Life a la Mode

Ms. Lenhoff's grasp of modern single life is complete! She captures the vagaries of female single-hood in particular, with sharp insight, tremendous humor and lots of feeling. I loved this book!

This is not your average "chicklit."It has the typical chicklit brightly-colored, cutsey cartoon embellished cover. The heroine, Holly Phillips, fits the standard template for chicklit heroines: works in publishing, single, lives in the big city, dating, confides in best friend, has a quirky mother, etc...But that's where the similarities end. In "Life A La Mode", author Linda Lenhoff takes the seemingly ordinary - painting wall trim, cubicle furnishings, a bug in the ladies room, origami - and looks at it in a new light, with wit and specialness.It seems most chicklit books are about a lonely young woman trying to find that special someone. Life A La Mode is, too, only that special someone for Holly is herself. Much like Carrie Pilby in Caren Lissner's book of the same title, the story is about a person's unique and special interpretations of the quirkiness around her. And learning to accept herself, her situation and be happy.If you are hoping to read yet another "Single-girl-meets-guy/gets-guy" story, you'll be disappointed in "Life A La Mode". If you want to read a book where the heroine helps you discover the specialness of ordinary life (and you like good writing and dry humor), then I highly recommend this book.

I'll admit I find much of women's fiction, okay, Chick Lit, overly concerned with finding Mr. Right, not to mention finding the perfect pair of overpriced shoes. Life A La Mode looks more at what's real in our lives: not just finding a good guy, but what to do with the not-so-good guys in your life, plus dealing with your mom and sister and work. Life is more than dating, even when you're getting ready for a date, and especially when your mom and sister are telling you about their dates, which are more frequent than your own by far. The book is about juggling the components of your life and the little bits of a la mode that you get on a good day--whether it's ice skating with the main character Holly and her best friend Maria, or struggling to communicate with your long-lost Dad. This book brings a much-needed boost of sweetness to what's becoming a harsh and sometimes crabby genre. The cover with the little slices of pie and hearts really says it all: This book is about the sweet things in life, like searching for love (and finding it). The book isn't about a big hook, it's about the little adventures you treasure in life, and how they add up to something sweet. It's funny and well written. I just loved it!!

Anybody who's ever been a publishing serf in New York City--or who's had a post-college career in any city, for that matter--will find Linda Lenhoff's tome eerily familiar. LIFE A LA MODE is funny and irreverant. There's a lot going on in those little office cubicles....

If you're anything like me, you'll finish this book feeling that you now have a small, partially-redecorated studio apartment you can visit next time you're in the Greenwich Village area. Holly's victories and defeats in her publishing cubicle and in her love life are small against the large backdrop of New York City (a Manhattan that exists somewhat nostalgically just before computers and cell phones and recent historical events increased the velocity of our lives) and against the more active social lives of her sister and both her parents, but their smallness seems to make her voice that much more trustworthy. I finished this book feeling like I had made a friend, and knew all the important stories about her life and her realistically quirky family.