This One Is Mine Audiobook By Maria Semple cover art

This One Is Mine

A Novel

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This One Is Mine

By: Maria Semple
Narrated by: Claire Christie
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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 Contemporary Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Psychological Romantic Comedy Satire Women's Fiction Witty
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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.

Wanted to like this but was disappointed

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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)

Okay book, what's with the mispronunciations?

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

Hermès is not pronounced "hur-meez"..

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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.

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

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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.

Terrible pronunciation is distracting

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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.

Intense read well done

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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.”

Mispronunciations

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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.

I wanted to like it

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I am a fan, so disappointed to find the characters and plot not believable. Her other two books were fanciful and yet rang more true.

A bit disappointed.

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So important to know how to pronounce the words one is reading. It really throws off the story to hear LA street names, famous shops, and multisyllabic words massacred. That being said the story is gritty and self-involved lacking the charm of where’d you go Bernadette. Not really worth the read.

Reader needs pronunciation lessons

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