News and Reviews
News and Reviews for Book Lovers - Issue 13
Monday, April 2nd, 2007Current mood: satisfied
BOOK REVIEW
WIFE IN THE FAST LANE
KAREN QUINN
After finishing reading WIFE IN THE FAST LANE by KAREN QUINN I was at lost of what I was going to write for a review. It was not that I did not enjoy the book. The problem is I think I enjoyed it too much. You ask how could I possibly enjoy a book too much? Well, let me explain:
I went to work last night fit to be tied because I still could not think of an interesting book review to write for Karen Quinn’s entertaining second novel WIFE IN THE FAST LANE. I tell you it was really bothering me, so I decided to start telling some of my co-workers about my dilemma. I was secretly hoping to get inspired by a brilliant idea of what to write for my review.
I started by telling my co-workers that I finished reading WIFE IN THE FAST LANE by KAREN QUINN, which is a 400-page novel, in a day and a half. I told them that I read it way too fast. I just could not put the book down. I got so caught up in the characters and the story that I desperately wanted to know how the book ended. You see, I usually read the books that I intend to review at a much slower pace to make sure I don’t miss anything, big or small. I also like to take in the writing style of the particular author since I am an aspiring writer. You can learn so much about writing from just reading books. While reading the novel I also try to think of different things that I want to include in my review of the novel. Trust me I put a lot of thought and effort into each and every review that I write. However, I just allowed myself to sit back and enjoy reading this light breezy novel, which I am sure the author, Karen Quinn, intended when she wrote WIFE IN THE FAST LANE.
I then went on to tell my fellow co-workers that I usually write book reviews on how I can relate my own life experiences to that of the main character in the book. I did not know how I could possibly relate to the successful life of the main character, Christy Hayes, which Karen Quinn created in her novel WIFE IN THE FAST LANE.
The main character, Christy Hayes, has won two Olympic gold medals, built a multimillion-dollar business, landed a gorgeous and powerful CEO husband, and inherits custody of an eleven-year old girl. One of my co-workers said to me of course you could relate your life to the book. I kind of just gave her a funny look. Did she know something I didn’t? She just simply stated that I was a wife with a job, and that I seemed to be very ambitious and successful with my book reviews and my writing. Well, I guess there is some truth in that.
I was feeling particularly comfortable with this co-worker, so I started to tell her how in the novel WIFE IN THE FAST LANE by KAREN QUINN a seductive single woman tries to steal the main character’s husband from right under her nose. I proceeded to tell my co-worker stories about how my husband who is an Executive Chef on Norwegian Cruise Line constantly has female crewmembers going up to him and asking him if he wants a girlfriend. He always politely replies that he is happily married. I have worked on cruise ships and believe me the women are that blunt, especially with high-ranking officers who are good looking and make good money. I even told her the story of the time that I met my husband’s boss. After my husband introduced me to his boss, his boss turned to my husband and quite arrogantly said, ‘you could have any girl on the ship. Why did you marry a Canadian? You don’t need a passport.’ By the way, my husband is German. My mouth must have dropped to the floor. I was standing right there. EXCUSE ME! I am sorry that I am not the typical wife of a ship’s officer who is a six-foot model with legs that go on forever. I tell you I was so upset that I almost broke down crying right then and there. Later that night my husband told me that he loves me just the way I am. I think he stole that line from the move Bridget Jones’s Diary. LOL. It worked. I felt a lot better about myself.
After my discussion with my co-worker she turned to me with a smile on her face and said, ‘Trisha, I think you just wrote your book review for WIFE IN THE FAST LANE by KAREN QUINN.’ She was right. What a relief. I wanted to write a review that was intelligent, honest, and something that I was proud of. I think I accomplished that with this review. I want to thank Sarah for listening to me babble for so long. You are a great friend and a great co-worker.
I recommend WIFE IN THE FAST LANE by KAREN QUINN to all women who feel that they are living in the fast lane.
Karen Quinn is also the bestselling author of THE IVY CHRONICLES, which has been optioned as a major motion picture slated to star Catherine Zeta Jones.
Check out Karen Quinn on MySpace, she is one of my top friends, http://www.myspace.com/authorkarenquinn. You can also find out more about the author and her novels on her websites www.karenquinn.net/ and www.wifeinthefastlane.com.
I hope you enjoyed my thirteenth issue of NEWS AND REVIEWS FOR BOOK LOVERS. Please leave comments. I really appreciate everyone’s feedback.
Cheers,
Trisha
The grass isn’t always greener for those with lots of green
Saturday, March 31st, 2007Close your eyes and envision the scene: The hustle and bustle of a big city, the smell of exhaust fumes permeating the air. The sound of idling cars and honking horns competes with the murmur of thousands of disconnected people talking on cell phones and typing on their laptops. High-rise buildings surround you in this concrete jungle.
