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Side Effects: A New Orleans Love Story
New Orleans's idiosyncrasies have been embraced by the world; Patty Friedmann gives us a tender, hilarious portrait of them in her new novel Side Effects. Set in N.O. Drugstore where hardscrabble black Pigeontown meets stuffy white Tulane, Side Effects is peopled with the true New Orleans oddballs who scuffle between the Seasonal Specials and Depends aisles — all in full view of the pharmacy staff. Proudly plump blonde Luciana Jambon, dreadlocked and neatly compulsive Lennon Israel, and up-from-the-'hood Vendetta Greene have their own dramas of romance and friendship.
A wacky and suspenseful story of family conflict and a death under suspicious circumstances, Side Effects serves most as a comical reminder that New Orleans loves nothing more than to laugh at itself.
A wacky and suspenseful story of family conflict and a death under suspicious circumstances, Side Effects serves most as a comical reminder that New Orleans loves nothing more than to laugh at itself.
- GenresFiction
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
1 person is currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Patty Friedmann
35 books36 followersPatty Friedmann is a darkly comic New Orleans novelist whose dozen works include the Amazon perennial bestseller Too Jewish and the celebrated Secondhand Smoke. Her essays, short stories, and reviews have appeared in Newsweek, Publishers Weekly, New Orleans Noir, Short Story, and Oxford American, among other places. A novel titled An Organized Panic and a collection of her stories titled Where Do They All Come From are 2017 releases. Patty has had two husbands, two children, and three grandchildren, and currently lives with an annoying philodendron.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 7, 2012
This book described New Orleans with perfection. The city, the streets, the neighborhoods! The dialogue was amazing, along with the New Orleans slang and unique perspective. The interconnectedness of the characters was just brilliant, and their differences, yet similarities are uncanny. I was fortunate enough to purchase this book from my favorite used book store, and I am so glad I did! What a journey through the lives that we live here, the difficulty of the clash of cultures, at times! A must read, and not just for New Orleans natives! The characters resonate with true emotion and heartfelt intensity.
March 21, 2008
Having a hard time with this one - writing seems choppy & conversations disconnected - maybe I'm just tired?
February 25, 2019
This was a rather quirky book. I liked parts of it quite well, but some of it I had trouble following. I enjoy dialect, but often when Vendetta and her sisters were speaking, I was kinda lost, at least some of the time. I'm sure it would have helped if I had ever spent much time in New Orleans. I grew up in East Texas, and I bet many folks would not always understand us either. It's amazing how different parts of the South are from each other.
April 11, 2011
This was a good book. Loved. It. Luciana (Ciana) Jambon is the shift head of a pharmacy in New Orleans. Her two employees are her best friend Vendetta and Lennon (who she's got a thing for). Ciana likes her life, and she tells the reader in the first chapter that she's fat, she's not getting any thinner, and if you don't like it you can get over it. That's so cool. Granted, Ciana does have self esteem issues, helped along by her brother and his superficial wife. Ciana's very, very close with her mother and she's unabashedly her mother's favorite child.
When Mama Jambon goes to NYC with the Superficial Wife everything goes downhill. She has a fall and ends up in a hospital. She is flown home rather than treated in NYC because the superficial wife is also completely bitchcakes. Mama Jambon dies and what follows is a combination murder mystery/ romance. Because, see while all this is happening Ciana and Lennon are getting close. And they have a great relationship. He genuinely likes her for her, he's a very sweet guy and their mutual affection just makes me go all YAY! Because it is very rare that I read a book that's even remotely romance related where the characters are actually friends before, during and after the introduction of the love affair.
Lookit, I'm doing this book a huge disservice by only writing a short review here. You need to read it. Because all three of the main characters each have their own stories, they're all completely fleshed out and none of them at any time ring false. Lennon's story was a little far fetched for me, but Friedmann wrote her character so well I completely believed it even though I was sortof going "no, but seriously?" I thought the resolution of the mystery was a little lightly done, but there again, within the confines of the plot it made complete sense even though I really wanted to see the killer get their comeuppance.
Ciana also has a very touching subplot with her little niece (who is also chunky) and who Ciana identifies with because she sees a lot of what she went through happening to the niece and she goes out of her way to work to make sure the little girl has a safe haven. I thought that was awesome.
You should definitely, definitely check this book out. It was also a very quick read.
When Mama Jambon goes to NYC with the Superficial Wife everything goes downhill. She has a fall and ends up in a hospital. She is flown home rather than treated in NYC because the superficial wife is also completely bitchcakes. Mama Jambon dies and what follows is a combination murder mystery/ romance. Because, see while all this is happening Ciana and Lennon are getting close. And they have a great relationship. He genuinely likes her for her, he's a very sweet guy and their mutual affection just makes me go all YAY! Because it is very rare that I read a book that's even remotely romance related where the characters are actually friends before, during and after the introduction of the love affair.
