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Wifey

3.33 of 5 stars 3.33 · rating details · 7,068 ratings · 514 reviews

With more than four million copies sold, Wifey is Judy Blume's hilarious, moving tale of a woman who trades in her conventional wifely duties for her wildest fantasies-and learns a lot about life along the way.

Sandy Pressman is a nice suburban wife whose boredom is getting the best of her. She could be making friends at the club, like her husband keeps encouraging her to d...more

Paperback, 304 pages

Published September 6th 2005 by Berkley Trade (first published 1978)

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Aug 31, 2010 Ninja Sock Puppet rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Skye O'Malley

Shelves: stolen-from-ceridwen

I started reading this book expecting a lot of sex, but was disappointed to discover that the only sex in the first half of the book is of the sex offender on the lawn variety. It took me a few days to get into it, and luckily I had a weekend to kill.

Wifey vs Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Sandy feels like she's not in control. She needs to get rid of Norman, who runs Bartertown in that he provides all of the energy for the lights and fans by tracking each and every shit provided by the pigs. Sandy b...more

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Jul 29, 2010 Sparrow rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: on-a-dare, reviewed

This book is the outtakes from every David Lynch movie. Not the blooper reel, but the scenes that Lynch cut to shave some minutes or just because they were unnecessary and boring. It is, in that way, a found-art piece of all the scraps of daily life and all the momentous decisions people make to be boring.

To me, Blume got the inner life of this cowardly woman, Sandy, all wrong. And I can understand why that would happen. I think women, especially married women, but actually most of us, learn to...more This book is the outtakes from every David Lynch movie. Not the blooper reel, but the scenes that Lynch cut to shave some minutes or just because they were unnecessary and boring. It is, in that way, a found-art piece of all the scraps of daily life and all the momentous decisions people make to be boring.

To me, Blume got the inner life of this cowardly woman, Sandy, all wrong. And I can understand why that would happen. I think women, especially married women, but actually most of us, learn to protect ourselves from judgment and ostracism by writing so many layers of narrative about our selves, and then wrapping our real, vulnerable selves up in those narratives. Eventually, something that we were playing at becomes who we are in an instinctive way. But, I don’t think it becomes who we are in a complete way.

***SPOILERS***

For example, Sandy’s outer narrative is the happy homemaker, and Blume’s inner narrative of her is the scared little girl who longs for sexual freedom. Sandy chooses to abandon the ephemera of sexual freedom because she is a coward. She realizes that she would be equally unhappy in any marriage, so she chooses to stay in an abusive one. She is a threat from Judy Blume to every unhappy housewife who doesn’t value her own sexuality. At the same time, she is Blume’s symbol of the futility of women fighting for freedom in a biased world. She is Blume’s cowardly version of Edna Pontellier.

I don’t buy it, though. I just do not believe that people are that boring. I think there is more that is villainous and more that is heroic in every person than Sandy’s outer and inner narratives allow. Honestly, I’ve thought a lot about these inner and outer stories because Sandy is exactly what my mom’s story of herself always was. That’s not to say that it was a revelatory experience to read this book. It was more like a joke I’ve heard so many times that I forget the end is even a punch line. My mom left her Norman and chose her Shep, but that is neither here nor there, really, in the story. ***END SPOILERS*** And I guess that’s my problem. No woman’s story is actually about her relationship to men. When women frame them that way, I think it’s a smoke screen for an inner life of which they are honestly ashamed, or even of which they are so proud and protective that they can’t share it. Blume sets up an outer, Republican Sandy, and an inner, Democrat Sandy, thereby keeping all of her selves shallow and political.

That is to say that this story about the inner life of a suburban housewife, written by a woman, fails the Bechtel test (credits to Ceridwen and Sock Puppet for bringing that wonderful invention to my notice). And I get that sex is the point of the story, but even in the lesbian adolescence scene, Blume describes one girl as the man and one as the woman, clear that the conduct is about preparing for later heterosexual sex, not about the relationship between the two girls. Then, the description quickly jumps to Sandy’s uncle feeling up his sister-in-law.

