How Hard Can It Be?

Product Information

This book is for those women whose children find them annoying, whose husbands take them for granted, who feel their best years are behind them and whose workplace is filled with bros with more hair gel than acumen, but who forge on because what other choice is there? In other words…something for every woman. Perceptive and funny....Allison Pearson has a gift for comedy, but the best bits of How Hard Can It Be? are her sharp asides about modern life." — The Times (U.K.)

If I didn't know the author, I probably would have given it 4 stars because I wouldn't want you to know how much I enjoy entertaining and ridiculous books. I like to pretend that I am a serious reader* of serious books. When everything seems to be at its worst an amazing guy shows up in her life again—someone she had hit it off with so well that it spooked her, and she’d ended the friendship. But has not stopped thinking about him for several years. The pressures placed on this woman are extreme and can be interpreted as satire of the devaluing of women of a certain age. But the author portrays this woman as enthusiastically invested in this unrealistic game of trying to be young. There are occasional hints of resentment, but not what I would want for a protest of such an environment.Also, I found myself not matching the intended "cohort parameters" for the readers of this book. This book elaborated in considerable detail about the discomforts of perimenopause and unpredictable menstrual cycles. I can accept that these are realistic issues for women, but I am an older white male conditioned to feel uncomfortable with too much such information. Seven years later, Kate Reddy is facing her 50th birthday. Her children have turned into impossible teenagers; her mother and in-laws are in precarious health; and her husband is having a midlife crisis that leaves her desperate to restart her career after years away from the workplace. Once again, Kate is scrambling to keep all the balls in the air in a juggling act that an early review from the U.K. Express hailed as "sparkling, funny, and poignant...a triumphant return for Pearson." Fiercely funny and keenly observant....couldn't be more timely or delightful....Allison Pearson can induce gales of uncontrollable laughter." -- USA Today

Of course I told all my friends about this hilarious book. One of them said that Pirate Dave was actually the product of Robyn Peterman’s real novel, How Hard Can It Be? (cause heaven forbid I read a prologue – I just started right in on chapter 1!!). The summary I got from my friend was “Rena and her gang of porno grannies from a writers group set out to destroy the Viper Bitch (Evangeline O’Hare–the best selling author) who steals the stories they write.” So I slammed breaks on Pirate Dave and set out to read How Hard Can It Be? I mean really, porno grannies? I had to read this first! The story opens with Kate’s daughter having a picture of her naked rear passed around on snapchat, much to her dismay and social ostracization. There are long conversations about social media and how different life is now. Parents wring hands about the pressures to excel. They worry about helicopter parenting, etc. . Early in this novel the story's protagonist/first-person-narrator is in a job interview and is told that she doesn't meet the job's "cohort parameters." In this context it means that she's too old at age 49 (going on 50). From that point the plot of this book involves her rejigging her resumé and her body to be 42. Allison Pearson has written an “OMG, yes!” book. As in, she totally gets it. This book, about turning 50 and entering the age of invisibility, hits all the correct notes. It’s a real mix of comedy and drama, between dealing with perimenopause, teenagers, aging parents, a husband seeking to find himself at everyone else’s expense and the need to stay relevant in today’s business world. A book about needing to laugh so you don’t cry. Even though I'm 22 years younger than the main character, I found I could relate to her on many levels in my hopes and fears for the future. I think any woman could find something in common with Kate Reddy. An extremely likeable character, the witty prose of this book swept me up in laughs, and at some points wrapped me in sorrow too. It's a novel about the juggling act women do on a daily basis when trying to manage kids, home and work, all while struggling with personal changes and finding little help from those around you.

Kate’s situation with managing a house, teenagers, an absent husband, a career and the changes happening in her body and feeling invisible are so relatable!!! Laugh-out-loud funny and entirely relatable—you'll fall in love with Kate all over again." — Popsugar This one attracted me because there are so few books about older women that promise to be fun instead of dreary Problem Novels. I know what the problems of being old are, thank you. I don’t need to read fiction about it.

I do have one problem with "How Hard Can it Be?". The romance of the main character is exactly the kind that irritates the crap out of me...love at first sight for two gorgeous people and mind blowing sex from the get go...but it's forgivable as the characters are likeable and I'm happy for anyone who is having mind blowing sex. Even if they are fictional. I was so happy to see Kate again! I LOVE her spunk and how her life looks so seamless to the outsider while in reality she is always struggling to hold it all together. She’s always one step away from a funny yet messy disaster. Yep, I eeped and proceeded to talk (type) Robyn's ears off. Something I mentioned in my reply was that this book should be made into a movie, as I'd buy the DVD and watch it continuously. So, I've been told that 'How Hard Can It Be?' has indeed been optioned for a movie, and the author is currently writing the script. Another bit of good news which has made me very happy, is that there is going to be a sequel. I, for one, can't wait. So, in my opinion, this was brilliant and this author got it all right. Every single aspect of this book. It's one of my favourites, and my year has started off just great! How Hard Can It Be? H.A.R.D. No one ever said being a mom was easy, but try being a mom pushing 50 who has been attempting to raise semi-functional humans and finds herself trying to re-enter the workplace thanks to a combination of a giant manchild of a husband who has decided riding his bicycle and taking classes is his new passion rather than going to a paying gig every day and an old “fixer upper” of a house that has morphed into something more like this . . . .Named a Best Book of Summer by People Magazine * USA Today * New York Magazine * New York Times Book Review * New York Post * PopSugar * Entertainment Tonight I highly recommend this book, especially to all the women in the sandwich generation. I will be immediately seeking out Ms. Pearson’s first book. The funniest and most feminist writing of the year… How Hard Can It Be? is that rare thing: a sequel that matches and even surpasses the original…Every line is meticulous; every reflection on parenthood hilarious, or else so true it’s heartbreaking.” — The Telegraph (UK) It was also very refreshing to see Rena being aware of her looks, and actually like herself. Too many time I read about characters who spend time agonizing over their this and that, instead of liking themselves.