Dating Big Bird was a quick and pleasant read. That's it. I would advise against treating the book like a how-to manual aimed at single motherhood. It's not particularly believable, nor did I relate to Ellen, the protagonist, except in the most general "I want to have a baby someday and boy won't it look cute dressed up in little big people clothes" sort of way. I can understand the consternation a single mother might feel upon reading the book, as it's not a realistic depiction of single motherhood. Having said that, however, I still enjoyed the book. As Animal Husbandry, which was great, this is a humorous novel full of fun characters and quick plot and dialogue. My recommendation for Dating Big Bird, as for many of the other books I review, is to not take it so seriously. It seems, oftentimes, that people expect much more from a book than what the author might have intended to provide. So read Dating Big Bird, laugh and enjoy, but don't expect philosophical musings on the meaning of life.

Dating Big Bird is a delightful read about a woman's quest for a child. Ellen Franck is in a loving but frozen relationship with Malcolm, a divorced father who lost his only child to leukemia. At 35, Ellen wonders if she will ever be able to have a baby. It certainly doesn't help that every woman she knows is a mother or mother-to-be. That is, except for Amy, an old high school acquaintance Ellen runs into on the streets of New York. The two begin a friendship and wade through intracacies of their own lacking relationships and desires for more.

Ellen is supported by a wonderful cast of characters who are both hysterical and endearing. You will want to pick up this quick, funny and heartwarming read to discover Ellen's fate. By the end of the book Ellen learns, and we are reminded, that life happens when you begin living it.

As she did in her first book, Animal Husbandry, Laura Zigman entertains her readers with both a witty and poignant read in her new book Dating Big Bird. The plot of this book is not a new one, but in this skilled writer's hands we really come to care about Ellen Franck, a 35 year old single woman who hears her biological clock ticking away.

Ellen has a good job, a nice apartment and one lovely 4 year old niece who suggests she takes Big Bird to bed with her to keep her compnay. And then Ellen, in one of the more humorous chapters of the book contemplates what it would be like to have a child with Big Bird. But being a bit more realistic Ellen thinks about her choices for parenting which include Malcom, her present lover who is emotionally frozen since his young son died several years before. As Ellen struggles to make sense out of her relationship and the passage of time, Ellen's sister and boss give birth to their second children leaving Ellen totally desparate to have a child even if she's alone.

I did enjoy this book and it will most likely provide readers with a light summer offering but every reader must also be prepared for some serious moments which offset the humor and wit. And while today there are other novels and many magazine articles about this subject, Dating Big Bird is one of the better fiction reads one can experience on this topic.

Oh please. Another bitter, boring, been dumped story. The "cleverness" of the prose sustained my interest for about twenty pages, after that, my annoyance was the only thing that kept going.

I've heard that men feel insulted by this book. I don't blame them. As a female, I'm apalled by how my gender is treated. The women in this book are whiny, self centered, self absorbed, and spend more time bashing the male sex, than actually trying to do something positive about their own lives.

After being dumped, Jane plops herself down on a ratty couch, drinks copiously, and complains to her friends about how badly she's been treated. Then, after reading a couple of books on psychology, evolution, anthropology, and agriculture, she comes up with this "new" theory: Men are biologically incapable of committing. Ho hum. I heard this new theory in Psychology 101. But apparently the magazines and the newspapers that exist in the world of the novel are gullible enough to find this theory brilliant. And speaking of gullible.... Jane, after dating a man for less than two months, gives up her great apartment to move in with him. Two months! Get a clue, lady.

Had "Animal Husbandry" at least been well written, I wouldn't have felt so cheated. But in chapter one, the character tells you what is going to happen in the book, and if you didn't catch it the first time, she repeats it throughout the chapters, and if after finishing the book, you still missed what happened, you can always go back in read the chapter titles, which tell you exactly what will occur in each chapter.

I'm tired of reading books, reading articles, seeing television shows about unhappy single city women. I am a single city woman, and I manage to at least find some happiness in my daily life. When I get dumped, I do manage to go on, and I do manage to believe that men are not slime. Furthermore, this theme/plot has been handled much better by "The Heidi Chronicles" (Wendy Wasserstein! ), "50% Off" (Karen Salmanson), and "Selling the Light of Heaven" (forgot author's name, but its a lovely book). Read one of those three books, but don't waste your time on "Animal Husbandry."

