This One Is Mine

A Novel

By: Maria Semple

Narrated by: Claire Christie

Violet Parry is living the quintessential life of luxury in the Hollywood Hills with David, her rock-and-roll manager husband, and her darling toddler, Dot. She has the perfect life - except that she's deeply unhappy. David expects the world of Violet but gives little of himself in return. When she meets Teddy, a roguish small-time bass player, Violet comes alive, and soon she's risking everything for the chance to find herself again. Also in the picture are David's hilariously high-strung sister, Sally, on the prowl for a successful husband, and Jeremy, the ESPN sportscaster savant who falls into her trap. For all their recklessness, Violet and Sally will discover that David and Jeremy have a few surprises of their own.

This One is Mine is a compassionate and wickedly funny satire about our need for more - and the often disastrous choices we make in the name of happiness.

©2008 Maria Semple (P)2013 Hachette

Wanted to like this but was disappointed

I really wanted to like this book, but I found all the characters unrelatable, and I also had a hard time following the plot since it jumps around so much (maybe this was worse because it's an audiobook). I did not find the plot particularly engaging. Others have also mentioned this - the narrators mispronunciations are very distracting. I loved Where'd You Go Bernadette, and this book was a disappointment.

Okay book, what's with the mispronunciations?

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I enjoyed the story

What didn’t you like about Claire Christie’s performance?

The main character is supposed to be worldly and fluent in different languages, but this reader has no clue! It was annoying to hear "tarte tatin" (tart ta-tan) pronounced as (tart TAY-tin)

Hermès is not pronounced "hur-meez"..

Really enjoyed the story and the narrator. My only complaint is her mispronunciation of hermès, which drove me absolutely insane.

Why is this overt racism okay in this day and age?

This book is totally entertaining, however, I’m confused about the overt racism and reliance on racist and ethnic stereotypes for humor. What’s equally bad, is the reader’s attempt at ethnic accents, even when the text does not call for it. Do we need to assume someone selling Mexican food speaks in broken English in a ridiculous Spanish accent? I cringed over and over but I’ll admit I keep listening. This isn’t a new book, but I’m shocked that it wasn’t written in 1952.

Auto bill omitted the lyrics to a song

I only caught it in chapter 14 I guess I'll never know if it's throughout the book but audible neglected to recite the lyrics to the Sun-Times song which they kept referencing in chapter 14 the Kindle book lists 12 lines of the song but audible omitted that kind of a bummer

Bad Narration

The narrator's normal voice is fine, but the other "voices" are so obnoxious that I couldn't make it more than half an hour.

Terrible pronunciation is distracting

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes - engaging and light, social parody

How could the performance have been better?

I am writing this review because of the reader - please at least learn to pronounce the words you are reading. Totally distracting. This is supposed to be an educated upper class narrator and the mispronunciations were like nails on a black board.

Intense read well done

A little more detailed and dark than I expected after Bernadette. Well written and performed. I definitely needed headphones for a few parts with slightly lewd language however I couldn't turn it off and I had to know how the lead would fair.

Mispronunciations

The narrator mispronounces a lot of words and it’s infuriating. The story itself is pretty good and speaks to the age old lesson of “the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.”

I wanted to like it

What did you like best about This One Is Mine? What did you like least?

I didn't like anything about this book so I baled. I enjoyed Maria's last book so much I jumped on this without looking at the subject matter. Narcissistic relationships and their ugliness are too close to home for me to enjoy this story. It was too painful for me to even get very far in the book. I shouldn't have assumed it was another comedy.

Any additional comments?

You may like it if you know what you are getting into.