And I guess I’m making these criticisms because I don’t think it’s fair to compare this book to bodice rippers or paranormal romance. This book is not silly by any stretch of the imagination. It is not about sunsets and dragons and symbolical fantasy. It is about reality and real fantasy. So, it fails. It’s not true. Sandy’s inner reality is garbage, just like her outer reality. I do not believe that an experience between two adolescent girls lying naked in a bed would contain as little intimacy or feeling as Blume describes. I’m not saying that Blume is lying, I’m just saying that her writing here is as cowardly as Sandy. And I think when women do the zombie act, it’s just that – an act. On some level, I’ll accept that it is a coping mechanism, but it is not real. Maybe it is just my paranoia, but I think feminine cowardice is a lot more sinister than it looks. It is a passive-aggressive version of ambition.

At its best, this book has the atmosphere of Romeo and Juliet - some morons trying to work out their feelings, while the world crumbles around them. At its worst, this book is Eat Pray Love’s mom – trying to show that women aren’t idiots by working with the premise that women are children. After all, who protests the most about not being children? Children. Ultimately, even if you look past all the garbage of Sandy’s fantasies and shallow turmoil, this book still commits the ultimate sin. It is boring.

Also, all the food they eat is really gross.(less)

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deleted user That is exactly what I meant... not being happy and expecting getting married, or divorced, like you said, to solve the problem... which is not someth...more
Aug 01, 2010 12:15pm

Sparrow Was the thread the one from Ellen's review of the Charlotte Perkins Gilman book? That was an interesting thread.

I think that partly all those things...more
Aug 01, 2010 02:26pm

Aug 05, 2010 kristin rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

9 likes · like · see review

Jul 26, 2010 karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-that-bodice-ripper-group, dbr

there could be spoilers, i don't know... i have been drinking....

so, this is my first foray into the bodice rippers group's reading list. i don't know, it wasn't as bad as either of the two romance novels i had to read for my readers' advisory class, but then again it also wasn't as unintentionally funny as either of them. it was actually quite sad. a sad book about reaching out with a vagina in order to find love.

it chronicles the great american dream for women of the recent past - find a nice...more

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Jun 26, 2011 meg rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

an adult novel by judy blume indeed. did you write tales of a fourth grade nothing with that typewriter, judy? damn! this 1978 story of a bored new jersey housewife was mostly depressing, though that's probably the point. as a novel for grown-ups, this book has more sex and awkwardly racist characters, sure, but judy b. definitely has a lot more heart to her novels when she's writing for kids and teens. i mean, margaret grew up in suburban new jersey too and she--and her parents--had a lot more...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Arminius rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: wild-card

Hmmm! I will have to think about this. Alright, here it goes.

After Sandy sends her two children off to camp for the first time she is left with little to do. He husband Norm is a successful dry cleaner and a prominent member of the local New Jersey social club. He enrolls Sandy in tennis and golf lessons at the club in an attempt to keep Sandy entertained. However, Sandy hates the club and lessons so she finds other entertainment.

She fantasizes about her first love, Shep, as she doubts her deci...more

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Jul 16, 2010 Ellen rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: a-little-schlocky, novels

The naked man in full erection who arrives on Sandy’s lawn, like the Ghost of Christmas Future, does indeed “point” the way, as his actions are both metaphoric and prophetic. From her bedroom window, Sandy watches the man, who discards the sheet initially draped over him, masturbates, and then leaves on a motorcycle. He knows she is watching, and she knows he knows. Though the scene is charged with sexual tension, it is at a remove and both inexplicable and random.

It’s hard to know what Judy Bl...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Amber rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: lady-fiction, creepster

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Oh holy crap. Wow. That was pretty great. This is as close to a romance novel as I will ever get even though it was pretty spectacular. Was this really what 1970 was like? You're 33 and married with two kids and dudes from all over want to bone you? You get obscene phone calls and every guy you meet wants to "do it" (italics original) with you? Will that happen to me when I'm 33? It sure isn't happening now. Is it just because everyone was a swinger then?

The great thing about Judy Blume is that...more

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Feb 10, 2008 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Erica Jong for teenagers. I read this when I was in high school. The woman who told me about periods and wet dreams now told me about...Flashing! Masturbating on someone's lawn! Fucking! Multiple partners!! Including one's in-law!!! And extramarital affairs! All in one book!

