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 enlarge | Author: Meg Wolitzer
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $13.44
You Save: $11.51 (46%)
New (35) from $13.44
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 341
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.5
ISBN: 1594489785
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781594489785
ASIN: 1594489785
Publication Date: March 27, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 couldn't relate April 24, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was excited to read this book because I am now a stay-at-home mom after years of trying to find some kind of workable balance between having a career and raising my children. Ms. Wolitzer does capture some moments that resonated with my experience -- like the difficulty in defining yourself when you get that dreaded question, "so what do you do?" However, none of these women ever came to life for me. It seemed to me that the author had interviewed a bunch of stay-at-home mothers and then created four composite characters from the answers she received.
I don't expect that characters in a novel will be likable or will make the same kind of choices I would make, but spending time with the characters in The Ten-Year Nap was a bit depressing, and often boring. And I just couldn't relate to the two women who, with kids in school and serious financial difficulties at home, would choose to do nothing at all or just dabble in volunteer work rather than attempt to make some kind of financial contribution to the family.
 Not What You'd Imagine April 18, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
The write up for this book is much better than the book itself. You'd think you'd be able to find something interesting about at least one of the multiple characters in this book. Guess again. I found the "concept" of the book to be something interesting, but found all these women, and the things they went through dull, boring and predictable. I seriously would not recommend it at all.
I liked it but... April 6, 2008
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
...there sure was an awful lot of whining going on. I wasn't particularly "taken" by most of the characters, self-involved women (and some men), living mainly on New York City's Upper East and West Sides. The main character, Amy, had a lawyer-husband and a 10 year old son. She had stopped working as a lawyer when her son was born and seemed to miss working, but not enough to stop whining about it and go back to work. Her mother was a proto-feminist, based in Toronto. Other characters, mothers of sons who attended an elite day school, drifted through the story.
Amy's closest friend from college - the daughter of a suicide - had left Manhattan for a leafy suburb in either New Jersey or New York, with her husband and adopted daughter from Russia. The daughter was not quite "with-it" and the mother felt little emotional connection with the child.
I kept waiting for the parents to have an "aha" moment and take the kid to be tested. Nope, didn't happen til the end.
Other friends had other "issues". I basically wanted to slap them all and say "quit whining and do something".
I would advise not investing a great deal of time or money in this book. If you haven't already bought it, wait til it's out in trade paper or borrow it from the library.
Wolitzer's detailed writing is crisp and lovely April 3, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Despite the hard work --- both physical and emotional --- that it takes to be a mother caring for her children full time, some people still ask that burning question: "What do you do all day?" The ironies and paradoxes of the stay-at-home mom are the focus of Meg Wolitzer's latest novel, THE TEN-YEAR NAP.
Not napping but raising children are four ladies, diverse in interests and background who came to know each other because their sons attended the same Manhattan private school. Each was once a career woman who chose to be home with the kids at least until she was older. They are Karen, a mathematician; Roberta, an artist and activist; Jill, a film producer; and at the center, a lawyer named Amy. They meet many mornings at the Golden Horn for breakfast and coffee, and to commiserate and inspire each other.
Karen is happy and still deeply in love with her husband, as is Roberta. Yet Roberta wishes she could create art like she used to. Jill has recently moved out of the city to the suburbs and feels lonely and isolated from her friends. Amy, Jill's closest pal, is feeling a bit restless but begins to feed off the energy of another mom, Penny Ramsey, who seems to have it all. Amy's brief friendship with Penny, based on a secret, draws her away from the others until a disastrous shared vacation brings her back solidly into their fold. Wolitzer keenly explores the fragility of adult female friendships as well as the bonds and loyalties.
But the real story is about motherhood --- how it both changes and solidifies who you are. It's not merely about "opting out" of the workforce but about women trying to avoid opting out of the activities and thoughts that are essential to them and contribute to their identity both as a mother and beyond that role. By occasionally leaving her present-day story and briefly looking at the mothers of her protagonists when they were young parents themselves, Wolitzer examines the promise and realities of feminism and the role of intergenerational expectations. She also neatly throws in some thought-provoking glimpses into the role and responsibilities of today's dads.
Despite a few unsuccessful but very short tangents, THE TEN-YEAR NAP is an intelligent book. Wolitzer's detailed writing is crisp and lovely (although it does suffer a touch as the novel goes on and the characters are fleshed out), and her pacing is fantastic. Her protagonists feel real and sympathetic, flawed and compelling. Although working moms seem like alien creatures here and those who stay at home with no regrets are non-existent, the author for the most part does a good job discussing this hotbed of issues without seeming preachy or cavalier. Her focus is on a particular type of woman, represented in a variety of forms by Karen, Jill, Roberta and Amy, who must decide if and when to return to work and in what type of job they will find fulfillment and purpose.
It is in the small moments of her characters' lives where Wolitzer's writing really shines: the hectic mornings getting children dressed for school, the quiet distance between husbands and wives, the moments of self-doubt and frustration, the times of simple joys, the momentary but profound realization that time is marching forward and that one's mark is made through action or inaction. THE TEN-YEAR NAP captures these well and engrosses the reader, making for an overall satisfying read.
--- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman
 A wonderful read April 3, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Meg Wolitzer's latest work "The Ten-Year Nap" is a terrific read that I simply could not put down. Her characters are very well fleshed out, and the story line of women and parenting vs. career is timely. I highly recommend this one.
The editor of Michele Cozzens' award winning women's fiction A Line Between Friends
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