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73rd out of 76 books
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The Late Bloomer's Revolution
by
Amy Cohen (Goodreads Author)
In this unforgettable, engaging memoir, Cohen recounts her--seemingly--never-ending search for love, her evolving relationship with her widowed dad, and her own almost unintentional growth as she stumbles through life.
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
June 27th 2007
by Hyperion
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Jeff
rated it
Recommends it for:
People who like to sleep in a large bed by themselves, and by like, I mean cry themselves to sleep
There's a bit of a story behind me reading this book.
First: I like reading memoirs, at least, so I thought. I started reading memoirs years ago. I started with David Sedaris, and moved onto Sarah Vowell, and then some Augusten Burroughs, Chuck Klosterman, and some David Rackoff... all authors that I greatly admire for their writing skills. This is akin to me taking up watching basketball by watching the all the 1992 Dream Team games. It turns out not all writers have the ability to spi...more
First: I like reading memoirs, at least, so I thought. I started reading memoirs years ago. I started with David Sedaris, and moved onto Sarah Vowell, and then some Augusten Burroughs, Chuck Klosterman, and some David Rackoff... all authors that I greatly admire for their writing skills. This is akin to me taking up watching basketball by watching the all the 1992 Dream Team games. It turns out not all writers have the ability to spi...more
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Susan
added it
I actually had to stop reading this book only a few chapters from the end. I just couldn't take anymore. It wasn't that I pitied the author, it's just I couldn't take anymore of the self-deprecating tone. I'm the first to admit that I tend to internalize the attitude of many authors, and this one just put me in a funk I couldn't shake until I finally just said, "Enough." It was so, so different than the book I thought it was going to be.
Cute chick + NYC + media job + boyfriend troubles + comedically quirky friends and family + insipid metaphors + lightbulb moment resolution = book deal! Next, it will surely be opening at a multiplex near you.
This read was so formulaic I had to remind myself that The Late Bloomer's Revolution is actually a memoir, not fictitious chick lit. We all know too well the irritating law of chick lit bestsellerdom: a free-spirited, but still safely conventional, damsel must learn to balance car...more
This read was so formulaic I had to remind myself that The Late Bloomer's Revolution is actually a memoir, not fictitious chick lit. We all know too well the irritating law of chick lit bestsellerdom: a free-spirited, but still safely conventional, damsel must learn to balance car...more
Cute, but unfortunately, I found the author to be a Carrie Bradshaw-wannabe. I DID think she was funny, however. But she wallowed in her 'singleness' to such a pathetic degree. I have come to believe that the main (but not the only) reason single thirtysomethings are so fearful / desperate is not necessarily because they're lacking a man--rather, they're lacking children! (MOST singles, but not all, ok?) I have one half of the "Single American Western Hemisphere Woman's Dream": my son,...more
I never quite understood why the author was so down on herself or her life, but we all have our own problems, so I chalked it up to that. (To me, most of her life sounds great. But if you're the one living it, it probably doesn't feel so great.) The story is kind of all over the map, jumping story to story, focusing on different things in her life, and bouncing around in time. Not a linear narrative. But, her voice is amusing and light. I wish she'd let more of her "real" personality c...more
The title intrigued me, as I always felt I was a late bloomer. Amy Cohen has had some rough times, that's for sure. She was dumped by the guy she was sure she was going to marry. She lost her job as a tv writer. Her Mom died of cancer. And then she came down with a stress-induced form of acne that was so horrifying that she didn't leave her home for months.
And as bad as all that sounds, this woman has not let these things beat her. She can still look at the bright side and know that...more
And as bad as all that sounds, this woman has not let these things beat her. She can still look at the bright side and know that...more
Jen
rated it
Based on the blurb on the back of the book, I thought it was going to be more about the author's search for her life's path. Unfortunately it primarily about dating and her search for love. I felt I'd been tricked into reading another chick-lit book (although this is a memoir, not fiction). The author is very funny, but I felt like I've read portions of her story in other books. And although I admire her for not tying everything up in a bow at the end, the story was hardly reassuring--again as t...more
Why do I keep reading these types of books? I must be a mashochist. haha The back of the book made me think this was going to be about a woman over 30 searching for meaning in her life or career choice, etc. Instead, it was all about her searching for a boyfriend.
First off, this book is a little bit insulting to anyone who's over 40 and single because the author insinuates that she's a "late bloomer" when she's really only about 35 throughout most of the book. I don'...more
First off, this book is a little bit insulting to anyone who's over 40 and single because the author insinuates that she's a "late bloomer" when she's really only about 35 throughout most of the book. I don'...more
Amy is very funny. I debated giving this one 4 stars, but I kinda hoard those high-star ratings. I really thought about it though, so shade in 3/4 of another star in your mind, okay?