Tame for an adult, but it had some great imagery that stuck with me. The book begins with a masked man in a cape riding a motorcycle into Wifey's backyard, tossing up his cape, and...well, tossing off, leaving his "stuff" on...more

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May 25, 2007 Billy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: readalready, fiction

Wifey tries hard to be The Awakening. It tries and it fails. Where The Awakening had a somewhat sympathetic protagonist, Wifey's main protagonist is just annoying and dare I say it, ignorant. Where in The Awkening Edna came off as being a mature, insightful character, Wifey's Sandy, in contrast, seems more like a never-satisfied child.

It is impossible to feel for Sandy or have any type of sympathy for this character at all. Throughout the book, Sandy comes across as being completely wrong. Hol...more

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May 24, 2012 Kaitlyn Barrett rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: minty-fresh-chicklits

From the foreword I got a hint of the scandal this book caused during its first publishing. A YA author writing an adult novel full of explicit sex fantasies, perversions and wife-swapping? The shock waves must have been palpable.

Blume's writing is mannered and a little unnatural but very readable. It feels easy and unstrained. She's a pro and has written a lot and I could tell.

I sympathized with her character's discontent in the face of a life she’s built and outgrown but I didn't get the endin...more

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Aug 11, 2008 Whitney rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

2 likes · like · see review

Sep 21, 2007 Reannon Peterson rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: other women

Wifey looks at marriage, motherhood, and sex through the eyes of a sexually-frustrated housewife in the 1970s. Her husband is emotionally-absent, only does it missionary style, and just doesn't get it. "Wifey" spends much of her time day-dreaming about sleeping with other men and has a pretty explicit mind. I was shocked by the ending, and it actually made me cry which was very unexpected for a book like this. Overall, it's an interesting story about self-realization and relationships. The writi...more

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 12, 2013 Jill Waldman rated it 1 of 5 stars

I don't throw books away. This one I hated so much I didn't want to be reminded of it's existence. It was a random choice, I was plugging my way through Birdsong and it was just so boring I couldn't take it anymore. I was at my mom's apartment and found this among old Judy Blume books. It is clearly a book written because everyone was like "oh Judy you write such good little erotic scenes in your young adult books, you should write an erotic novel!" This book is a 70's porn that will make you fi...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Kristina rated it 3 of 5 stars

I went into this book with the wrong expectations, thinking it would be a humorous telling of a woman in a midlife crisis kind of time in her life. While it did have some humorous parts, it was rather depressing. The main character is treated poorly by her husband, mentally not physically, and the family's dog is almost treated to have more intelligence by him than his wife. It is set in a time where woman were becoming more independent and fighting to be recognized as mental equals with men, wh...more

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Nov 17, 2012 Julie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read Wifey when I was 15ish and I just read it again for the heck of it. Long story short: (spoiler alert). Flasher / Masterbater on a Motorcycle pays a window visit to a Bored / Nympho (her words) housewife 32yo-ish wanting to find herself / know herself. Gets hit on / has lots of fantasies. Decides to cheat on her neanderthal husband with her sisters husband (also it is her gynecologist). Bleck!

Affair #2 was her BFFs husband. The BFF and the Husb decided to have "Open Marriage Thursdays" an...more

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May 28, 2012 nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

A 1970s suburban housewife's sexual awakening while her kids are away at summer camp.

Everyone in my office is talking about 50 Shades of Grey. There is literally at least a half-hour conversation about it every day. I have been on the hold list for our e-book copy for months at this point, having been number three hundred something when I first joined. One of my coworkers was absolutely aghast that I would even think of reading it without first reading this Judy Blume classic. (Particularly sinc...more

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Oct 07, 2011 Jamison rated it 3 of 5 stars

nostalgic guilty pleasure time.

when i was young, i knew this wasn't the book i was supposed to read. this wasn't "are you there, God, it's me margaret?" this wasn't "deenie." this sure as hell wasn't "starring sally j freedman as herself."

and yet, in the back of my mind, i knew judy blume was capable of writing a novel like this. i got the feeling that blume, as she was writing her teenage books, was sort of...holding herself back.. (i mean, come on! what is a dream sequence with bondage *and*...more

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Jul 28, 2010 Ceridwen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Ceridwen by: RBRS

Shelves: america-and-environs, for-teh-ladies, incest-is-best, rbrs, zombies, the-housewife

(A quick aside, thanks to Elizabeth for helping me with this review. I didn't like this book, which should by all rights garner it a one-star, but this book is much more complex and crazy-making than that, so I'm bumping it up to three. I can't say I recommend it to anyone, but it's been an interesting read.)

