This One Is Mine

This is definitely going on my give away stack. I found it depressing and the characters just made NO sense to me. I can't say that I particularly liked any of them but Teddy was completely cringe worthy from his first appearance on the scene. I couldn't wait for " This One" to be over. And then when it was... that was depressing too.

I really wanted to like this book; it's so well written and I enjoy Maria Semple. The characters are so unlikable that I gave up half-way through.

WOW! This book grabbed me within the first three pages.For a first time novelist, Maria Semple is incredibly talented. She has this incredible way of "writing pictures", I suppose that comes from being a screenwriter. It was like watching a TV show unfold. Normally I have an issue with bouncing back and forth between two story lines (Violet's and Sally's) in one book, but it is all very fluid. I also love that Maria made the world of the wealthy so accessible. It really made me think about the fact that they are really just real people. They wear sweats to the grocery story ($500 Juicy Couture, albeit, but sweats nonetheless). I do feel that David ends up being the unsung hero in this book because he saves them all. But the best part of it is that it was a conscious thing, it is just who he is, and that makes it all the more meaningful. I do want to point out that if this book was a TV show it would be for Mature Audiences Only and probably be on HBO or Showtime. There is language, drug use and sexual situtations. I had arranged to do an informal interview with Maria, but upon finishing the book, I realized there was an interview in the back of the book. And on top of that it was a really good interview that covered all my questions but two. Maria was still gracious enough to answer my two little questions: (Please be advised there is a sort of spoiler in the second question - nothing specific but still, you know i like to alert you guys) 1. It is never mentioned in the book, but is Violet suffering from Postpartum Depression? Pam, I'm glad you mentioned this. Because in many ways, I feel this is a book about postpartum depression. About a woman who has longed for a baby for her whole life, then when she has one, she snaps, and goes on a self-destructive tear to try to get out of being a mother. So, yes. I do think she is suffering from PPD. 2. Will there be a sequel? (I see a huge story when Sally figures out just who Teddy is!) When I was writing it, I thought there would be a sequel. But now that I'm onto my next book, I am content to have Violet, David, Teddy & Sally stay home in THIS ONE IS MINE. But I will tell you that in the book I'm working on, a couple come into a store where one of my character works. The man pays with a black American Express card, his last name is Parry. With him are his wife, ten year old daughter and two smaller adopted children... both African American.

Maria Semple springs from the head of the writer's table a fully formed novelist. The characters are accessible amidst their denial, their actions plausible amidst the chaos. And the work has a delicious sense of humor about itself. All rare in comic fiction. But nothing rarer than this. It made me want to stay in LA, if only in its pages. Go buy it, and call me after you do.

I read This One is Mine in a day, which is no easy feat considering I have twin two year old boys, but it was so captivating that I just couldn't put it down! This book is a great escape for anyone feeling bogged down by the routine of life. At first I did not understand the title, but after reading the story I understood that Maria Semple allows her characters as well as her readers a bit of decadent indulgence. I can't wait for Ms. Semple's next novel...I think I will become a groupie Thank you for this book...I needed it.

I was pulled into this story immediately and began to care so much about the two main characters that I was constantly thinking about them and worried for days about them. I would have ordinarily read this wonderful book in one or two sittings, but really couldn't get the free time, so I just kept trying to figure out what was going to happen, and I was never right! Maria has a way of looking at things and telling things that is completely original. What a treat.

Maria Semple is a terrific writer. Her characters feel very specific and real -- and she resists the temptation to make fun of people just because they're affluent. She seems to have compassion for all of the people she writes about, even the horrible ones. The book is funny, witty, soulful. I couldn't put it down.