She wrote the kind of book I think I'd write if I ever had the patience -- or talent -- to do so. Meaning, it kinda doesn't really go anywhere, but it's a fun ride. At the cafe today I was laughing to myself enough that someone asked me what I was reading. Oddly enough, he (the barista who asked said...more
She wrote the kind of book I think I'd write if I ever had the patience -- or talent -- to do so. Meaning, it kinda doesn't really go anywhere, but it's a fun ride. At the cafe today I was laughing to myself enough that someone asked me what I was reading. Oddly enough, he (the barista who asked said...more
I just figured out the reason I like this website so much- You guys are really tough. It's so good.None of the gooey sycophantic crap for you.None of this "Ohhh I just learned SO MUCH from this book." You are all just so critical. It's perfect.
All the reviews I just read about this book- The Late Bloomer's Revolution- are right. The author - Amy Cohen -is whiny and she only gets more whiny.She is obsessed with finding a husband- which frankly is an insult to female intelligence e...more
All the reviews I just read about this book- The Late Bloomer's Revolution- are right. The author - Amy Cohen -is whiny and she only gets more whiny.She is obsessed with finding a husband- which frankly is an insult to female intelligence e...more
Having always felt somewhat on the "short bus" myself in life, I could really relate to this book. Cohen chronicles -- in snappy-yet-evocative prose -- finding love, losing love, breaking out in a tenacious, months-long rash and losing her beloved mother. Not so much a revolution as some intense navel-gazing, Cohen has nevertheless written an engaging and poignant memoir.
This has got to be one of the most unremarkable memoirs I have ever started. After about 44 (unclever) pages of the author whining about being single, her face rash, and her recently-deceased mother, I gave up. I have better things to do than read a hardcover pity party. No wonder she's single...
I picked this up a couple of years ago, but couldn't stick it out past page 98. The narrator's tone was just so awful and annoying. It was just so "Woe is me, my life is so awful. I don't understand why bad things keep happening to me!" But it seemed she wasn't willing to do anything to actively change it. She was merely content in complaining. I've always felt that if a person has a negative attitude when bad things happen, worse things will begin to happen and bad luck will alm...more
I found this book while perusing the non-fiction section at Barnes and Noble, looking for my present for my aunt. It spoke to me, because I have recently lost my mom, been through a divorce and often feel a bit lost. In short, I thought that the book would be highly relatable.
I did find the parts about dealing with a sick parent and subsequent death of a parent to be very relatable. Unfortunately, this only made up a small part of Amy Cohen’s book. It mostly dealt with her love lif...more
I did find the parts about dealing with a sick parent and subsequent death of a parent to be very relatable. Unfortunately, this only made up a small part of Amy Cohen’s book. It mostly dealt with her love lif...more
I'd really like to give this 3.5 stars if I could. I really enjoyed this memoir by Amy Cohen, a single woman in her mid-thirties trying to find herself after a bad break-up and the death of her mom. I really related to Ms. Cohen and found some hope for myself in her story. I didn't give it a full four stars, or five, because toward the end, it seems like the the author got to the last chapter and thought, I need to finish this now. I feel like a couple of chapters in between were missing and...more
Don't listen to all those magazine reviews - this memoir is not as funny or uplifting as advertised. In fact, I found it pretty depressing. Read at your own risk.
I really enjoyed this memoir. Amy Cohen was very likeable-I appreciated her honesty and self-depracating humor. I would categorize it as chick lit with more truth and realism than the usual fare. As someone who hasn't lived life according to the traditional timeline, I appreciated the general themes of the book-you can be happy taking a different path and life has it's share of disappointments but you can emerge fine. Just because you've reached a certain age or point in life there still can be ...more
This book has so much truth. There were points that I laughed out loud because I understood and had experienced the same things. Very good read!
I was originally going to just write, "meh" and be done with it but now part of me wonders if I was unfair to it, like, the entire time. While I was reading it, it seemed like a boring, poorly written, indifferently edited hybrid of chick lit and memoir, but having gotten finally to the end, I have to say that it didn't end up where I thought it would (well, it sort of ended up where I thought it would before I started reading it, but, yeah, with the bad chick lit and all, I had revis...more
Amy Cohen, former television writer (Caroline in the City, Spin City) is an engaging, clever author and this memoir of her hard luck 30s --she lost her mom, she lost her job, she lost her fiance-- nicely balances the funny and the sad. That said, I wish some of the later chapters didn't focus exclusively on her crummy dates and her search for a boyfriend. Earlier chapters about her vivacious mother (and the pain of losing her) and her suddenly close relationship with her widowed father were so m...more
This was a wonderfully written book full of humor and honesty. Page after page felt like Cohen was revealing her most vulnerable and insecure insides.
Unfortunately, this for me also contributed to the greatest downside to the book. I kept waiting for the tone of the story to change, or for the big event that would change the direction and perk things up a bit. No such luck. By the time I ended the book, I felt like I needed a Zoloft. I've never read a memoir that was so depressing!
