Size Eight in a Size Zero World by Meredith Cagen

My thoughts:
The title of this book appealed to me. It sounded like it was going to be a funny read and it did not disappoint! I forgot the synopsis entirely from the time I requested the book from Bostick Communications and the time I read it, and one of the things I kept thinking was that it reminded me of Sex and the City. Not the book, while I own a copy I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but the TV series. I have never lived in New York City and have to admit that, while I enjoy watching movies about it and reading books about it, I don't think it is a place I would want to live. I enjoy going there for day trips but I don't see it as being the right fit for me. It is fun to go in someone else's shoes for a while.

This book grabbed me right from the start. At the beginning of chapter one in italics it says, "When men were asked to identify women's ultimate fantasy, 97.8 percent said to have two men at once." Then there is as asterisk and a note to see end of the chapter. At the conclusion of chapter one the following is stated, "It appears that most men do not realize that in this fantasy one man is cooking and the other man is cleaning."

Lindsay is a working married mother of two who gets up at 5:30 every morning so she can go to gym before making her husband and children breakfast, walking the dog, putting the kids on the school bus, cleaning up the apartment and going to work. Lindsay's husband Grant refuses to help her at all or allow her to hire any outside help. He doesn't like to go out to eat or order in food but wants her to prepare all of it (including breakfast which reminded me of the 1950's- I feed my kids every day but on most days it is cereal, we save pancakes and such for a dinner treat because we just don't have enough time in the morning). He spends all his time either at work or online playing video games or surfing the Internet. Even when he wants to participate in the board for their apartment building he emails her the questions and expects her to go and report to him. He calls her multiple times at work but complains if she calls him. He has never been to one of his children's school functions and even the doorman isn't sure what he looks like.

Then she meets the man upstairs, whose name she never uses. This called to mind for me how Carrie in Sex and the City used "Big" or "Mr. Big" as the name of her love interest. The man is very attentive to her, makes her feel heard and important, is wonderful with her children. he charms her, asks her for a advice and becomes her friend. But even when she is spending time with him and having fun, taking on a new plan for her life where she loses weight and becomes more stylish, he always seems just a little bit too good. He dates models and goes to a lot of social functions. I started to wonder if anything he did was really genuine or because he had an ulterior motive. I don't want to say any more and risk spoiling it.

I had a lot of fun reading this and the pages just flew by. I discovered the authors signature on page 122 of my copy which made me wonder if there was a significance to the number 122. Was it part of her address, a goal weight or starting weight, number of rewrites(definite hope not), her lucky number or just a way to thank the reader for enjoying her work.


Size Eight in a Size Zero World: A Hilariously Provocative Book on Love, Life, Libido and Low-Fat Yogurt in New York City

Synopsis:
Lindsay Chandler is a complicated woman caught in the shallow society of Manhattan's snooty Upper East Side social X-rays in this funny and deliciously naughty take on the boy-next-door story certain to appeal to the 21st century female.

The witty and inspirational novel follows the love-struck Lindsay, a multi-tasking,
working wife and mother, on an infatuation-turned-obsession for her upstairs neighbor - a man she recently met on the elevator. Hers is an aspiration filled with hope and wonder, warmth and wanton lust.

Life is perfect on the outside for Lindsay: Handsome attorney husband, two healthy children, friends, a job with flexibility and a beautiful New York City home. Then one day on the elevator of her posh luxury high-rise, she meets "The Man Upstairs," and becomes convinced that he is the perfect one. Her friends try to tell her, "Perfect men only exist in online dating profiles." Nonetheless determined not to become a member of the Lonely Wives Club, Lindsay devises Plan B, a practical strategy to change herself, maintain her new friendship and improve her life.

But can a girl who actually eats cheeseburgers with fries make this happen on the Upper East Side without counting calories? Readers of this book will discover the secrets of survival and the thrill and humor of falling in love in the most exciting city in the world, and perhaps come away from it with a Plan B for winning at life of their own.

In the tradition of Sex and the City, Bridget Jones's Diary and The Ivy Chronicles, Size Eight in a Size Zero World is the contemporary story of a good girl who is trying to do the right thing and the wrong thing at the same time, while remaining true to herself, whoever that is.

About the book:
Size Eight in a Size Zero World by Meredith Cagen
ISBN: 978-1440169748
Publisher: iUniverse
Date of publish: Nov 23, 2009
Pages: 340
S.R.P.: $19.95

About the author:
Accidental author Meredith Cagen, a New York City resident, has drawn on a storehouse of personal experience in writing this exciting, unpredictable, and yet believable, adventure in romance.

"My debut novel is fiction based on my reality as an Upper East Side working wife and mother. Surrounded by seemingly picture-perfect, double-processed blonde mannequins dressed in look-alike designer clothes, with their honor roll children and bland husbands who lead extraordinary lives, I found myself wondering whether 'having it all' means giving up the most important thing: your uniqueness.

I have become an unofficial commentator on lifestyles while observing this search for personal perfection in a world devoid of passion. Where else do women compete to
position themselves with such vicious intensity?"