First off, I'd like to note that this book was chosen as a group read for a romance-reading group. This is seriously funny-sad, in retrospect, because I think this novel is the anti-romance....more

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Jul 25, 2010 Trin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-lit, fiction

While I was reading this book, I started indulging in little fantasies. Mine were a bit different from the protagonist, Sandy's, whose bad-porn-like daydreams (fucking the plumber! classic!) are her only escape from her stultifying marriage to New Jersey dry cleaning magnate Norman Pressman. (Ooh, sneaky pun there, Judy.) For example:

Sandy was staring out the window when Norman came back from walking the dog. "He did three sticks...or maybe four. I don't remember."

"Norman, are you feeling all ri...more While I was reading this book, I started indulging in little fantasies. Mine were a bit different from the protagonist, Sandy's, whose bad-porn-like daydreams (fucking the plumber! classic!) are her only escape from her stultifying marriage to New Jersey dry cleaning magnate Norman Pressman. (Ooh, sneaky pun there, Judy.) For example:

Sandy was staring out the window when Norman came back from walking the dog. "He did three sticks...or maybe four. I don't remember."

"Norman, are you feeling all right?"

"Yes. No. There was a suspicious character lurking at the end of the block. He tried to... I didn't get a very good look at him. He was probably a ductla. It'll all be better when we move to the new house."

"Maybe you should go to bed."

"All right... Maybe we both should."

"I don't have my diaphragm in."

"Come on, San. I'm feeling it. Are you feeling it?" With a sudden movement, he pressed his face against her neck. Sandy threw her mind back to the Rambler with Shep. "You smell so good, San," Norman said, nuzzling her. His forehead was slick with sweat. In the doorway, Banushka started growling.

Sandy tried to squirm away. "At least let me put in my diaphragm."

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR FUCKING DIAPHRAGM." Norman stared up at her, his eyes wild and red. His mouth was open in a snarl.

Sandy shrieked and stumbled back. His fingernails were digging into her wrist. Sandy grabbed onto the nightstand and tugged her arm free. Norman was still advancing, snarling and hissing, but his movements seemed drunken, uncoordinated. Great strings of spittle dripped down his chin, along with something viscous and black.

When he lunged at her, Sandy didn't think, but simply grabbed the can of Lysol and sprayed him full in the face.

Norman collapsed on the floor, howling like an animal. Sandy vaulted past him into the next room. She couldn't decide what to do. Call the police? Somehow this seemed a little above Officer Hubanski's pay grade.

She was still hesitating by the phone when Norman lurched into the living room. His posture was hunched, his arms hanging down like an ape's. His eyes were bloodshot and wild. Sandy sucked in a shaky breath. Nothing her mother had told her had prepared her for this. Still, she knew what she had to do.

When Norman launched himself at her, Sandy grabbed a 9-iron out of her lemon yellow golf bag and swung it at his head with all her might.

A few seconds later, Norman was lying dead on the floor, and Sandy was standing over him, his blood and brain matter decorating her blouse.

Just like Jackie Kennedy, she thought.

Yeah, so. My imagination's a bit more...violent than Sandy's. Possibly I should talk to someone about that.

In all seriousness, though: I liked this book. It was tart and sharp and realistic—painfully so. I liked that Blume never inserted herself (heh) into the narrative: the whole book takes place in Sandy's (half-)brain, so we never get the relief of leaving her narrow world to a place where we might look down upon it and make smug authorial or readerly judgments. It's suffocating being stuck with Sandy in 1970 New Jersey, in that awful "first" home with Norman. I was seriously longing for some zombie mayhem by the end, or even just a plain, old-fashioned knee applied to Norman's tiny, old-fashioned balls. You know if someone like Nora Ephron made this book into a movie, Sandy would kick Norman to the curb at the end, steal Shep's Porsche, and drive off into the sunset with the top down while "I'm Every Woman" or something blasted from the speakers. But Blume's got a lot more restraint. The novel she's written is frustrating, but I think that's entirely the point. This whole book is a stifled scream.(less)

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Jul 08, 2010 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's been a long time since I have read Judy Blume. I loved her coming of age books when I was growing up. I remember hanging out a the pool with my friends discussing and giggling over the more racey sections. One of my friends have already read Wifey even though it was an adult selection. Years later when "Summer Sisters" came out I saw Wifey and bought it at the same time, but never read it. I came across Wifey this week while I was cleaning out my office and I could not put it down.

