Sundays at Tiffany's
by Gabrielle Charbonnet, James Patterson
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Book Reviews of Sundays at Tiffany's
Book Review: Touching, but confusing and ridiculously overpriced love story (2.5 stars)...
Summary: 2 Stars
Eight-year-old Jane Margaux is the daughter of a chic and famous Broadway producer. And since her mother is always busy producing musical hits and her father is mostly vacationing with his new trophy wife in Nantucket, she seems to spend a whole lot of time on her own. That's all right though, because Michael, her imaginary friend, is always there. But what's going to happen to her when Michael leaves her after her ninth birthday? He doesn't want to leave her, but he must. Alas, she won't remember him anyway, so it doesn't matter. Michael is somewhere in his early to mid thirties -- a handsome man with magnetic green eyes. His job is to be a child's imaginary friend for a while. He cannot be seen by grownups during these assignments. Then he lives a semi-normal life whenever he's on sabbatical. Twenty-three years later, he sees Jane again. She's a grownup now, working on turning her musical production into a feature film. The play is based on her relationship with Michael. She has never been able to forget her imaginary friend, no matter what he had told her. Her life is sort of a mess -- a controlling mother, an actor boyfriend who is using her, and an imaginary friend she can't seem to get off her mind. What happens when Jane and Michael are face to face after so many years? And how is it possible that this man -- someone she had thought was a figment of her imagination -- is actually real?
Sundays at Tiffany's reminds me of The Velveteen Rabbit, where the boy's love makes the rabbit real. James Patterson got the help of Gabrielle Charbonnet, a children's book writer, to create this modern-day romantic fantasy. The love story itself is simple and beautiful. I have to admit, however, that the whole concept of a man falling in love with a woman he had been close to when she was a child seemed kind of creepy at first, but Patterson handles it well. This is one of Patterson's love stories, not one of his thrillers, and his tear-jerkers have always reminded me of Nicholas Sparks. The one big difference is that Sparks's novels seem to be targeted to older, middle-aged/elderly readers, whereas Patterson's books are based on younger characters and therefore more fun. I give this book three stars because I couldn't quite understand Michael's job very well. The explanation is insufficient. Also, the whole thing with Jane's mother strikes me as strange. Isn't this the woman who forgot her daughter's ninth birthday? And I can't get over how short this book is. With the giant font size on 309 pages (with some empty pages in between a few of the chapters), this is more like a novella, sold at the price of a full-length novel. I really, really hate it when publishers do that. So greedy. Other than that, Sundays at Tiffany's is an enchanting novel, but I'd wait for the paperback or bargain price edition. The overpriced hardcover gets 0 stars, the story itself gets three stars.
Book Review: A-, Not for Typical James Patterson Fans
Summary: 5 Stars
This book gets an A- because it was:
A) Different story, not a recycled one
B) Couldn't put it down
C) Light, easy reading
I think the poor ratings I've seen on this book is because a lot of James Patterson fans were expecting something similar to his past books. From what I read of the other bad reviews, everyone seemed disappointed that this book came from Patterson.
Setting that aside, let's assume that someone else wrote this book. Suspend your belief and read it for what it is. The book is about a little girl who has an imaginary friend, Michael, who she loves. He leaves her on her 9th birthday and she spends the rest of her life missing him even though she moves on without him.
Now, as far as imaginary friends go, once he leaves they are both supposed to forget about each other eventually. Yet she doesn't. And neither does he. In the imaginary friend circle, if you're an imaginary friend, you get recycled. Going from one child to the next, but you get breaks in between. Eventually you forget them.
The book doesn't delve into the whole imaginary friend world. Like who created them, how did they come into existence, or whatnot. You just have to fill in the blanks as the author doesn't tell you. I can see how some readers might even be annoyed by this.
Employment as an imaginary friend allows you to conjure up money at will as money does not motivate imaginary friends. That is how they are able to rent apartments and pay for cab fare when they are on breaks in between assignments. Like I said, suspend your belief. If you can get past this, you should enjoy this book. If you can't, you go into the camp of people who hate this book.
Think about it. Hollywood puts out tons of movies with totally crazier things. Remember that John Travolta movie, Michael, about an angel? So, what if the story is totally believable about real life and there is one very odd thing about it that makes it sound unreal? That is what you get when you read fiction.
I don't want to do a full book synopsis because what's the point in reading the book then? In a nutshell, 2 people find each other against all odds (sounds cliche', but it is) and they go through it as they find out more about themselves and each other.
This is such an easy read, you can read it on a Saturday and finish. It is a cute and easy book. If you don't like cute, don't read this.