I wouldn't necessarily call it a "male bashing book". Jane Goodale (no relation to the chimp enthusiast) has been dumped by Ray, a co-worker who still had a girlfriend from a long-term relationship while he dated Jane, and who allegedly dumped Mia (the g-friend) to tell Jane her loves her and wants to move in with her. After she gives notice to her lanlord, Ray begins to have doubts and eventually, with only days before Jane has to clear out of her apartment, he decides he just can't go through with it all. This particular humiliating turn of events prompts Jane to study male behavior in it's most primal form- animals. Particularly, the bull/cow theory. Apparently, no matter how they try, no one seems to be able to get a bull to mate with a cow he's already mated with- he wants "new cow". This provides Jane with the information she needs to research male behavior, not really for any noble cause, but rather, to try and explain the unexplainable- why can't men seem to commit? Additionally, it gives Jane a false sense of satisfaction in thinking that all men leave, and not that all men leave HER only. I don't see this as a "let's hate all guys" book, because Jane realizes, with the help of her new womanizing roomate Eddie, that not all men are bad, and that she used this experiment to try and nurse her wounded heart. Not one of my top 10 picks, but certainly worth reading (unless, of course, your an over-the-top feminist type who will take this to uneccessary plateaus in the name of sisterhood).

I originally bought this book for a friend who has been dumped by a string of "bovines" but I couldn't possibly give it to her until I'd screened it myself. I ended up just loaning her my copy because I couldn't bear to part with it!

Told through the satirical eyes of Jane Goodall (recently dumped) we learn of the "New Cow, Old Cow" theory: men's inherent belief that the grass is always greener on the other side of the cubicle. Laura Zigman's premise was not to compose a diatribe on how to cope after a break up. Rather, Animal Husbandry is just a funny look at how hard it is to be single & to meet anyone decent in this day & age.

All single women (& friends of single women) who have ever been dumped will enjoy this book & to any male readers out there: we're onto you & forewarned is forearmed!

Elisa is in her thirties and about to be married to Donald...also in his thirties...the obsessive compulsive disorder of Elisa trying to catch Donald doing something with his ex-fiancée, Adrianne is to the extreme. This hunting, searching, stalking, driving herself insane starts at the beginning of the relationship before they are even engaged....I think this book just pushes it a little to far....and on top of it, the book was predictable! I knew exactly how it was going to end. There were no twist, no juicy parts that kept me wanting more. (I'm sad to say)

This is the first book I have read by Laura Zigman...and I think I may wait awhile before buying another one of her books. I'm not saying I wouldn't get another book by her, I'm just saying that this book was not at the top of my favorite reads...I have read that her other books are much better...so I'll have to try "Dating the Bird" or "Animal Husbandry" in a few months...I'll be sure to post a review for you all!

When Donald sat down next to Elise on the commuter flight she knew right from the start that the other woman in his life would complicate things. When Donald mentioned Adrienne and explained that even though they had called off their wedding they were still friends Elise knew she should go back to reading her paper and forget she ever laid eyes on Donald. At the same time Donald seemed like the ideal guy. He had moved away from New York to escape the stress of the city just like she had and of course he was gorgeous.

A year goes by and Elise is planning her and Donald's wedding when the phone rings and it is Her. It turns out that Adrienne is moving to the same neighborhood where Elise and Donald live. Elise quickly realizes that having Her so close to Donald is more than she can handle. How will Elise cope with her fiancé's ex living practically around the corner?

I picked up this book after seeing it on a summer reading list and I was hoping it would be one that made me laugh. I wasn't laughing out loud as I read Her but I did chuckle a bit and it was entertaining. The eccentric characters Zigman writes about make this book worth reading.

The main character in this novel, Elise, has a life full of love, a great job, and good friends. The trouble? She is very lacking in the area of self-confidence, especially when it comes to her fiance's ex-fiance, Adrienne. Since the very beginning of her relationship with Donald, she has been carting along his baggage of the ex. When she finds out that Adrienne is moving to Washington D.C. where she and Donald live, all hell breaks loose. Elise sikes herself up for the beautiful woman that she knows Adrienne is and unfortunately, she is not disappointed. Not only is Adrienne beautiful, likable and Yale-educated, but she is Elise's worst nightmare in the flesh. From the first time Elise meets Adrienne things begin to go downhill. Elise becomes so suspicious of her motives that they begin to take over her life. Soon she is obsessing with Adrienne and Donald's every move and life as she knew it before Adrienne ceases to exist.
This book is the story of a very insecure woman and what she puts herself through. Her fiance's baggage becomes the core of her existence and begins to ruin her life. The closer it gets to Elise's wedding day the more suspicious she gets until it all blows up.
This is the first book that I have read by Laura Zigman. She came highly recommended. However, I just didn't feel the book was right for me. Elise was a very depressing character and very pessimistic. At times, reading about her brought me down. I do however think that the novel was based upon a good idea and that some women would be able to relate to those feelings of insecurities and doubt. I have myself been reduced to spying in the past. The novel just wasn't as funny and I had anticipated. I look forward to reading the other books by Laura Zigman before I make a decision about this author.