The Anxiety of Everyday Objects

Every once in a while I go through a reading drought. My shelves look uninspired and I'm tired of the same-old-same-old but not energetic enough to try something completely different. These droughts generally happen once a year or so, and last for a few weeks, and will always be ended by a phenomenal book. I picked this one up a few years ago on a work trip at an airport bookstore, and devoured it during my flight. The writing is divine, the characters are so real, and the story is wonderful. Highly recommended!

This novel reads more smoothly, with better developed characters, and more intriguing plot and dilemmas than any other novel I've read from this genre, first novel or not. Thousands of women have walked (and limped) in Winona's shoes, but their tales are rarely told, and certainly never told with this much intellect, spice and sincerity.

The beauty of The Anxiety of Everyday Objects is that it is a goodread on different levels - as an entertaining and suspenseful page turner, as well as an insightful exploration of the integrity of pursuing artistic (and other!) desires. Ms. Sheehan is wellregarded for her poetic prose and that, coupled with a significantplot twist (one I'm trying hard not to give away),will prove most rewarding from the first page on.

I loved this book. "Our" heroine, Winona, is all over the place when it comes to work (she has a Master's degree yet works in a secretarial position), men (they come and go, so to speak), and film (her secret passion). Winona does the "right thing" at work (a small law firm bordering on the brink of insolvency). She suffers through all of the unpleasantries associated with working for lawyers. At the same time, Winona has to indulge her completely self-absorbed (and whacko) sister. There is so much in this novel, and the writing is so good, you just have to read it. You will be delighted.

Aurelie Sheehan is a magnificent storyteller and she writes like a dream. The Anxiety of Everyday Objects could be a bright, crisp read--a series of madcap adventures provides a smart page-turning pace--but I took my time. It's one of those books that packs sentence-by-sentence delights driven by a miraculous sense of language.