...more
Unfortunately, this for me also contributed to the greatest downside to the book. I kept waiting for the tone of the story to change, or for the big event that would change the direction and perk things up a bit. No such luck. By the time I ended the book, I felt like I needed a Zoloft. I've never read a memoir that was so depressing!
...more
I really wanted to love this, but I just liked it.
I definitely liked Amy Bloom--and I'm not the only one. The book is blurbed to the hilt. The reviews are respectfully enthusiastic.
Because it's a true story I hate to say this, but it's really just a wee bit too predictable. Dating is hard. Skin conditions are rough. People with kids can be annoying when you don't have kids. It's hard, but worthwhile, to try new things like riding a bike.
Here's the thing, pa...more
I definitely liked Amy Bloom--and I'm not the only one. The book is blurbed to the hilt. The reviews are respectfully enthusiastic.
Because it's a true story I hate to say this, but it's really just a wee bit too predictable. Dating is hard. Skin conditions are rough. People with kids can be annoying when you don't have kids. It's hard, but worthwhile, to try new things like riding a bike.
Here's the thing, pa...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Those who know me (or who know my writing), may be surprised by my choice for my first book review attempt. It's not that I don't like chick-lit or that I have to be eponymous. I never expected, similar to the Jewish-female author Amy Cohen, to be addressing my own life as a single woman at the age of "late twenties."
I've been the type of girl whose always had a boyfriend. <!--more-->In 8th grade, I shared my first kiss with a boy near the creak by m...more
Those who know me (or who know my writing), may be surprised by my choice for my first book review attempt. It's not that I don't like chick-lit or that I have to be eponymous. I never expected, similar to the Jewish-female author Amy Cohen, to be addressing my own life as a single woman at the age of "late twenties."
I've been the type of girl whose always had a boyfriend. <!--more-->In 8th grade, I shared my first kiss with a boy near the creak by m...more
I felt soooo satisfied when I finished this book. Cohen's memoir will certainly resonate with any American woman who is romantically and professionally underwhelmed--and who still has an alarming number of things left unchecked on her mental 'things to do before you die' list. It's surprisingly poignant and more than capable of making you accidentally snort spring water through your nose while you're reading. (Guilty.) A former sitcom writer turned spinning instructor, Cohen finds herself in the...more
This book is of the typical "chick lit" fold. Thirty-something woman struggling to successfully date, land a husband and pop out a kid. I am not quite sure what the "revolutionary" aspect is of this tale other than the fact that Cohen learns to ride a bicycle at 35. I have to give Cohen credit for keeping a sense of humor throughout her journey -- starting with the death of her mother and ending in an unexpected way that I won't divulge for fear of ruining it for you. ...more
From page one, I was hooked. Amy Cohen has a fantastic sense of humor and this leads me to believe we'd be BFFs if we were actually to meet. I laughed at loud at her descriptions and phrases. After her mother passes away, Amy and her dad grow closer through all of Amy's highs, lows and dates both good and bad. As the years march on, Amy remains single. Why is everyone else marrying off but not her? Amy ultimately realizes that her own company, being alone, is not as bad as one might think. The b...more
I really liked this book. I was in a hurry to read it, since I heard it was good, and since I also heard that Sarah Jessica Parker, who annoys the bejeesus out of me, is starring in the movie adaptation, and I wanted to find out if it was good before I began hating it on principle.
Having said all that, I was impressed with the book despite having high expectations for it. So many books these days about single women are all about their search for love, and the incompleteness of life ...more
Having said all that, I was impressed with the book despite having high expectations for it. So many books these days about single women are all about their search for love, and the incompleteness of life ...more
so why does a 42 year old male pick up a book with flowers on the cover, written by a woman, presumably FOR women, with the title: The Late Bloomer's Revolution? i think it's because i have many female friends (mostly in their early 30's) who are going through, or went through, the same things that amy writes about in her book. i have lunch with these women and i am amazed and confused, at the same time. i cannot understand how such fantastic and often attractive (not that that's so important) ...more
This book was a fast and funny read, but from the title I had somewhat different and loftier expectations. My expectations: that Cohen would look to some famous late bloomers, like Julia Child, who didn't take up cooking until she was 36, for inspiration and weave their biographies into her story. The reality: like Candace Bushnell of "Sex and the City" fame, Cohen becomes a columnist for the New York Observer and it's hard not to make comparisons between her and the fictional Carrie B...more
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Amy Cohen was a writer/producer on the sitcoms Caroline in the City and Spin City, a dating columnist for the New York Observer, and the dating correspondent for cable TV's New York Central. She lives in New York City.
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“This was one of those moments when I realized that my emotional baggage, once a few neatly packed pieces, was now like the Joads' truck, stacked high with old clothes, half a rocking chair, a mule, all barely secured with twine.”
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“When I was growing up, in our house nudity was defined as the period of time between the shower and your towel.”
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