In this d...more

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Jun 09, 2010 christa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Admittedly, I remember very little from the 1970s beyond having panel walls in our kitchen, and matted mustard carpeting in the living room. So, luckily, I am able to see beyond the frustrations of sexually stifled housewife Sandy Pressman, and instead take Judy Blume's hidden-in-the-hamper novel from the era for something better: "Wifey" is Pure. Comic. Gold.

The book opens with Sandy Pressman looking out her window upon waking, and finding a man wearing just a bed sheet -- which he quickly she...more Admittedly, I remember very little from the 1970s beyond having panel walls in our kitchen, and matted mustard carpeting in the living room. So, luckily, I am able to see beyond the frustrations of sexually stifled housewife Sandy Pressman, and instead take Judy Blume's hidden-in-the-hamper novel from the era for something better: "Wifey" is Pure. Comic. Gold.

The book opens with Sandy Pressman looking out her window upon waking, and finding a man wearing just a bed sheet -- which he quickly sheds -- and a stars and stripes helmet, standing on the edge of her yard. He precedes to coax himself toward the proverbial second base, then zip away naked on his motorcycle. She calls her husband, who then calls the police. When a cop stops by to get her statement, Sandy recreates the "crime scene" and adds the final detail that defines the rest of the book.

"I just remembered ... he was left handed," she tells the sergeant.

Well, well, wellsy, Lady Hot Pants Pressman. You noticed. Rawr.

This experience kicks off a sexual something. Not an awakening, per se. Sandy took some pretty experimental tours around the old block back in the day with a pretty creative lad named Shep. But it is a sort of sexual acceptance: that her three minutes of Saturday night special -- which her blase husband tops off with gargling, scrubbing, and air freshener -- is no match for the memories of her time with Shep. Meanwhile, all around her, the mens are sitting up and taking notice of the Jackie O. lookalike. Her body becomes a sort of scratching post for those who inhale her pheromones. And a good time is had by all.

This causes an understandable amount of disdain for her mousy master of a husband, who does things like cut photographs of hairstyles for her to consider out of magazines, and push her toward more time at the Country Club, where she should be learning to play golf and tennis.

What a delicious, hokey and charming read from the woman who taught us all how they strapped on maxi pads in the old-fashioned days. Thankfully we don't have to hide it on a high shelf anymore. (less)

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Sep 07, 2009 Ruth added it

Shelves: don-t-event-bother

This was painful to read- tedious descriptions of a tepid housewife's seedy sexual fantasies, with lots of gratuitous use of "other" vocabulary. I liked Judy Blume books as a kid, but this, her "adult" novel, lacked any of the depth, characterization, or plot that I would expect from a book supposedly meant for grownups. I revile the main character, who is shallow and dull, as is the characterization of her and all of the supporting characters. I also revile the plot (or lack there-of). I found...more

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Aug 12, 2009 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read this for last book club. I read it in a day and a half. It was a quick read. A quick smutty read. But through all that smut was a fairly good story- one that exposed the hypocrisy of the "family values" era of the late 60's. While Leave it to Beaver was on TV.. everybody was screwing their neighbors wives.

So, I guess it was one "good girl"'s realization that she was trapped in a loveless marriage for the sake of security and appearances while she realized all of highly repressed sexualit...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Cathy rated it 3 of 5 stars

When I was a kid and this book came out, all the kids whispered that it was a "sexy" book. The original jacket descriptions reinforce that image - "The national bestseller about a very nice housewife with a very dirty mind!" It sounded like something naughty, fun, racy, etc.

