read by this author. Didn't really care for it, as I thought it was very cruel how she was treating her husband and her boyfriend. Ending was not a surprise at all. If you are looking for a better book to read by this author check out Friends Like Us.
I agree with one reviewer..there was no feeling of growth for the character and it was odd. She was in such turmoil and her attitude was "if I ignore this, it will go away." I don't think she's a heroine nor someone I would really want to stand behind.
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I was born in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, into a family full of love, support, and very little grist for the dramatic mill. I knew from an early age that I wanted to be a writer, and decided that my best bet was to make stuff up. My first attempts at fiction included a tragic story about a blind Mexican orphan, and a tragic tale about a horse who dies, tragically, in a barn fire.
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Jan 18, 2013 11:15am