Lookit, I'm doing this book a huge disservice by only writing a short review here. You need to read it. Because all three of the main characters each have their own stories, they're all completely fleshed out and none of them at any time ring false. Lennon's story was a little far fetched for me, but Friedmann wrote her character so well I completely believed it even though I was sortof going "no, but seriously?" I thought the resolution of the mystery was a little lightly done, but there again, within the confines of the plot it made complete sense even though I really wanted to see the killer get their comeuppance.
Ciana also has a very touching subplot with her little niece (who is also chunky) and who Ciana identifies with because she sees a lot of what she went through happening to the niece and she goes out of her way to work to make sure the little girl has a safe haven. I thought that was awesome.
You should definitely, definitely check this book out. It was also a very quick read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 6, 2007
For anyone who misses New Orleans desperately, this chick-lit novel provides a fun escape back into that world - one full of oak trees draped with Spanish Moss, spicy crawfish and enough local dialect to make you feel like you're drinking a daiquiri and staring at the Mississippi River. Vacuous enough to shove in a tote bag for a trip to the beach or a long plane ride, "Side Effects" entertains the reader with plenty of female drama - family fights, love affairs, mom issues and naturally the role of friendship. It could be a Nora Ephron movie, which is for a book I suppose, a double-edged sword.
Set in a pharmacy in the Riverbend area of New Orleans (and based no doubt on the Walgreens at the intersection of St. Charles and Carrollton), "Side Effects" uses the intersections of two neighborhoods - one rich (Uptown), one poor (Pigeontown) - to explore the socioeconomic and racial tensions prevalent throughout the city. It is here that the novel begins to fail, as it treats grim, complex and nuanced issues with all of the subtlety (and honesty) of a feel-good Disney movie. Patty Friedmann should stick to what she knows...writing entertaining chick-lit and stay away from writing about neighborhoods she knows little about.
Set in a pharmacy in the Riverbend area of New Orleans (and based no doubt on the Walgreens at the intersection of St. Charles and Carrollton), "Side Effects" uses the intersections of two neighborhoods - one rich (Uptown), one poor (Pigeontown) - to explore the socioeconomic and racial tensions prevalent throughout the city. It is here that the novel begins to fail, as it treats grim, complex and nuanced issues with all of the subtlety (and honesty) of a feel-good Disney movie. Patty Friedmann should stick to what she knows...writing entertaining chick-lit and stay away from writing about neighborhoods she knows little about.
January 2, 2012
Choppy writing. Calling it "A New Orleans Love story" seems to be only attempt to draw on a buyer's love of NOLA when the story itself could've been set in any racially divided city in the U.S. (and there are many).
The attempts to flesh out the characters of Lennon and Vendetta felt more like ways to stretch out a story that never really went anywhere. Things jumped from one thing to the next without much explanation. Conversations between characters didn't explain anything half of the time.
There are hundreds of books about New Orleans and hundreds of fiction pieces set in New Orleans. The author failed to bring any of the magic of the city to the page. A few familiar street names? Sure. A poor attempt at local dialect? Check. That part confuses me since the author is from New Orleans.
If you're looking for a little piece of NOLA tucked between the pages - pass. If you're looking for a well written story - pass. Good intentions? Sure. That's about the best I can say about it.
The attempts to flesh out the characters of Lennon and Vendetta felt more like ways to stretch out a story that never really went anywhere. Things jumped from one thing to the next without much explanation. Conversations between characters didn't explain anything half of the time.
There are hundreds of books about New Orleans and hundreds of fiction pieces set in New Orleans. The author failed to bring any of the magic of the city to the page. A few familiar street names? Sure. A poor attempt at local dialect? Check. That part confuses me since the author is from New Orleans.
If you're looking for a little piece of NOLA tucked between the pages - pass. If you're looking for a well written story - pass. Good intentions? Sure. That's about the best I can say about it.
April 18, 2009
"Set in N.O. Drugstore where hardscrabble black Pigeontown meets stuffy white Tulane, Side Effects is peopled with the true New Orleans oddballs who scuffle between the Seasonal Specials and Depends aisles — all in full view of the pharmacy staff. Proudly plump blonde Luciana Jambon, dreadlocked and neatly compulsive Lennon Israel, and up-from-the-'hood Vendetta Greene have their own dramas of romance and friendship.
A wacky and suspenseful story of family conflict and a death under suspicious circumstances,"
A great, fun read.
A wacky and suspenseful story of family conflict and a death under suspicious circumstances,"
A great, fun read.
November 21, 2007
This is a New Orleans author who really captures some of the New Orleans characters. The plots of her novels are not particularly special but the characters are great, especially if you know and love New Orleans.
November 25, 2007
I'm telling you what, this woman can construct a serious sentence.
January 15, 2011
Another favorite among my works-pre-dated Katrina by a matter of weeks.
April 1, 2014
The style of writing is kind of odd to me and it is a bit hard to follow. Not sure I am going to finish this book. I am sure the story is great but the writing is weird.
May 3, 2015
I cannot finish it. It's writing is too choppy and hard to follow. Too many great books out there to waste my time finishing this one.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews