Otherwise Engaged by Suzanne Finnamore

From the Publisher

Otherwise Engaged is Suzanne Finnamore's wickedly funny account of an intelligent, rational woman's transformation into the harpy of anxieties that is the bride-to-be.

When Michael pops the question, Eve is deliriously happy. She tells grocery clerks. She subscribes to bridal magazines. She delights in the rainbows that shower from the one-carat (okay, .81-carat) ring on her hand. For two days. As the cumulative stresses of ordering invitations, finding a dress, and organizing the Perfect Honeymoon fry Eve's nerves, the very real prospect of being with one man for the rest of her days reverberates through her consciousness like a Chinese gong. Suddenly the sight of Michael's discarded socks on the floor and his passing mentions of his former live-in French girlfriend incite doubt, argument, and public fainting.

Uproarious, insightful, tender, Otherwise Engaged dashes our soap-bubble fantasies in favor of a hilariously realistic walk to the alter.

R Rhodes

Eve's not as neurotic as Ally McBeal nor as weight-obsessed as Bridget Jones. She doesn't seem to have very many close female friends. But she's someone you can totally relate to, because in every group of friends, there is one woman like her. She is the woman who was obsessed about getting engaged, who pushed and pushed until it happened, and then yammered on and on about being engaged. Not necessarily the planning of a wedding — the flowers, the invites, the meal — but the feeling of actually being engaged. And this mindset, along with a bottle of Valium that has to last her from the beginning of her engagement until the big day, characterizes go-getter Eve in Otherwise Engaged by Suzanne Finnamore.

Most prospective brides will find themselves able to understand many of Eve's quirky behaviors that are symptomatic of engagement. The trip to Tiffany's to examine an overpriced, unrealistic ring that she wants but knows in her heart of hearts she will never get. The constant need to reassure herself that the engagement is real. The arguments over whether it's smart to save $50 and not have lined envelopes for the wedding invitation. And who can forget the future mother-in-law? Eve's happens to be a bit neurotic and requests that no rice be thrown at the wedding because she fears the birds will explode and then spread disease — to which Eve responds by asking if that will be her only request. "For now," the mother-in-law says.

But women who are single or already married need not shy away from this book. All women will find Otherwise Engaged to be a humorous, easy read that has "it-book" written all over the cover. Needless to say, there is a lot of dialogue in the book that will inevitably be dropped into casual conversation around the barbecue pit this summer. One of Eve's close work associates is leaving to find himself, and on his final day she experiences what her friend Jill calls a Grand Klong: "a sudden rush of shit to the heart." Huh?

"A Grand Klong is when you look in your rearview mirror and you see the police car," Jill says. "A Petit Klong is where you're talking about somebody and they arrive, but they have not heard their name." What a perfect way of summing up two precarious situations.

There are other pearls of wisdom from Jill, who does not appear that often in Otherwise Engaged but somehow ends up with all of the great lines. Consider her take on antidepressants: "Zoloft is a wizened old woman with a black velvet bag that closes with a golden cord and has stars and moons all over it. Her empty-headed daughter is Elavil, who always wears white and ballet slippers. Whose hair looks beautiful from a distance but is actually quite thin. Elavil powders her face with rice flour and is engaged to Prozac, a magician who performs for royalty in silver tights. They will never marry. Tragedy will avert it."

Finnamore's first novel doubles as an outlet for her vivid imagination and isn't to be taken seriously as a primer on engagement. You will laugh at Eve's therapy sessions with Reuben. You will be inspired by Eve's corporate prowess at the advertising agency she works for. You will be delighted by the occasional whimsical moments, like Eve's having her colleagues pound on a candy-filled piñata in the office. But serious prose this is not. You might be surprised by the author's light treatment of Eve's sick friend — or question the merits of including this in the book at all. And at times, you might even wonder why Finnamore goes off on tangents about Eve's parents and largely neglects her day-to-day interaction with her fiancé. But again, it's not serious prose, and higher expectations are better suited for other books. Otherwise Engaged is a light read that is perfect for a hot, lazy summer afternoon or for diversion during an anxious train ride whose only purpose is buying a bridal gown.

— barnesandnoble.com

Time Magazine - Ginia Bellafante

It is comforting to read a book that looks at the real doubts women have when marriage comes after the breeziness of youth has subsided.

The New York Times Book Review - Sally Eckhoff

Great stuff, if only for a while. The tone of Finnamore's writing...mimics the bride's bad case of jangled nerves...

USA Today - Deirdre Donahue

For laugh-out-loud humor, Otherwise Engaged takes the cake...This one is like a glass of really icy, good champagne.

Kirkus Reviews

A chronicle of a bride's engagement ultimately becomes a kind of wedding favor.

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