And there you are, in your stretch limousine, noshing on delectable gourmet goodies while a nanny-your day-time one-is talking gently to your children, keeping them well-behaved and quiet. You are deep in the middle of the chaos, yet the world that surrounds you is serene.
To some this sounds like paradise, and just another case of the grass is greener on the other side of the hill. I know I’ve had fantasies of having tons of dough and not enough time to spend it. But after the most recent book I read, I’m not sure if I’d ever want that life.
The book, “The Ivy Chronicles,” by Karen Quinn, portrarys Ivy Ames, a hardball, highfalutin’ corporate executive in New York City who brings home more than a millsion dollars a year. But after her world comes toppling down, she is forced to give up life’s luxuries and gind antoerh job to support her two young daugheters. Ivy decides to become a private school kindergarten admissions coach to help the city’s most powerful (read: richest) parents get their Datanic, umm, uh, I mean, angelic children into urban, cutthroat private schools.
Don’t get me wrong. The book itself was hilarious. There are so many times that I laughed out loud that my husband was starting to look at me as if I haoiled from Mars. It just made me see the light, so to speak. It provided a glimpse into that Prada-toting, Gucci-wearing, greed-driven society that I don’t think I’d ever want to be associated with. Parents with too much money and too little time, toting their children around like they were the latest accessory, and just something to complement your for certain event or specific function.
But that’s not what kids are for! They are something to be loved and nurtured, coddled and cuddled. Material things should never replace the attention or love that we as parents are respondible for. Whya have big bucks just to let someone else raise your kids? You’d miss out on so many of life’s little joys-from their first words and their first steps, their first homework assignments, their first attempts at tying shoes and oh, so much more. These are things I’d never give up, no matter how much you could pay me.
Reading this book made me happy to be right where I am-a country girl at heart (OK, for the most part!), raising my kids with good values and without an exorbitant speing account. And as flawed as I may be, I think I’m doing a pretty decent job at it. You know what they say-the grass is always greener in the countryside.
—Jessica Stott, The Citizen Telegram
3/31/2005
Wikipedia’s Not the Net Police
Saturday, March 31st, 2007The online encyclopedia says it will verify contributors’ credentials, but the job of monitoring Internet honesty belongs to all of us
by B.L. Ochman
Responding to a recent brouhaha over a contributor’s false diploma, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales announced that contributors’ professional credentials will be verified from now on. But why? And by whom?
Human beings’ desire to make ourselves seem like more than we are is part of our hard wiring. And I don’t think it’s up to Wikipedia to change it.
Calling oneself a professor with a doctoral degree when one is actually a 24-year-old college dropout is a lie. So is plagiarism. Both lying and stealing have been going on since before there was language. And both will continue. Now user-generated sites like Wikipedia provide new and better tools to make deception easier.
Jimmy Wales, for all his good intentions, can’t stop that. Nor should he try. Here are two plagiarism cases to demonstrate why Wales’ attempt at fact-checking is a losing battle.
Plagiarism Unpunished
In 1985, Emily Dickinson scholar and author Dorothy Oberhaus claims to have had her PhD thesis, “The Religious Voice of Emily Dickinson,” ripped off almost in its entirety by Jane Eberwein, who reworked the text in one sabbatical year and published it as her only book on Dickinson.
When Oberhaus protested to the Emily Dickinson International Society (where Eberwein has been a board member), to the book’s publisher, and to the Modern Language Assn., with exhaustive proof of the plagiarism, she was told to take it up with Eberwein.
Says Oberhaus, “In other words, they were saying to a woman who has been raped, ‘Sorry, dear, talk to your rapist!’” A quarter century later, Oberhaus’ plagiarist continues to claim credit for the true scholar’s work, even when the two appear at the same conferences.
At least Oberhaus knows whom to accuse. These days, it’s hard to know who is stealing from you, or accusing you of stealing intellectual property. Online thieves have more tools at their fingertips, as the second example demonstrates.
Rudner Rip-Off?
The announcement of the prizes in the contest promoting Karen Quinn’s novel Wife in the Fast Lane (Touchstone, 2007)�a contest I produced and promoted via blog advertising�is embroiled in a scandal involving Wikipedia. It proves that people who want to cheat will always find a way.
I’m sure the kerfuffle could provide Quinn with a plot for her next novel. It involves not only Wikipedia and plagiarism but also hoaxes, mockery, bloggers, vote-stuffing, cloaked e-mail addresses, false identities, comedian Rita Rudner, and a lot of housewives.
More than 750 people entered Quinn’s contest with one-liners, essays, and videos describing their lives in the fast lane. The top 10 finalists in each category were selected by a group of volunteer judges. Then the public selected winners from among the finalists and the fun began in earnest.
