Today Will Be Different
Books | Fiction / Women
3.4
(185)
Maria Semple
A brilliant novel and instant New York Times bestseller from the author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette, about a day in the life of Eleanor Flood, forced to abandon her small ambitions and awake to a strange, new future. Eleanor knows she's a mess. But today, she will tackle the little things. She will shower and get dressed. She will have her poetry and yoga lessons after dropping off her son, Timby. She won't swear. She will initiate sex with her husband, Joe. But before she can put her modest plan into action, life happens. Today, it turns out, is the day Timby has decided to fake sick to weasel his way into his mother's company. It's also the day Joe has chosen to tell his office -- but not Eleanor -- that he's on vacation. Just when it seems like things can't go more awry, an encounter with a former colleague produces a graphic memoir whose dramatic tale threatens to reveal a buried family secret. Today Will Be Different is a hilarious, heart-filled story about reinvention, sisterhood, and how sometimes it takes facing up to our former selves to truly begin living.
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More Details:
Author
Maria Semple
Pages
288
Publisher
Little, Brown
Published Date
2016-10-04
ISBN
031640344X 9780316403443
Ratings
Google: 3
Community ReviewsSee all
"Fans of “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” will recognize this story arc. Eleanor is a manic, scattered character that can be maddening but ultimately sympathetic. "
Jackie Davidson
"I couldn't put it down, so I didn't. Carve out a couple hours to read this straight through. "
Maria West
"As I look down through the reviews, I seem to be in the minority in that I liked <i>Today Will Be Different</i> better than <i>Where Did You Go Bernadette</i>. It's been a while since I read WDYGB and I didn't write a review, so I'm not remembering where it went wrong for me. I guess I need to see the movie for a refresher. <br/><br/>But this book - I really liked it. I liked Eleanor's snarky sarcasm and the little breaks in reality that happened in her head (the glitter anyone?!?). I liked the drawings that were included throughout and I especially liked that she <u>took Timby along with her</u> on her crazy romp."
L
Lauren
"<strong>Fine, but ends well.</strong><br/><br/>I hated it until I loved it, but it was real and hard and frustrating and hurtful. Seattle, a backdrop of isolated dysfunction. Eleanor, an unreliable narrator with human shortcomings, teaching us about the things we do poorly."
Dana Reinert
"A modern day, Seattle-based, middle aged mom's Catcher in the Rye, with compelling style and interesting plot twists. Eleanor's frenetic narration pushes the book along at a breakneck pace, interrupted only occasionally by Semple's signature (at least going off Bernadette) third-person interludes. The plot is a loose and tenuous thing-- perhaps about a missing husband, perhaps the protagonist reconciling with her own backstory-- very little of what is going on in this book is either relevant or resolved, and that's okay because Today Will Be Different is all about voice and character. (And honestly, I think the author should have leaned even more into her lack of plot/Catcher in the Rye-esque inspiration <spoiler> and kept the focus on Eleanor and her sister. The best parts of the book was the realization for Eleanor that she hadn't buried the sense of loss she felt for her and her sister's relationship, and I felt Joe's religious turnabout, which had relatively low-impact or connection, distracted from what was ultimately the simple, sweet heart of the book. </spoiler>) I also am not entirely comfortable with the ways that issues of race and diversity were handled in the book, though it's a bit subtle. <br/>Regardless, Today Will Be Different was an entertaining and occasionally poignant read, and a nice homage to the classic."
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