I'm with Stupid

by Elaine Szewczyk

A hilarious tale of girl meets boy, girl falls in lust, girl discovers boy is not playing with a full deck...When Kas meets William while on safari in South Africa he seems perfect-a gorgeous park ranger, both kind and brave (he saved the tour from certain death by water buffalo). Her two best friends, Max, an endlessly scheming personal trainer, and Libby, a jobless bombshell, would like to get their hands on William...but he's only interested in Kas, an editorial assistant at a struggling New York literary agency who thinks William is out of her league. The two have a fling, and Kas returns home to New York wondering if she'll hear from William again. So when he finally sends an email, she's delighted. Until she opens it. The email is not quite the love missive Kas expected. Did she misjudge William? A miscommunication ensues, triggering a rapid-fire series of comic developments that, within days, bring William to New York, now under the impression that Kas has offered him a place to live. As he unveils his big plan to take Manhattan by storm and make his fortune, Kas finally recognizes how limited William's intellectual capabilities He makes Kevin Federline look like Albert Einstein. Readers are along for the outrageous ride as Kas copes with her new roommate's eccentricities, including a preoccupation with the Psychic Friends Network and a passion for collecting Big Apple-themed souvenirs, and the realization that her dream man is a comic nightmare."Elaine Szewczyk is smart and funny, and knows that New York bars and African safaris have something important in When it comes to dating, it's a jungle out there. If you savor Sophie Kinsella or Lauren Weisberger, you'll want to add her to your reading list."---Chris Bohjalian, author of MIDWIVES, THE DOUBLE BIND, and SKELETONS AT THE FEAST"Spirited, irreverent, bilious, and above all funny, Elaine Szewczyk's bitter cocktail provides a much-needed antidote for the chick-lit genre..."---Adam Langer, author of Ellington Boulevard, Crossing California, and The Washington Story

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Contemporary

Kindle Edition

First published July 24, 2008

About the author

Elaine Szewczyk is the author of the novel I'm With Stupid, which has been optioned by ABC TV. The novel concerns a one-night stand gone (comically)wrong. Elaine is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her work has appeared in The Financial Times, Playboy, and The Chicago Tribune, among other publications. Currently she is the editor of Kirkus Reviews. She was born in Krakow, Poland, and lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Alessandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

No matter how shallow and superficial I am, no matter how many dumb things I do or say - and it happens all the time - I at least understand my place in life: I am here to make fun of the world. It's usually no more complicated than that.

I won I'm With Stupid by Elaine Szewczyk from a book giveaway hosted by The Misadventures of a Single City Chick. This book has been a real pleasure to read; it made me roll on the floor laughing, it's so funny.

The main character, Kas, is a twenty-something girl who works at a literary agency (why do all the protagonists in chick-lit novels work in the publishing industry? I want a job there, too!) She goes on holiday in South Africa with her best friends, Max and Libby. There, she meet a super-handsome ranger named William and has a fling with him. She goes back home to New York believing she is never to see William again.

But she's wrong: he emails her, and he seems... different. Well, let's say he's not the brightest pencil in the bunch. After a series of comical misunderstandings, William reaches Kas in New York, determined to conquer the Big Apple and become a writer. The adventures for Kas have just begun...

This book made me laugh, laugh, laugh. It's a refreshing take on chick-lit, in which the main character isn't going to find her true love, but at least she (and we) gets a couple of laughs. Id recommend it: it's so funny you won't be able to put it down!

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know if I’ve laughed so much while reading a book. Honestly this is probably one of my favorite things I have read. I’m not typically a romance type girlie, but wow. This was written so beautifully. I want to be friends with the author!! The way she said things and phrases used were spot on. It wasn’t like some boring love story, it seemed like I was hearing a real story from someone.

I will say the one thing that almost deterred me, is that there aren’t “chapters.” There are 3 parts, and inside of those parts, it’s just straight literature. Some line breaks here and there, but nothing really definite. I think it helped make me want to keep reading though

Overall, I loved it and would ABSOLUTELY recommend to anyone!!!

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally finished with this one...I found this book to be a unique experience for me. There were some parts that were so funny that I was actually laughing out loud. But the rest of it I just felt like skipping over. It's strange that someone can be so funny in parts and so boring/dragging in others. I'm not really sure what to make of it.

[Kayleigh Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly really, really enjoyed this book. I picked it up at Goodwill one day, giving the back cover a quick read before I decided to buy it. It was a refreshing change from a lot of other books I've read. Although William was a bit strange, I really came to like his character. And the pranks they played on Richard throughout the novel were hilarious - he deserved every last one of them. I'll admit, I'm a hopeless romantic and was hoping for a romantic ending. I was surprised how quickly William got up and left after telling her how much he loved her - but it was for the best.

