What We Do for Love

by Ilene Beckerman and Kathy Garver

Book Overview

Looking for love isn't easy, and it's never what you expect. WHAT WE DO FOR LOVE is a reminder of how true that is. Unlucky in love herself, "Gingy" Beckerman shows us there is always reason to keep trying. "Recaptures in words and line drawings young love in all its glorious agony and possibility."--Glamour; "Charmingly written and illustrated . . . this savory little truffle turns out to be surprisingly poignant, laced with the bitter, the rueful,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565121805
• ISBN13: 9781565121805
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.7" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

"If you have to stand on your head to make somebody happy...

All you can expect is a big headache." So says Ilene Beckerman's grandmother. Wow. This little memoir is "The Bell Jar" meets Bridget Jones, summing up a woman's romantic and personal history in her search for Stanley, the man she was meant to love. (The book is dedicated to Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, and Stanley.) Throughout her two failed marriages and other failed relations, we see all of the mistakes she's making because despite a woman's looks or background or intelligence level, these relationship problems, both with men and with herself, are universal. Concise and simply illustrated with ink drawings by the author, I'm dazzled by her easy, matter-of-fact, yet raw style. Her note in the beginning starts with: "It has taken me a long time to realize that men are neither heroes nor villians, but just people." Of Stanley she says, "I never would have expected when I was a senior in high school that I wouldn't find love until I was practically a senior citizen. Stanley and I are growing old together. We still walk down the street holding hands. When I was younger I never would have expected that two such imperfect people could be so perfect for each other." Ms. Beckerman (in her 60's) has sometimes been criticized for being somewhat old-fashioned and out-of-touch with the modern younger woman. I disagree. The subject matter rang true for me, right down to the detail of adoring Dorothy Parker's "The Telephone Call" and thinking, as Gingy, the narrator of "What We Do For Love" thought, that it must have been written just for me. Near the end, she also includes my favorite quote from "The Little Prince": "If someone loves a flower, of which just one single blossom grows in all the millions and millions of stars, it is enough to make him happy just to look at the stars. He can say to himself: 'Somewhere my flower is there.'" I always know a well-written book if I read passages outloud. With this one, I did that many times. If you're still searching for your Stanley, or if you've found him, this book's for you.

Touches your heart

If you're ever in the mood for a good cry, this is the book for you. Sweet and endearing

Humorous and insightful look at male-female relationships

I found this book to be surprisingly enjoyable. With simple black and white illustrations and a humorous first person voice, the author outlines her attempts to develop loving relationships with the various men in her life. Starting when she was 15 in 1950, we see her grow and develop, but never quite connect. Yet she never looses her sense of humor. We get to laugh and cry along with her and, hopefully, the reader will come away with a better understanding of male-female relationships as I did.

This is an easy to read, engaging novel with a power!

I thought that this was a compelling novel of love and loss and a womans change. she depicts her relationships in the upmost humor an sensibility. 5 stars from me!

Hilarious yet heartwrenching!

I'm in love with Ms. Beckerman's concise style of writing. Her grandmother's profound wisdom, remembered through each crisis in her life, can be a vehicle of insight for all women. I sobbed for 15 minutes after finishing this book. Although I'm married, I'm still waiting for my "Stanley."