It was surprise to read this book as an adult and find something entirely different - something more like a feminist treatise about the inner lives of unhappy 70s housewives. The main character's misery and malaise make thems...more

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Jul 31, 2010 Michelle Kelly rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

1 out of 5 hearts

One word, BORING.

I remember reading this book for the first time in grade 7. Two Judy Blume books were passed around from girl to girl, Forever and Wifey. I remember getting all excited when Judy Blume described how the one character “Shep” French kissed by rolling his tongue over “Sandy’s” teeth and it was so hot. I couldn’t wait to French kiss to try that out. Okay so now I have matured and I see a total different approach on this book.

I really didn’t find the book entertain...more 1 out of 5 hearts

One word, BORING.

I remember reading this book for the first time in grade 7. Two Judy Blume books were passed around from girl to girl, Forever and Wifey. I remember getting all excited when Judy Blume described how the one character “Shep” French kissed by rolling his tongue over “Sandy’s” teeth and it was so hot. I couldn’t wait to French kiss to try that out. Okay so now I have matured and I see a total different approach on this book.

I really didn’t find the book entertaining at all. It is simply about a housewife in late 60’s and early 70’s and she is bored. Granted I’d be damn bored in that sort of repressive marriage as well but I guess those were the times. I shuddered at “Sandy” and her husband “Norman’s” love making and the entire sterilized atmosphere after he got his “little something”. Colgate kisses, separate beds, cleaned sheets, opened windows, Lysol’s sprayed room afterwards. *shudders*

They way “Norman” talks to her by trying to get her to suppress emotions and telling her that she has half a brain was basically pissing me off. The book definitely demonstrated the importance of communication and tenderness in marriage cause this marriage was seriously lacking.

“Sandy” encounters her teenage boyfriend “Shep” and because she is so longing for love and affection, she has an affair with him. Of course, “Shep” is a dog of a man preying on her vulnerability. Did I mention that he is now married with five kids? Yep, DOG. I am sure all he was after was making up for the fact he never got “Sandy’s” virginity.

Oh but before “Sandy” decides to cheat on her husband with “Shep”, she has two other very odd sexual sitations with her sister’s huband (who is also her gyno) and her best friend’s husband. I had to laugh out loud when she got gonorrhoea. Boy when it rains it pours.

I couldn’t wait to finish the book just so I could say I read it with a mature outlook and now I will place it “Smart Woman” on the garage sale pile.
(less)

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Dec 15, 2009 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars

Plot Summary: Sandy Pressman is the wife of Norman, a successful but dull businessman, has two children and after 12 years of marriage, is utterly bored with her 1970's New Jersey suburban housewife role. She idolizes Jackie Kennedy, has fantasies about the guy who drives by on a motorcycle and wonders what ever happened to her exciting high school boyfriend, Shep.

When her kids are away at summer camp she decides to explore the possibilities for an extra-marital affair. She starts by looking up...more Plot Summary: Sandy Pressman is the wife of Norman, a successful but dull businessman, has two children and after 12 years of marriage, is utterly bored with her 1970's New Jersey suburban housewife role. She idolizes Jackie Kennedy, has fantasies about the guy who drives by on a motorcycle and wonders what ever happened to her exciting high school boyfriend, Shep.

When her kids are away at summer camp she decides to explore the possibilities for an extra-marital affair. She starts by looking up her friend in New York with an open marriage, has an unexpected encounter with her brother-in-law, and eventually reunites with Shep, who is interested in going further than they did in high school. Sandy starts to get confused about what she wants and then discovers evidence that maybe Norman has been having a long term affair.

I first read this book several years ago but recently read it again. When I picked it up off the shelf at Barnes and Noble, I had no idea when this book was written. I had no idea that Judy Blume had been writing adult novels for years. I was instantly intrigued as I loved many of her books from my childhood. But this is no children's book! When I read it, around 2004 I think, the language and subjects were quite shocking! Now imagine reading this in the 70's when it was first published! There are many swear words, sexual fantasies and interludes and other adult themes. If I had discovered this book when I was younger, who knows what I might have learned! So, keep this book out of reach of children and even teens. I wouldn't suggest this book for anyone younger than 18 and only because by then they are legally an adult and can go to war so I guess they could handle it.