But the way the author ended the novel was perfect. It didn't leave me hanging, although I would have liked to know how things worked out between her and the new guy. But the ending still left me satisfied and it was a happy ending.

I hope she writes another novel. I would be interested to see what happens next in everyone's lives, and what ended up happening with William and his modelling career in Monaco. Overall I give this book a 4/5 star rating, I found it really funny and would recommend it to anyone.

[Julie Akeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was hilarious. Really love the crazy gay Max who is Queen of the pranksters. Fun and crazy and it's got good heart. William though, I had to wonder if he was on the autism spectrum, and also dyslexic? But even though he is quite weird he had a very good heart. And that Manuel with ego smashing up against his 17 year old hormones, that was insane. A great trip finally getting to know his story. Loved Kass, with her wacky Polish family and just trying to live her life on her terms, she and her batch of friends are crazy and wild and fun to watch.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Living in the moment does have consequences…

Kas, a twenty-three-year-old editorial assistant at a small publishing company, is one her way to South Africa with her best friends, Max (a rich enough gay 24-year-old) and his cousin Libby, her across-the-hall neighbour (23 and would rather sleep all day than work) on a much needed break from home. She recently found out her boyfriend, now her ex, was cheating on her with his fiancee. While in South Africa, on her last night there, she has a one-night stand with William, the hunky Ranger. When she returns, she opens e-mails from William, wondering where the knowledgeable Ranger can be, for surely the bad spelling can’t be his. But they are. She left him with an open invite to New York, and after he’s fired for ‘fraternizing with guests’, meaning her, he takes her up on her invitation and goes to New York.

Now Kas is in a fix; she doesn’t want William staying with her. It was only supposed to be a one-night stand. Things go quickly from bad to worse. As William is behind in the times, he dresses like MC Hammer in colourful balloon pants and sweat-sets, he’s just about as dunce and clueless as his e-mails portrayed, and he’s determined to write a book about the political mess Monaco is in. With her in the publishing company, he believes she’ll be able to get him a book deal. Meanwhile, Max is getting petty revenge on her ex, Richard, by placing take-out orders delivered to Richard, checking out gay pornographic material from the library with Richard’s card, handing out flyers that are in no way flattering, poses as a policeman, going from door-to-door in Richard’s apartment building, advising the neighbours that Richard is a convicted flasher. Her parents, mostly her mother, has yet to cut the apron strings, is now looking at William as possible marriage and children material for her virginal, non-smoking daughter (which neither Kas really is.) Her father, who believes that everything in America is overpriced and prefers either the ‘five-finger discount’ or not paying full price for anything, somehow managed to fall from the roof while installing an illegal satelite dish. Her brother spends all his time in his room, supposedly playing games on his computer all day. She learns things about her family that aren’t what she expected. William leaves for an unexpected reason, and she meets a man who just might be right for her.

By the time I was halfway through the book, I was starting to force myself to read it. It may sound hurtful, but it is the truth, and most of those who read my reviews know that I say/write what I really feel. I found Kas was a little on the naive side, and honestly - did she really believe she can pull the wool over her mother’s eyes? Then again, her mother seemed to do that really well. I also found her best friends to be rather immature. Max doesn’t need to work - his father makes enough money to support him; mind you, the rather petty revenge he seeks on Richard in Kas’s behalf was really funny. Libby, on the other hand, would rather not and simply lounge around all day doing just about nothing. For people in their early twenties, especially in a city like New York, I thought they’d be a little more mature and sophisticated than how they were portrayed. I found Kas a little too shallow for my taste. Sure, William was as dumb as a post, but she never gave him that much of a chance either. I mean, expect a tourist to ast like a tourist. Although I do believe the whole waterbed fiasco was a little much. Halfway through the book, I was kind of getting tired of the whole scene.

However, I did snicker quite a bit, mainly at Max’s revenge on Richard and how seventeen-year-old tube sock heir apparent Manuel chased after Libby, even in New York. And while she learns something rather hypocritical about her parents, and something about her brother no one would have ever guessed was touching, I’d have to say the humour was the highest point in the book. The main characters could have used a little more work. All in all, an okay read.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm with Stupid is a hysterical account of what can happen when a vacation fling goes wrong. Recently jilted by her boyfriend, Kas Sienkiewicz is whisked away by her two best friends, Max and Libby, to a luxurious South African resort. Suffering from a deflated ego, Kas indulges in a hot fling with a gorgeous park ranger, William, at her friends' urging. Convinced he is out of her leage, Kas returns to NYC and her job at a small, struggling literary agency. When she gets an unexpected email from William, she is thrilled,... until she reads it. The William from South Africa is clearly not the same William emailing her. When he shows up in NYC, he is convinced that Kas has invited him to live with her and Kas doesn't know how to tell him otherwise. The journey Kas takes as she tries to deal with her new eccentric roommate, and her Polish immigrant family's reaction to him, is hysterical.

