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The Ten-Year Nap
The TenYear Nap
Author: Meg Wolitzer
For a group of four New York friends the past decade has been defined largely by marriage and motherhood, but it wasn’t always that way. Growing up, they had been told that their generation would be different. And for a while this was true. They went to good colleges and began high-powered careers. But after marriage and babies, for a vari...  more »
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PBS Market Price: $12.29 or $8.39+1 credit
ISBN-13: 9781594483547
ISBN-10: 159448354X
Publication Date: 3/3/2009
Pages: 400
Rating:
  • Currently 2.9/5 Stars.
 71

2.9 stars, based on 71 ratings
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Ten-Year Nap on + 43 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
If you are one of those people who enjoys the thrill of watching paint dry, then, by all means, pick up this book and read it. It really is THAT boring. And, as such, I think it's extremely insulting to the lives of the stay-at-home Moms it attempts to chronicle. (As a working mother myself, I can't claim personal insult, but I am insulted on behalf of all my SAHM friends.)

If you want to explore the inner life, the complex decisions, trade-offs, and compromises, mostly to professional self-development and financial gain, that SAHMs face, pick up a copy of "The Mommy Wars" instead. Yes, believe it or not, NON-FICTION is more interesting and exciting than reading this fictional account of 3 SAHMs in NYC wandering around crippled by their own inaction and self-pity.

In addition, there is very little talk about the JOY of stay-at-home motherhood and the benefits of choosing uninterrupted years raising your children over forays into the often brutal and harsh working world. The only happy character in the book is a woman whose banker husband provides an extremely cushy life for her and her twin sons. She is content in her beautiful apartment, SUV, and her worry-free life. Who WOULDN'T be? Is this a realistic picture of stay-at-home motherhood? It's definitely NOT representative.

Moreover, this one happy woman, who even adores her husband, also happens to be a brilliant mathmetician who goes on interviews and receives job offers all the time, but turns them down. So, the message is, as long as you have a rich, adoring husband and have a professional skill that can nail you a great-paying job any time you want, then personal and professional satisfaction come wrapped all in one in your cocoon of stay-at-home motherhood. Everyone else? You're just doomed to wander aimlessly, unhappily around, attempting to find your "calling," and, eventually, settling for an uninspiring, sometimes low-paying job to get out of the house and help your husband pay the bills.

According to this book, feminism really IS dead and gone.
reviewed The Ten-Year Nap on + 113 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
I agree with the previous reviewer - this book is boring. I kept reading and reading waiting for something to happen, but this book goes nowhere. I tried to give it a chance, at least so I could figure out the point but I couldn't finish it.
reviewed The Ten-Year Nap on
Helpful Score: 3
Too many characters; hard to follow; boring
cocos-mom avatar reviewed The Ten-Year Nap on + 67 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Quite boring read. Hard for me to relate to any of the moms in the book. I am a stay-at-home mom, but I had little in common with them in the book.
smithj653 avatar reviewed The Ten-Year Nap on
Helpful Score: 2
This book was 350 pages of nothing. My book club read this and what a disaster. Only 1 out of 8 people actually liked it. The only reason I gave it any stars at all is because the writing was not bad. However, nothing happened. It was incredibly anti-climactic and the ending I felt was depressing and made me not want to look towards the future. Overall I do not recommend this book!!
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getinmybellykelly avatar reviewed The Ten-Year Nap on
This book was okay, not great. While it was well-written, the story really did not move along at all until the very end of the almost 400 pages. The entire book was spent learning about the characters' backgrounds and their parents' backgrounds and where everyone came from to get where they are today.

And I don't have kids so maybe I don't understand, but the entire way through this book with Amy and her friends talking about how they stayed home to be with their kids for the last ten years and debating going back to work, blah blah blah, I just kept thinking "get off your butt and do something!" Her one kid is TEN, he's at school all day, her husband is barely able to make ends meet, find some way to contribute! There are certainly millions of stay at home mothers out there who are amazing and do so much for their families and their communities- this lady is not one of them.

The characters were boring, immature and selfish and the book really did not do much for me. I was glad when it was over.
zoechick avatar reviewed The Ten-Year Nap on
This book dragged on and on and on. I read it front to back, however it didn't keep my attention.


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