Book Review: A feel-good, romantic thriller
Summary: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Narayan Radhakrishnan for RebeccasReads (5/08)
If you are reading at least six books a year of any author, and that one fresh title each six months or so, I tell you, you are bound to be tired. Most authors are home in their own neat territory of style and suspense. How would you feel if you are forced to read a new legal thriller by Grisham, every two months or a horror thriller from Stephen King each fortnight? It's going to become tiresome. But tiresome is a word which you do not associate with James Patterson. I read "7th Heaven" in February, "Sail" a couple of weeks back, and now this one, "Sundays at Tiffany's." But the style, the writing nature, even the print format is so different it is difficult to believe that all were penned by the same author. "7th Heaven" is a murder-suspense story, "Sail" is an adventure thriller, while "Sundays at Tiffany's" is a feel-good romantic thriller, and each book is as different as chalk, salt and scissors.
Imaginary friends of children and their mysterious relationship is the topic of Patterson's new work. But what would happen if these friends are anything but imaginary and the child is really seeing them, talking with them, confiding in them? Michael is one such imaginary friend, and Jane Margaux adored him. But soon after she turned nine, the friend left her, though his thoughts still remained. Twenty-one years later Margaux is a sensational playwright and her drama about a little girl and her imaginary friend is a huge success... soon to be a major motion picture. But on the personal front, Jane is still lonely and when Michael returns to her life, things seem back to normal. But is Jane truly seeing and feeling Michael, or is he still a figment of her imagination?
The author toys with the reader until the very end, and without being a spoilsport let me say one thing: I felt really, really good and wonderful after reading "Sundays at Tiffany's." And wouldn't you agree that Brad Pitt would be a perfect Michael? Is Hollywood listening?
Book Review: Unnecessary gimmick
Summary: 2 Stars
This story, similar to others in which an angel (or leprechaun, or whatever) falls in love and wishes to become human, suffered from an unnecessary and confusing gimmick. Michael's status as an "imaginary friend" was really nothing more than his being "Prince Charming." Jane's character was very likable and well-defined. She was easy to relate to and empathize with. But unlike "Enchanted", this fairy tale fell flat.
To me, Michael's character was off-putting. The rules of being an "imaginary friend" were poorly defined, distracting, and vague. (The author lazily glossed over this stumbling block by claiming Michael didn't understand the rules, either.) Although it would have been a plot device done a gazillion times before, had James Patterson made Michael initially another child with whom Jane had developed a close and trusting friendship, the story would have been better grounded in reality and less silly, while retaining its fairy tale quality. Jane copes with real issues of confidence, betrayal, and loneliness, That only an imaginary man could love her seems pretty sad.
I also found the conceit that a little girl would have a 35-year-old adult male as an imaginary friend unbelievable and somewhat disturbing. Imaginary children or stuffed animals (hey, it worked pretty well for Calvin) make a lot more sense. And a grown man who focuses his continuous undivided attention, charm, and sympathy on a small girl? Yikes. It was a little too close to pediophilia for comfort. Guardian angel -- okay. Imaginary friend? Um, not so much.
Printed in Dick-and-Jane-size type, this is a quick read. It's not boring, just unconvincing and forgettable. Wait for the paperback and read it at the beach or pool in an afternoon.
By the way, for a much more gripping, thrilling, and ingenious story of a girl who falls in love with her guardian angel, read Dean Koontz's classic novel "Lightning". (Okay, different genre -- but "Lightning" works, makes a crazy sort of sense in its carefully set up world, and is an un-put-downable page-turner.)
Book Review: Be Prepared to Suspend Reality with this Romantic Fantasy
Summary: 2 Stars
Warning: this is not for James Patterson fans addicted to Alex Cross. Think of his romantic novellas like Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas and if you liked that, you'll be more inclined to like this one. However, even though I am perfectly willing to suspend reality and slip into fantasy mode when necessary, I do expect the fantasy to be logical and well thought out---in other words, a realistic fantasy, one that could be possible in a dream-come-true world. This one fails on that score.
The most endearing part of the novel is Jane as the poor little rich girl. Her divorced mother is too busy for her and constantly belittles Jane for her weight and just about everything else. Her absent father has little purpose other than showing up occasionally to disappoint her. No wonder young Jane slips into Fantasy Land and is only too happy to have Michael, her imaginary friend, become her best and only friend. This concept works well, especially for the hundreds of adults who might recall with fondness their own imaginary friend from childhood. It is only when the adult Jane reconnects with Michael that the novel becomes a bit creepy and all logic is lost. Apparently, the authors had a wonderful idea of telling the story of an imaginary friend, but didn't take the time to work out answers to the details of his life---details like why he doesn't age, how he explains his occupation to the real-world adults he associates with between assignments, his status as angel or not, etc. Michael's character, one that could have been truly wonderful, is just not that well thought out. Even Michael doesn't know the answers.
If one of my children had written this when they were eight or nine, I would have praised their creativity in coming up with such a plot. But a distinguished writer like James Patterson owes his adult audience a book with a more well-defined parameters. Even fantasies have to make sense on some level.