Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16974 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-14
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Sushi For Beginners has all the right ingredients for a thirtysomething novel. The thirtysomething girls are there, looking for a better job, a better man, ANYTHING other than what they've already got; there are men to die for and men you wish would drop dead, preferably in agony. And these "so-real you can pinch 'em" people live their lives in a funny, thrilling, sad world that you wish hadn't just ended when you turn the last page. But there is more, because this one is written by best-selling Irish author Marian Keyes.

Where her previous best-seller, Last Chance Saloon, featured Irish folk living in London, Sushi For Beginners is set in Keyes' hometown, Dublin. The only "foreigner" here is Lisa from London, a real madam whose longed-for promotion to Manhattan magazine is knocked off-course a few thousand miles when she is forced to accept the editorship of Colleen, a new magazine for young women, billed by the publishers as "dumbed-down" but definitely "sexy". Lisa would frankly rather eat one of her freebie Patrick Cox stilettos. Still a job is a job, and anyhow, Irish MD Jack Devine could just turn out to be a major consolation prize. Lisa's deputy at Colleen is Ashling, a Little Miss Fix-It, whose early role reversal with her mother (thanks to the latter's nervous breakdown) has induced an organisational paranoia and a handbag filled with emergency equipment to meet any eventuality. Oh, and a best friend whose motives might not always be in Ashling's best interests.

This is a story of three girls' lives, what's made them what they are and their search for happiness--sometimes found in unlikely places and sometimes lost forever. With Sushi For Beginners, Keyes is fast becoming the undisputed Queen of her genre. She is wincingly accurate and wickedly funny, and while she can tackle big issues like homelessness (no pun intended) with honest feeling devoid of over-sentimentality, her insight into the aspirations of thirtysomething women at the turn of the 21st century sets her high above the competition. --Carey Green This review refers to the hardcover edition of this title.

Synopsis
A nervous breakdown seems like a great idea: all that lying in bed and watching daytime TV. But who's going to have it? Will it be housewife Clodagh, who spends her days microwaving pasta for her demanding toddlers and waiting for her beautiful husband Dylan to come home? Or Lisa, hard, brittle and shiny as an M&M, reeling from the shock of a demotion from her fabulous job in London to a one-horse magazine in Dublin? Or Ashling, so normal she's weird?

Customer Reviews

clever title for a book.
Ok, i wasnt sure about giving this book 3 or 4 stars, but i opted for 4 because the second half of the book was really good. The first half i wasnt sure of because i couldnt stand Lisa or Clodagh. And it was annoying reading their bits, although i loved Ashling all the way through! And Lisa improved greatly towards the end. But Clodagh was a vile pig of a woman. At least with Lisa you could sense a diferent, softer side to her even at her worst, but with Clodagh she was just out for what she could get, and i hated her.

Other brill characters are Joy and Ted, Jack Devine (lush lush!) Kelvin and Trix and Mrs Morley i think her name was, and the new character that came in when Mercedes left the office was hilarious, especially giving Mrs Morley Valium, i was laughing so much at that haha. I didnt like Marcus though. So childish and pathetic, i wanted to punch him, and i felt so sorry for Dylan towards the end of the book. Poor man.

Anyway, others have commented that she dealt with depression too flimsily. But i thought it was ok. You dont have to have something majorly drastic happen to you to be plunged into the black hole. I think Marian herself has dealt with depression so she should know. And the ending was just how i wanted it to be. This book isnt predictable at all, even though i knew who Ashling would end up with, i didnt guess what would happen in most of the other situations. I enjoyed it, not as much as 'Last Chance Saloon' or 'Watermelon' but it was still worth reading. i definately recommend it, just make sure you dont let Lisa and Clodagh get to you too much in the first half of the book!

Oh and, the title was brilliant once i understood what it meant, it was so fitting and romantic! It's just Sushi For Beginners.

THE FISH WENT OFF!
This book was the first I'd read by Marian Keyes.
I had been recommended it but half way through I was ready to give up.
There are too many characters initially, and too many bitty stories.
Each time I picked the book up, I couldn't quite remember if anything significant had happened previously.
I stuck it out purely because I hate to abandon a book midway through. It was bearable, but I couldn't get it finished quick enough to move onto something else.
I didn't like the way she flippantly dealth with issues such as depression, homelessness, adultery and divorce. And there is nothing clever about endless (unnecessary) cuss words from a writer.
I doubt I'll read any more from her.

OK, but...
Not as good as Watermelon and Rachel's Holiday or Last Chance Saloon as the characters aren't as likeable, that said, it you like her other books you'l enjoy it.