I bought this book for my Sony Reader when I saw it on special. Being a debut novel, I had no idea what to expect. It was a delightfully funny read that had me giggling out loud in public. The characters were light and funny, completely eccentric, and totally believable. Although it was a lighter read, there were definately some deeper subplots that kept it from being too light. Pick this book up!

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book while on vacation in Hawaii, and my first impressions were positive ones: the protagonist goes off to South Africa on safari with her two best buddies. While there she meets a drop-dead gorgeous ranger and has a one-night stand with him. He ends up following her back to New York, and she discovers that he's unrealistically confident, not particularly savvy in the ways of the world, and distinctly lacking the ability to pick up social signals.

I liked some things about this novel: in particular the Polish-American background of the main character (same as the author) and the funny relationships with her family members and her friends. At times the scenarios she created were quite funny.

But overall, I found myself racing to finish the book and happy when it was over...mostly because there were so many extra characters that didn't seem central to the main story (like the odd Manuel) and the fact that the main character wasn't terribly deep or grounded herself.

I dislike the term "chick lit," but this book put a good spin on this genre--the conclusion is more open-ended and it's not "happily ever after."

[liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great vacation read. The main character goes on a post-breakup South African safari with some friends, where she falls for the best-looking safari guide EVER, and they end up getting it on their last night there. She's a little less than thrilled when he emails that he's coming to visit her in New York... and it's all downhill from there. It's structured like typical chick-lit, but what sets it apart is that she falls for herself. Things don't work out with the SA guy pretty much immediately, and the majority of the novel is about her getting her life together and increasing the value she places on herself as a person. She does have an 11th hour meet-cute with a decent-seeming guy, but it's not even really necessary - the overall point is that she likes who she is, and that's emphasized so much more strongly than any other chick-lit book I've read.

Unfortunately I'm not ready to get married but if we take it one decade at a time, maybe we can get married and have a child. I like kids. Well, that's an exaggeration. Not all kids. Are Haley Joel Osment, Dakota Fanning, and Lil' Bow Wow still kids? If they are then I hate kids.

[Mary BookHounds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Szewczyk's entertaining debut novel chronicles a one-night stand gone wrong. Kas Sienkiewicz and her buddy Libby are whisked away by their rich layabout friend, Max, on a luxurious South African vacation. At the posh resort, Kas catches the attention of hunky ranger William Johnson. Nursing a wounded ego after learning that her ex was cheating on her (and his fiancée), Kas heeds her friends' urgings and has a fling with William. When he later turns up in New York, the well-meaning if culturally backward William convinces Kas to take him in, and he gets to work on an ill-fated book. Scenes involving Kas's Polish immigrant parents and their reactions to the new presence in Kas's life are stellar. Subplots involving an arrogant and wealthy tube sock heir and Max's ongoing revenge campaign against Kas's ex simmer, sometimes hilariously, and Szewczyk, an editor at Kirkus Reviews, keeps the story moving briskly with breezy prose, witty one-liners and goofball antics.

Extremely funny chick lit! I loved Kas and her "one night stand" turning up on her doorstep and the fun that ensues with her ex boyfriend.

[Martine Henry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was borderline idiotic but I found myself occasionally cracking up despite myself. I needed a little break from all the non-fiction I've been reading and this fit the bill. If you can suspend belief for a while and accept ridiculous coincidences you may enjoy this book.

It did remind me though of a Halloween party I went to in college. I met a cute "pirate" - you know the type - big gold earring, black eyeliner, cute British accent - Johnny Depp way before his time. We agreed to meet for lunch on campus the next week. I had a hard time finding him on the quad though because I couldn't recognize him in his PLAID green pants, horn-rimmed glasses and POCKET PROTECTOR. I tried to have an open mind but we just didn't have enough in common. I should have known better. He was attracted to me and I went to the party dressed as Lisa ("That was so funny I almost fergot to LAFFFFF!") Lupner. Oh well.

[Shannon McGee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was interesting in the beginning, when they first made the trip to South Africa. Once they got to New York again, it became a little predicable. I have seen this storyline in tv shows, and to me it is an unrealistic story. I can't see it ever happening to someone. This book had it's humorous moments, but it just didn't have enough story or plot for me. It had it serious moments too. In fact, one moment about Kas and her brother Henryk had me tearing up. I think had the book mixed the serious and funny better, instead of trying to be so humorous all the time, it would have balanced out better. As it was, the book tried so hard to stay funny all the time that it became boring. It has moments similar to Sex and the City, which is a show I have never been a fan of. So if you like Sex and the City, you will probably like this book. Overall, I thought it was funny at times but boring at others.