Quinn was about to announce the winners when an e-mail arrived, accusing the winner of plagiarizing comic Rita Rudner. As proof, it linked to a Wikipedia entry that contained the quote submitted by the contest entrant.
Loser’s Ploy
With just a little amateur sleuthing, it was easy to learn that the quote was added two hours before the finger-pointing e-mail was sent. Nonetheless, just to be sure, Quinn contacted Rudner herself, who confirmed that the contest entry hadn’t been stolen from her material.
And then�poof!�the Wikipedia quote disappeared. Without naming names, it’s clear that it was a not-too-clever plot by someone who’s clearly a loser to wrest the prize from its rightful owner.
The true winner, who says she never heard of Ms. Rudner, swore her entry was original and was aghast at the idea of ripping off another person�s published work: “That’s like breaking one of the Ten Commandments.”
Age of the Fake
Sadly, not everyone who posts to Wikipedia is concerned with the Ten Commandments. Some are concerned with revenge. Some with self-aggrandizement. Some just have nothing better to do.
We live in an age of fake IDs, fake money, fake e-mails, fake URLs, fake IP addresses, and fake votes, where anyone can print or claim anything�or enter it in Wikipedia. But none of these frauds negate the value of Wikipedia. Nor do they mean that Jimmy Wales has to become the Internet’s chief of police, because Wikipedia is working just the way it’s supposed to.
Wikipedia entries are meant to be edited by members of the community. And in the long run, the truth will win out. Because the community, sooner or later, polices itself. And when it doesn’t, it’s the responsibility of those who are wrongly cited to correct the entry and/or out the spoiler.
It’s Up to Us
Like it or not, it’s your responsibility and mine to monitor what’s being said about us online. We each have to make time for reputation management the same way we made time for e-mail, blogging, instant messaging, and the thousand other bits of information that interrupt, overload, educate, enlighten, annoy, captivate, scare, thrill, and delight us.
Wikipedia isn’t the policeman of the Internet, nor could it be. Not even with 10,000 “fact checkers” and all the good intentions in the world.
So that brings it back to each of us. We have to pay attention, settle our own scores, and sadly, not always come out winners. Just like offline.
“Ivy” Author Dishes Dirt on NYC Swells
Friday, March 16th, 2007Get over Narnia. Here comes “The Ivy Chronicles.”
This chick-lit book is penned by Denver alum Karen Quinn. She’s the daughter of the late Sonny Nedler of Sonny’s on Fillmore Jewelry in Cherry Creek. Mom Shari and brother Michael still run the shop. The book is out in paperback and Karen’s in town riding the wave.
“Ivy” was a sleeper hit when it hit the shelves a year ago. It’s about a NYC woman running a biz called Smart Kids that helps get the little yard monkeys into exclusive kindergartens. Who would have thought it would strike such a chord?
Well, Catherine Zeta-Jones, for one, who immediately bought the rights to play Ivy in a movie, with Jerry Weintraub set to produce. The book went on to became a huge bestseller in England and was picked as a “summer read” for the “Richard and Judy” show, the UK version of “Oprah.” It started to sell like a million little Ivies.
Next up from Quinn, a book titled “Wife in the Fast Lane.” It’s another look at the rich in NYC.
Quinn is back in Denver for a few days for a series of talks. She’ll be speaking at 6:30 tonight at a Fashion Group International gathering at the Denver Press Club. Tix are $30, which includes hors d’oeuvres. Call 720-922-9715.
—Bill Husted, Denver Post
2/16/2006
In Baby Boomlet, Preschool Derby Is the Fiercest Yet
Saturday, March 3rd, 2007The fierce competition for private preschool in New York City has been propelled to such a frenzy this year by the increased numbers of children vying for scarce slots that it could be mistaken for a kiddie version of “The Apprentice.”
Take the case of the Rabbani twins, who live on the Upper West Side. Their father, Usman Rabbani, graduated from Yale 10 years ago, has a master’s degree from Harvard and works for a major drug company in Manhattan. Despite his accomplishments, Mr. Rabbani was stumped when he sat down to compose a short essay a couple of months ago.
His assignment? To profile his two toddlers. Of his 18-month-old son Humza he eventually wrote, “He knows that birds like to sit on rooftops when they are not on the ground, that cats and dogs like to be petted, and that the blue racquetballs in the can belong in the racquetball court upstairs.”
About Humza’s twin, Raza, he wrote, “He is happy to point out all his body parts when asked.”
With those words, Mr. Rabbani conquered parental writer’s block and entered this year’s version of the altered universe of private preschool admissions. After years of decline, the number of children under 5 in Manhattan, where the most competitive programs are located, increased by 26 percent between 2000 and 2004, according to census estimates. Yet the number of slots has not kept apace.
“These are the kids who are 2, 3, 4, and 5 years old now, trying to get into preschool and kindergarten,” said Amanda Uhry, the owner of Manhattan Private School Advisors, a consulting firm for parents. “And it’s a nightmare.”