I found that the plot was boring, but I think that is the point. Sandy is bored. She's unhappy in her marriage and so she just goes about life while nothing happens to her. There is a plot and a pretty good one at that, but it is slow getting to the point. This book is pretty short read and you could read it in a weekend if you were diligent. I recommended the book for my book club and the others didn't quite agree with my review of it...but hey, what can I say, I like a good dirty book.(less)

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Dec 13, 2009 Katherine McCall rated it 3 of 5 stars

Why I read this book:
It was recommended in my book club.

Summary:
This is the story of a bored housewife in the 1970's I think. Sandy Pressman is a stay at home mom whose children are away as summer camp and her husband isn't there for her. The book is quite racy for it's day though not so much by today's standards. Sandy is face with a naked man on a motorcycle among other things.

My Review:
Honestly, this was not a favorite of mine though I did not dislike it. There wasn't really much of a storyli...more

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Aug 15, 2011 David Jay rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book, for the first time, when it came out in the late 70s. I was in junior high school and loved all of Judy Blume's books aimed at kids my age. This was her first book for adults and when my mother finished it, I gobbled up her copy. One of the other mother's at school saw that I was reading it and made a comment to my mother, that it was inappropriate for someone my age to be reading "Wifey." My mother replied that if I could understand it, she thought it was ok for me to read it....more

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Oct 18, 2010 Meagan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2010

I remember as a kid reading "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and "Superfudge"...then as a young teen I read "Tiger Eyes...so I was pretty excited to find out Judy Blume wrote fiction for adults.

I'm left scratching my head on this one. I'm not sure what Blume was trying to accomplish with the character of Sandy. Sexual freedom or the comfort-ness of marriage? She couldn't pick between the two and failed at both. Sandy's new found sexual prowlness just makes her look like a selfish whore, so it...more

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Wifey/Smart Women by Judy Blume	4	31	Feb 28, 2011 05:49am

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About Judy Blume

Judy Blume spent her childhood in Elizabeth, New Jersey, making up stories inside her head. She has spent her adult years in many places doing the same thing, only now she writes her stories down on paper. Adults as well as children will recognize such Blume titles as: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; Blubber; Just as Long as We're Together; and the five book series about the irrepressible Fu...more Judy Blume spent her childhood in Elizabeth, New Jersey, making up stories inside her head. She has spent her adult years in many places doing the same thing, only now she writes her stories down on paper. Adults as well as children will recognize such Blume titles as: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; Blubber; Just as Long as We're Together; and the five book series about the irrepressible Fudge. She has also written three novels for adults, Summer Sisters; Smart Women; and Wifey, all of them New York Times bestsellers. More than 80 million copies of her books have been sold, and her work has been translated into thirty-one languages. She receives thousands of letters a year from readers of all ages who share their feelings and concerns with her.
Judy received a B.S. in education from New York University in 1961, which named her a Distinguished Alumna in 1996, the same year the American Library Association honored her with the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement. Other recognitions include the Library of Congress Living Legends Award and the 2004 National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
She is the founder and trustee of The Kids Fund, a charitable and educational foundation. She serves on the boards of the Author's Guild; the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators; the Key West Literary Seminar; and the National Coalition Against Censorship.
Judy is a longtime advocate of intellectual freedom. Finding herself at the center of an organized book banning campaign in the 1980's she began to reach out to other writers, as well as teachers and librarians, who were under fire. Since then, she has worked tirelessly with the National Coalition Against Censorship to protect the freedom to read. She is the editor of Places I Never Meant To Be, Original Stories by Censored Writers.
Judy has completed a series of four chapter books -- The Pain & the Great One -- illustrated by New Yorker cartoonist James Stevenson. She has co-written and produced a film adaptation of her book Tiger Eyes, and is currently writing a new novel.
Judy and her husband George Cooper live on islands up and down the east coast. They have three grown children and one grandchild.(less)

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Books by Judy Blume

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (Fudge, #1)

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Trivia About Wifey

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Quotes from Wifey

“Keep busy, Sandy ... when you're busy you don't have time to brood ..."
"Life should be more than keeping busy."
"Maybe it should be, but for most of us, it's not.” — 4 people liked it

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avg rating	preview: Wifey Goodreads rating: 3.33 (7068 ratings)
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