[Scholastic_cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was referred by my then boss. She said "read it, you'll love it. Its for girls your age". By the way, I'm 25 not a girl. She handed me her advance copy and that was it. I was inefficient for a whole work day starting with lunch.

Where to start?!

Recently dumped and sarcastic main character. Wise cracking friends. A persistent and very inappropriate teen. An introverted and talented brother. Add an attractive, tall, tanned, well endowed and rugged South African games ranger who is a total.....Ok I'll I quote Scar; "I know that your powers of retention, is as wet as a warthogs backside....Its clear from your vacant expression, the lights aren't all on upstairs"

I assure you this book is interesting, can be easily read and entertaining. Keep away from drinks, I certainly choked on a few gulps of my steaming London Fog.

Just a few ending words for this book: H I L A R I O U S. Read it you won't regret it.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Congrats to Miss Szewczyk for writing a first novel that had a plot and was entertaining. To do this, she drew from what she knew aka her own Polish Heritage and everyday experiences. The final product was a light reading with over the top characters, pop culture references, hysterical situations, and events that made you think "Hey that happened to me recently."

If you are looking for something that requires a use of your brain, don't pick this up. Like the title insinuates this is meant to be a funny light reading and the author achieved just that. Good for beach reading!

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is a book that you finish and then ask yourself "what the hell just happened?" the first part was good, but the story just got weirder and weirder after william arrived in new york. there were so many extraneous characters that it got hard to keep track of them all, and the one plot thread i liked, the evolving relationship between kas and her brother, needed more exploration. there didn't seem to be any sense of completion, and i needed that. it's anti-chick lit and had funny parts, but the story was so bizarre that it just left me confused.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ranging from laugh out loud funny to tediously repetitive, this is a cute story, written by the editor of Kirkus. Kas, having just been jilted by her boyfriend, is invited by her rich gay friend to go to South Africa. There she meets one of the most gorgeous men alive. When he emails her and then shows up in New York, the title begins to make sense. Not bad!

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could almost relate to Kas too much. The fact that she did things she didn't want to do because she didn't want to hurt someone's feelings is me in a nutshell. I understood her motives behind so many of her decisions that it was kind of scary. And at the end when she said what was on her mind to a certain someone, it felt like a tiny victory for me. Loved it!

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

After getting to page 91, I couldn't go any further. The only reason I read as much as I did was because I had books to pick up at the library and didn't want to start reading one of the books I have at home.

There are no chapters in this book. There are parts. Part 1 was 105 pages long. It was slow moving and kind of rambling.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had some funny moments, particularly involving revenge against a cheating male, but some parts went on WAAAAY too long. There are some truly obnoxious characters in the story, and they talk too much. They're supposed to be obnoxious, but that doesn't make them more pleasant company. The main character should have stuck up for herself 30 pages sooner.

[Michaella · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled in the beginning with this book and it felt like it was going nowhere. That said it was in fact going nowhere but in the middle were lots of bits of funny moments. This book in my opinion is exactly what I needed and that is candy - not that good for you, some of it not all that enjoyable, but little bits of sweetness along the way.

[Dena]

I don't think I gave this book a fair shot as I only read about 10 pages. They weren't all that great and I knew I wouldn't be able to finish before it was due back to the library so I gave up. Maybe I will pick it back up some other time.

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a couple of bright points, and picked up a bit for me at the end, but I still found myself wincing as I was reading it. The story and writing style just didn't work for me, and I found the majority of the characters to be nothing but obnoxious.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mike checked this out from the library. I read it on the plane to Colorado. All I know for sure is that I did a lot of eye rolling and groaning. And I said things like "This is ridiculous." I did, however, laugh two or three times.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

With this title, it's no surprise this book caught my eye at the library. It's chick lit so the plot isn't gripping, but there are some laugh out loud parts. A nice change of pace to read a book with funny Polish references.

[Melissa Mercado · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't even finish this book. The beginning was entertaining & funny but then the characters became very annoying. I am just glad I didn't pay for it. I got it as a free download on my sony reader.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fine. I didn't hate the book but it wasn't one of those novels that I loved. There are times where there is nothing like a good chick-lit novel and this would not be one I would tell people to run to.

[Wendy Fee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Truly a pretty ridiculous book, with the odd laugh here and there. I can't say that I hated it, but I didn't really like it either. If it hadn't arrived in my house as a freebie, I never would have picked it up.

[Mark Polino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just because it's twinkie, chick lit doesn't mean it's not fun. The book has some outrageous (an irritating) characters and a few nice twists which I'll not spoil for you but it seemed too much like a farce at the end.

[Yolanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because I was looking for something light to read and found it. I thought this book was hilarious. This book will definitely make you think the next time you see a gorgeous guy and say what if...lol

[Lisa Mandina · Rating 1 out of 5]

About to give up on this. The premise sounded so good, but I just don't really care enough about characters to continue.