One Minus One

This was my first Nancy Pearl-recommended book. I'm still trying to figure out if I liked it. I kind of find it hard to like anyone who tells you that she wears a size 7 dress and who is also constantly dieting. That would be the main character, Emily, not the author or Nancy Pearl. Also generally irritating are fictional women who are irresistible to men. Also mopers. The book club questions state that the fundamental problem facing Emily is to choose between her head and her heart. I didn't se [...]

I received this free copy from bookbrowse and posted a brief review there as well. This novel was originally published in 1971, and was brought back into print by Nancy Pearl in her Book Lust Rediscovery series published by . It is the story of Emily, newly divorced from her high school sweetheart. She is devastated and has taken a job as a high school teacher which she dislikes. While married she was a writer who was unable to sell any of her work and her husband worked also as a teacher (most [...]

Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this book at ALA Midwinter 2013 Originally published in 1971, One Minus One is a Nancy Pearl Book Lust Rediscovery which has been re-released by Publishing. A housewife and aspiring writer, thirty-year-old Emily’s world is rocked when her husband, David, divorces her to marry the guidance counsellor at the school where he works. Married to David right out of university, Emily never worked as a teacher herself but, determined not to accept alimony f [...]

This book is not my usual fare at all, but since Nancy Pearl said it was good and she is one of my library heroes and I gave it a try.The story is about a 30 year old woman Emily who finds herself divorced and confronting life on her own. She has to learn how to do everything alone, something with which she is not familiar. with. Like many women who created their identity based on their relationship with a man she falls into a relationship rather quickly with Warren, a radio host. Their relation [...]

One Minus One by Ruth Doan MacDougall is a book that was originally published in 1971 and has recently been republished by Book Lust Rediscoveries. The main character, Emily Bean is recently divorced and out on her own. She has been hired as a teacher for the first time and is struggling to find her way. The conflict within the book is internal within Emily. The action is minimal and the pace slow and reflective. Her pathway to a new start is cluttered with memories and distress at moving on in [...]

Let me start my saying I loved Ruth Doan McDougall’s The Cheerleader back when I was a teen. I re-read it a few years ago and still loved Snowy and her 1950s high school days. I listened to One Minus One on audiotape. Set the late 1960s in New Hampshire, Emily is recently divorced from her college sweetheart David. She moves and starts to work as a teacher. Mind you she was educated, but never worked. She pursued her writing while she was married. She quickly starts to drink, hang out and have [...]

Odd coincidence. I happened to notice this title when I was looking at others by this author. When I went to add it in Good Reads, I noticed a lot of recent adds and learned it was being reprinted as part of Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Rediscoveries series. I hope this helps readers discover--or rediscover--Ruth Doan MacDougall.The story takes place in 1969 (published 1971) in small-town New Hampshire. Even though I grew up in a larger (but by no means large) town in Massachusetts, this is very much [...]

Short, sweet and to the point! So interesting, I had never heard of this author and then I saw a few being released again, so I jumped at the chance to read it! I love books in this era, especially that show a different point of view from the 60's.Emily Bean is just a normal lady, after her divorce she takes a job at a high school. Even though she is STILL in love with her ex-husband! But then there are a couple more men that are in love with Emily. An awesome OOP book to reprint! I am so glad I [...]

Wow. No wonder legendary librarian Nancy Pearl wanted to help us re-discover this book. This is a story about character and identity with a helping of gender roles thrown in to the mix. It is thoughtful, sad, and completing despite the fact that it is not a book heavy on plot details. Rather it is the emotional journey of a woman faced with the idea that her life will not be what she expected and her struggle to understand herself after her divorce. Well worth a read and a great choice for your [...]

This was a Nancy Pearl rediscovery and once again the all knowing librarian led me to a wonderful summer read. I drove through this one in a few days. It was a wonderful study Emily, a women who comes of age in the sixties and seventies. As it was written in 1970, the book does not even attempt to temper Emily's views with insights about women's place in the world that emerge during the 70s and 80s. What you get is a wonderful portrait of a woman dealing with great loss who is groping for a posi [...]

There's a certain mood throughout this book that is unique to the era in which it was written. I can't describe it other than the whole novel has a lazy tone to it that is quite unlike more current literature. I didn't care for Emily, the main character, and I can't decide if that's fair. Some of the things I dislike about her are things that are not really character traits, but behaviors engendered by the time she inhabits (the early 1970s). I wanted to try one of Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Redisc [...]

My only disappointment with this book is that I never get to find out how the main character's life went after the book ended. I wanted to keep following her through the grieving process following her divorce and see how she finally came to terms with everything. The characters are beautifully written. There's very little plot, but the characters are so wonderful I didn't really care. I just wanted to follow behind Emily, the main character, forever.

2 1/2 stars of 5. Ruth Doan MacDougall wrote one my favorite books ever, The Cheerleader and I like the way she writes. This is a story of a woman trying to reassemble her life after a very painful, unexpected divorce. While I do think a lot of the feelings transcend time periods, it felt dated to me and I just didn't connect very much. This is one of Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Rediscoveries so there's a reading guide and other book suggestions.

Well, I spoke too soon. I recently wrote that I had not read a Nancy Pearl Book Lust Rediscovery title that I didn't love. Until now. I didn't like the protagonist very much and could not relate to the choices she made with her life. Hard to root for her, she seemed flat. I enjoyed reading about her roommates more than I enjoyed reading about her!

What I liked about this book was the picture it painted of life in the late 1960sd life about a woman dealing with divorce, rejoining the working world, relearning life as a singleton in a New England town in the late 1960s. This snapshot made the story worth it for me.

Good grief! Did 30-somethings really drink and smoke that much in the 1960s? Nonetheless, Emily Bean's grieving process after divorce was plausibly presented as she lurched forward into meeting new work and new lovers.

Emily isn't my favorite protagonist, but discussing her behavior would certainly trigger a lively book group debate. This book, taking place in small-town New Hampshire in the 1960s/70s, could also appeal to readers who like to read for setting.

Nancy Pearl recommends

For anyone who likes character driven novels.

3 1/2. Awesomely depressing.

Emily and Daniel were high school sweethearts who got married and was supposed to live happily ever. But things didn't work out that way and Emily isn't taking it well.

One of Nancy Pearl's rediscovered recommendations; a quick read and an amusing foray into the 1970s