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The Pursuit of Alice Thrift [Paperback]

Elinor Lipman
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
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Book Description

April 13 2004 Vintage Contemporaries
In her newest well-tuned, witty, and altogether wonderful novel, bestselling author Elinor Lipman dares to ask: Can an upper-middle-class doctor find love with a shady, fast-talking salesman?

Meet Alice Thrift, surgical intern in a Boston hospital, high of I.Q. but low in social graces. She doesn’t mean to be acerbic, clinical, or blunt, but where was she the day they taught Bedside Manner 101? Into Alice’s workaholic and wallflower life comes Ray Russo, a slick traveling fudge salesman in search of a nose job and well-heeled companionship, but not necessarily in that order. Is he a conman or a sincere suitor? Good guy or bad? Alice’s parents, roommate, and best friend Sylvie are appalled at her choice of mate. Despite her doubts, Alice finds herself walking down the aisle, not so much won over as worn down. Will their marriage last the honeymoon? Only if Alice’s best instincts can triumph over Ray’s unsavory ways.

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From Publishers Weekly

Snappy wit, a clever plot and the sheer fun of a book you can't put down await readers of Lipman's (The Inn at Lake Divine) eighth novel, surely her best to date. The eponymous Alice is a sleep-deprived surgical intern at a Boston hospital. A graduate of MIT and Harvard and a congenital workaholic, she's also devoid of social skills, a sense of humor or elementary tact. Though miserably unequipped with self-esteem, Alice is an intelligent, well-brought-up offspring of upper-middle-class parents. Why, then, does she fall prey to the romantic blandishments of Ray Russo, a vulgar loudmouth and con artist who-it turns out-lies every time he opens his mouth? That Lipman can make this story plausible, and tell it with humor, psychological insight and rising suspense, is a triumph. Despite her roommate Leo's description of Ray as " a slimeball who won't take no for an answer," Alice fails to see through her conniving beau because she's achingly lonely and because he remains devoted when she's put on probation for falling asleep while assisting in the OR. It's easy for her to dismiss the concern of family and friends as simple snobbery-which, in some cases, it is. Lipman's knowledge of hospital routine, especially the bone-weary lives of interns and residents, is a major reason that the plot moves along as smoothly as if on ball bearings. The dozen or so supporting characters, from Alice's horrified parents to her good friends and fellow residents, are vividly three-dimensional. Lipman's eye for social pretense has never been so keen-or so cruel. There's a dark moral here-that class differences cannot be breached-but readers will appreciate the candor.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Fans of Lipman's seven previous novels, including The Dearly Departed (2001), will be delighted with her latest. Whimsical, heartwarming, and engaging, Lipman tells the tale of the maladroit, socially inept, and very appealing Alice Thrift. Alice, an intern in a Boston hospital, hopes to one day perform plastic surgery on the poor and disenfranchised. Her roommate is the hunky and charming Leo Frawley, a nurse in neonatal intensive care. Leo does his best to help Alice adapt to the politics and strife of the hospital and to become less of a social basket case. His quest is interrupted by his own love life and the entrance of Ray Russo, a man who decides Alice is for him. To call Ray awful and icky, and to shudder while saying so, is to compliment him. A traveling fudge salesman, he shows up all the time and somehow gets Alice to do what he wants. Toss in a very mean doctor and a very cool fellow intern, allow Lipman to do her magic, and the results are as expected--funny, pitch perfect, and utterly charming. Neal Wyatt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Bag Jun 28 2004
Format:Paperback
Started reading this book and thought it was adorable - really light and fun...just when it was getting really good the story seemed to stop. What happened? I loved Inn at Lake Devine and Lipman's writing is delightful, but I was really disappointed that the last 1/3 of the book seemed to miss something.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Not your usual chick-lit� Jun 26 2004
Format:Hardcover
Alice Thrift, a surgical intern, is definitely not your typical "chick lit" heroine. She's not gorgeous; she doesn't have a close group of girlfriends to chat about men with, in fact, she's not really actively looking for a man. When Alice meets Ray Russo one day and manages to talk him out of a nose job, she never guesses he will want to start a relationship with her. Can Alice trust Ray? Does she even like him? And why would someone outgoing like Ray like someone who's basically a social misfit like her? While I admit sometimes it was difficult to read about a main character with so little self-esteem, the others around Alice kept the book from being dragged down too much in Alice's depressed moods. Not bad, not great, but different nonetheless.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Elinor Lipman at her wittiest best May 17 2004
Format:Hardcover
I've read several of Lipman's other novels (The Inn at Lake Devine, The Dearly Departed), but this was by far the best. The main character is Alice Thrift, M.D., medical resident and social misfit. In the first page of the book, Alice gives away the ending by reporting that her marriage didn't last and that her husband was a liar. Although these facts are disclosed up front, all is not revealed, as Alice's full story slowly unfolds over the course of the book. What really makes this novel shine is the truly clever and positively comical dialogue between Alice and the various people who show up in her life: her mother, her roommate Leo, Leo's family, Leo's girlfriend Meredith, her new-found friend Sylvie, and of course, her acquaintance, boyfriend, fiancé, and eventual husband, Ray. Although I knew what would happen with Alice and Ray in the end, I thoroughly enjoyed journeying with them from the very beginning to that point.
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Most recent customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty dull...
I tried really hard to get into this book, and it just never happened. The first half really dragged, then it picked up a bit. Read more
Published on May 8 2004 by Sousou77
3.0 out of 5 stars Waiting for the laughs
My book club selected this book because we wanted something funny to read. With the turn of every page I wondered if this is where the laughs would begin. They never came. Read more
Published on Feb 16 2004
2.0 out of 5 stars just okay
I agree that inn at Lake Divine was by far Lipman's best book. The rest have been entertainments that sort of slog on with uninspired dialogue and what I think are improbable... Read more
Published on Feb 8 2004 by Sarah Tittle
4.0 out of 5 stars Whimsical and engaging
Did you like The Dearly Departed? Well then, you'll love The Pursuit of Alice Thrift. Alice is socially inept and therefore utterly endearing - but get this: she's a Boston intern,... Read more
Published on Dec 12 2003 by Peggy Vincent
4.0 out of 5 stars Zany
I hilariously laughed so many times while reading this book. Alice Thrift is a marvelous character, so wrapped up in the world of medicine and accomplishment that she doesn't know... Read more
Published on Dec 4 2003 by Lee Armstrong
2.0 out of 5 stars hasn't figured out her genre
I can't quite figure out what's wrong with Elinor Lipman's novels. Nothing has touched The Inn at Lake Devine. Read more
Published on Nov 7 2003
4.0 out of 5 stars Alice through the looking glass
This is the first book I've read by Lipman, but I'll certainly read more after this.

Poor Alice, she lacks social skills, confidence, tact and sleep. Read more

Published on Nov 4 2003
4.0 out of 5 stars this is not typical in the "chick lit" genre!
This is a must for those who can appreciate intelligent characters and plot schemes.

We meet Alice Thrift, who is an intern at a hospital in Boston. Read more

Published on Oct 21 2003 by Diane Moore
4.0 out of 5 stars Breezy, Witty Fun
Joe Keenan meets Susan Issacs in this charming novel about a likable but socially inept surgical intern who meets the man of not quite her dreams. Read more
Published on Oct 19 2003 by Brett Benner
5.0 out of 5 stars You must "vow" to read this book
I flipped open The Pursuit of Alice Thrift and when I saw the reference to the NYTimes "Vows" feature there on the first page, I knew I was going to love this story. Read more
Published on Oct 13 2003
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