Must Love Dogs

by Claire Cook

Book Overview

"Wildly witty."-USA Today"Funny and pitch perfect."-Chicago Tribune"This book is a hoot."-The Boston GlobeFirst the much-loved novel by New York Times bestselling author Claire Cook. Then the major... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670031062
• ISBN13: 9780670031061
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 242 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Irritating characters

The characters are annoying especially Dolly from the trailer park and the father, Billy, who thinks he's positively fantastic and always welcome when in fact he's a bore. Sarah is a doormat for her obnoxious family. Very disappointing.

Charming

Many of the negative comments missed the point. Sure, there are books out there like The Ya-Ya Sisterhood, the meat and potatoes of reading, that leave you feeling full and perhaps a bit heavy.Must Love Dogs is a light lunch and a sinfully sweet dessert eaten knee-to-knee with a funny, charming and sharply insightful woman. There are certainly times you want that satisfying meal, but more often than not, I'll take the light and tasty lunch.

As Much Fun as a New Puppy

Laugh out loud funny, this book is as much fun as a brand new puppy (without the messy cleanup and chewed up shoes). Claire Cook takes us on a life journey with Sarah Hurlihy, 40 year old divorcee, pre-school teacher, and member of a large, wild and rowdy Irish American family. In her first foray into the world of personal ads, Sarah manages to select a Mr. Right who is none other than her own widowed father. Will she have any better luck when her sound-alike sister writes a personal ad for Sarah, and records a voice message? The importance of family relationships and the dysfunction of same glows through every single page in this delightful and frothy little book. Fun, uplifting, and insightful, I highly recommend this charming book.

Excellent

This book was wonderful. Sarah ,the main character, had such an amusing life: between her "invloved" family to her personal ads she managed to work and have some what of a life. I was sad to see the book end but it is a must read romantic comedy. I can't wait to find more Claire Cook books.

FINALLY! A book about a real woman.

Since Bridget Jones' Diary, I've been looking for an amusing book about a single woman. There have been dozens of books that are: Bridget Jones meets Jacqueline Susann. Bridget Jones meets Sex and the City. Bridget Jones meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But I don't want another Bridget Jones! As if in answer to my plea, Claire Cook has given us Sarah Hurlihy, an average American woman recovering from a divorce and trying to find a life again with the help and sometimes despite the help of her family.The characters are human, embodying the traits of real people, meaning that at times we love them and at other times we hate them. Cook is a good enough writer that she doesn't need to paint her characters either black or white.The humor of the story sneaks up on you. The writing is done as if Cook has been smiling the entire time and the reader just can't help but smile with her. By the end, you wish you were on the busload of Hurlihy family and friends so that you could continue in their company.Thank you, Claire Cook, for showing us that you don't need high society or gobs of sex or name dropping to produce a rewarding novel. You just need to write honestly about real people and us real people will be there in droves to read it.

Must love to laugh

A large boisterous, meddling family, a classroom of preschoolers and various dogs all combine to make this a very good read.Everything about the book is fun - the classroom scenes filled with children who say it as they see it, the meditating classroom assistant, Sarah's meeting "new friends" after her sister places an ad in the personal column in Sarah's name and particularly Dolly - one of her widowed Dad's 2 girlfriends.It's fast, funny and definitely worth your time.