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Getting Over It (2001)

Getting Over It (2001)

Book Info

Author
Genre
Rating
3.53 of 5 Votes: 2
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ISBN
006098824X (ISBN13: 9780060988241)
Language
English
Publisher
william morrow paperbacks

About book Getting Over It (2001)

Helen, a twenty six year old single girl, leads a rather standard life for a young Brit. She shares an apartment with a guy she has adored since forever her cat called Fatboy. She's in a long term relationship. She's an assistant for an editor from hell and at night she has a full active social life with her fun-loving friends. Suddenly everything is turned upside down. She breaks up with her abusive boyfriend but has second thoughts even though she knows that he has and probably will continue to cheat on her. Then her father dies sending her into a series of traumatic events. Now she's trying to keep her common sense about her and keep her mom from ending up beside her father all while trying to find new love. This story wasn't what I expected. I expected funny instead it is in fact sad. This book is really about different types of loss. It isn't about the laughs and it isn't a romance. It's about the deepest and most painful change anyone can go through: the death of a loved one and getting over it. It isn't all doom and gloom. It's finely laced with funny interludes with her phobic calculating mother, a friend who needs to learn personal hygiene, a boss with attitude and the appetizing Tom. I cannot leave out Fatboy, a revengeful peeing cat with an like of performing inappropriate flatulence. If you like a novel that will make you chuckle, weep, get irate and cringe you will love this one. I know I did.

I picked up Anna Maxted’s Getting Over It because the cover looked interesting in part, but also because I am constantly admonishing my kids to “get over it” or “suck it up” so I connected to the title. I struggled with this book, but I can’t entirely say why. I will admit to skimming somewhere in the middle out of sheer desperation. I don’t really get the blurb on the cover – “Hilarious” -USA Today. Hmmm, not so much, no. I think my major issue was that the main character seemed so self absorbed and completely in her own plane of existence. I think this feeling really was emphasized due to the book being written in the first person, it seemed like the pages were inundated with “I”s. (really – open the book to a random page and count the number of ”I”s on that page and you will get into the double digits) I get that she showed growth, sort of, matured, sort of, got over it, sort of… Anyway, not the book for me, but must have worked for many, many people because it was a National Bestseller (also on the cover) and an Independent Book Seller’s Book Sense Pick. {{shrugs}} Moving on..

Do You like book Getting Over It (2001)?

Hmmm. I originally read this book when I was 21 and at the time was obsessed with it. Then I read Anna Maxted's other books and didn't like them nearly as much.Now that I've reread it, I'm kind of surprised at how much my taste in books has changed.All right, there was a lot to this book that I liked: dealing with grief and the anger we feel toward the person who was died (whether through unresolved issues, anger with the death itself, etc), inability to cope with said grief and anger, and trying to relate it to the issues directly surrounding us.But the book was a slow read at times, and I found myself despising the mother. And although Maxted has a great sense of humor and had very dry observations, I think that her heroines tend to be cold and not multi-faceted. But I don't know, that could just be disappointment with my newfound observations. In any case I still enjoyed reading it.
—Abigail Hillinger

This is the second Maxted book I've read and I'm seeing a pattern - or is it a formula? Selfish, self-absorbed, shallow working girl from a very dysfunctional family tries to sort out her love life, stumbling through several inappropriate relationships and alienating "her true love" until he sees through her snarky exterior to the potential within and they go off happily ever after. Hmmmph. It was ok for the first book. But to repeat the formula is like eating leftovers, not as good the second time. And yet, the book does somehow draw you in. Not sure why. I certainly would never want to be friends with either main character in the Maxted books I've read thus far - they're mean, spiteful and seemingly incapable of treating people well. It's hard to enjoy a book when the characters are so unlovable. So, I'm torn. The book is funny in places, and Maxted can certainly turn a phrase. But do I want to try another of her books, on the off chance that the plot will be different? Stay tuned...
—Jill Manske

After having lost her father to a heart attack, Helen's world crashes down. Well, her life has never been perfect anyway. After all, she has a menial job at a woman's magazine, drives an old Toyota, has had her share of bad boyfriends, lives with the roommate from hell, her mother is the mother of all drama queens, her friends always seem to be perfect, and her cat, Fatboy, is the only man in her life. While she tries to deal with her mother's grief, Tom -- a charming veterinarian -- sweeps Helen off her feet. But will he stick around after having witnessed Helen's embarrassing tequila incident? There are some memorable and incredibly funny moments in this novel.
—Lindsay green

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