This is the moment of maximum anxiety for parents, many of whom have applied to so-called safety preschools, just hoping their children will be accepted somewhere. And the hot pursuit of slots has continued despite tuition that can run over $10,000 a year for 3-year-olds. Acceptance letters were sent out last Wednesday for private kindergarten programs, to be followed next week by the telltale thick or thin envelopes from the preschools.
“We’re feeling it,” said Ellen Bell, an admissions official at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, an elite private institution. “It’s a real problem for us to deal with the number of applicants and deal with them properly the way we want to, to be fair with every family. These numbers are just becoming overwhelming.”
“I see a greater angst in the parent, and that troubles me, and my heart goes out to them,” she added. “We’re sending out more news that people don’t want to get.”
Part of the problem is that the number of twins and triplets born to women in New York City has increased, according to city Health Department statistics.
In 1995, there were 3,707 twin births in all the boroughs; in 2003, there were 4,153; and in 2004, there were 4,655. Triplet births have also risen, from 60 in 1995, to 299 in 2004. Because preschools strive for gender and age balance in generally small classes — and also, some parents suspect, as many potential parental donors as possible — it is harder to get multiple slots in one class.
“I tell families that they may increase, hopefully double or triple, their options, by telling schools they are willing to separate their children,” said Emily Glickman, whose firm, Abacus Guide Educational Consulting, helps parents win admission to private schools.
“Unfortunately we are in a very cutthroat climate right now, where the schools have the power,” Ms. Glickman added.
New York City has about half the capacity it needs for its youngest students, public and private, said Betty Holcomb, the policy director of Child Care Inc., an agency in Chelsea that provides referral services for early child care.
“Even if you’re rich, you’re not guaranteed a place in a preschool,” Ms. Holcomb said.
So this year, the application essay, which parents might once have dashed off in a few sentences, has become a reason for more hand wringing.
“What do you say about someone who just popped out?” Mr. Rabbani asked. “You’re just getting to know them yourself.”
In a sign of how overwrought the process has become, production is in progress on a pilot for a cable television reality series, “Manhattan Mom,” about the daily travails of a New York woman. A producer said the series would include at least one episode focusing on the mother’s struggles to get her 5-year-old into a top private kindergarten.
But none of the 25 or so private schools the producers called will allow the producers to film any part of the process.
“They don’t want publicity,” said Rachel Tung, one of the producers.
Few schools were interested in talking about the application process to a reporter, either; nearly a dozen did not return calls for comment. But many parents poured out their frustration.
The preschool essays are just part of the problem, they say. Time-consuming interviews, observed play sessions, rising tuition costs and application fees, preferences shown to siblings and families who have connections to the school, and the increasing difficulty of gaining admission for twins and triplets, parents say, are making the process more stressful for the entire family.
“I didn’t get a real sense of competition like this until I was doing my college applications, and even that seemed easier,” said Mr. Rabbani, who went to high school in a small Canadian town near Buffalo.
Lori Malloy, who lives on the Upper West Side, watched friends try to get their children into preschool last year, and she remembered thinking, “I’m not going to get stressed out like the rest of these ladies.” But when Ms. Malloy, a federal prosecutor, applied for her twins, a boy and a girl, she asked her husband to write the application essay.
“I was so nervous,” she said, “and I’m someone who took the LSAT, who’s written for the federal judiciary and in law review.” The family applied to four schools.
“There’s not a week that goes by that I don’t regret that I didn’t apply to three or four more,” Ms. Malloy said.
Consultants are reaping benefit from the competition. Victoria Goldman, a consultant and an author of guides to Manhattan private schools, said, “This year, I’ve gotten more calls for nursery school than kindergarten.”
In writing the essay, parents can turn to the seminars that focus on “idea starters for application essays.” Some good words to use in describing your child? Enthusiastic, creative, inquisitive, sensitive, consultants say.
Ms. Uhry, the consultant, said it was almost impossible to overstate the importance of the essay.
“The first way of separating the wheat from the chaff is to get rid of those essays in which the parents couldn’t be bothered enough to write a decent essay or take this whole process seriously,” she said. “It is your calling card. It is your entree.”
Still, no one can say for sure how much the essay matters. Some consultants think it is more important to have a strong contact or family friend already in the school of choice.
Mr. Rabbani’s advice? “You have to get creative in describing your child.”
Hence, his son Humza, in his essay, is “a soft-hearted jock.” And Humza’s brother Raza is “a thinker and a mischievous lover.”
Perhaps Mr. Rabbani knows what he’s talking about: Humza and Raza got into their parents’ first choice of preschool two weeks ago. They were notified before most other parents because they applied through an early decision program.
—Susan Saulny, New York Times
3/3/2006