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Summary
Summary
The critically acclaimed novel about four women who learn how to carry on while leaning on each other from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How Stella Got Her Groove Back and I Almost Forgot About You .
When the men in their lives prove less than reliable, Savannah, Bernadine, Gloria, and Robin find new strength through a rare and enlightening friendship as they struggle to regain stability and an identity they don't have to share with anyone. Because for the first time in a long time, their dreams are finally off hold...
"Hilarious, irreverent...Reading Waiting to Exhale is like being in the company of a great friend...thought-provoking, thoroughly entertaining, and very, very comforting."--Susan Isaacs, The New York Times Book Review
Author Notes
Terry McMillan was born in Port Huron, Michigan on October 18, 1951. She received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley in 1986, studied film at Columbia University, and enrolled in the Harlem Writer's Guild. Her books include Disappearing Acts, Mama, A Day Late and a Dollar Short, The Interruption of Everything, Getting to Happy, and Who Asked You? Her books Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back were adapted as major motion pictures.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
McMillan's novel about friendship between four black, thirtysomething Phoenix women was a 29-week PW bestseller. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Asaucy and savvy tale about four black women and the changes the men in their lives put them through. McMillan, author of Mama and Disappearing Acts, nails down dialogue with sure and steady strokes and handles a five-octave range of emotions without bathos or sensationalism. Each of the novel's four strong, articulate, and high-energy women are in their mid-thirties and successful in terms of everything but relationships. Savannah is single, bright, and ambitious, recently moved to Phoenix as a PR executive for a cable television station. Bernadine, one of Phoenix's wealthier buppies, is in the midst of divorcing her husband of 11 years who turned out to be a crook and a creep. Robin, an insurance underwriter, is on the wild side and no stranger to creeps herself, while Gloria owns and runs a hair salon and has raised her teenage son by herself. These women epitomize what it means to be a girlfriend, endlessly teasing, commiserating, and celebrating together as they navigate through the shark-infested waters of romance. McMillan pulls no punches when she introduces us to assorted philanderers, liars, thieves, and heart breakers who play their games in and out of bed. Her heroines are holding their breath, waiting for the elusive blessing of love and learning the true value of independence and pride. Already slated for serialization in Essence and chosen as a Book-of-the-Month Club and Quality Paperback Book Club selection, this boldly authentic, comic, and bittersweet novel will be in demand. (Reviewed Apr. 1, 1992)0670839809Donna Seaman
School Library Journal Review
YA-- Savannah, Gloria, Robin, and Bernadine are black, 30-something, and all waiting for the right man to come along. What sustains them during their successes and disappointments is their tight bond of friendship. McMillan fully develops her characters with an incisive ear for dialogue; this brings readers close enough to laugh with, scream at, ache for, and care deeply about each woman. Robin and Savannah narrate in the first person; Gloria and Bernadine's stories are told in the third person. While alternating chapters relate each person's story, the transitions in voice are smooth. The writing style is deceptively easy and highly readable, but the language and sexual frankness are more suitable for mature YAs. In addition to spinning a good story, the book illustrates how people sharing and being supportive of one another create a survival network in a tough modern world. Funny and poignant.-- Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Talk about timing! With relations between African-American men and women in the spotlight as never before, here comes McMillan's report from the front: her bawdy, vibrant, deliciously readable third novel (Mama, Disappearing Acts) is the story of four black women friends and their frequently disastrous encounters with black men. The four are in their mid-to-late 30s, middle-class women making good money, and they live in Phoenix. Savannah, who has everything she wants except a man, has just moved from Denver, partly to be close to best friend Bernadine, whose 11-year-old marriage has collapsed. Super-successful ``buppie'' (black yuppie) John has tricked Bernadine every which way, but his greatest betrayal is crossing the color line to snare a California blond; now Bernadine must raise their two kids alone. Her friends Robin and Gloria are not having any better luck: Robin is a backsliding bubblehead whose study of astrology has not cured her weakness for ``pretty men with big dicks'' who use and abuse her, while the only male in overweight, matronly Gloria's life is her teenage son Tarik, a source of both anxiety and pride. We watch these women in a swirl of motion: working, partying, dishing, dating, and consoling each other on their misfortunes with men. Their consensus is that ``black men play too many games'' and are terrified of making commitments, even if they're buppies (``riffraff comes in all kinds of packages''). Two points here: First, McMillan's novel is not indiscriminately bashing brothers--there are good men out there (both Bernadine and Gloria have fine prospects by the end), and women cannot escape all the blame (Savannah's inability to say the three magic words costs her dearly). Second, these women do not mope. The story's best scene has them falling-down drunk at Gloria's hilarious birthday party; indeed, they are as timeless as Molly Bloom or the Wife of Bath in their robust sensuality. A novel that hits so many exposed nerves is sure to be a conversation-piece: it has heart and pizzazz and even, yes, the sweet smell of the breakthrough book.
Library Journal Review
Like McMillan's previous novels, Disappearing Acts ( LJ 7/89) and Mama ( LJ 1/87), her new effort features a predictable plot, prose that often falls flat, and a narrative that lacks depth. Four African American women living in Phoenix devote most of their energies to searching for the one good black man who will make their dreams of the perfect partner and lover come true. Unsurprisingly, Savannah, Bernie, Gloria, and Robin all kiss several toads, but their trials and errors never arouse much interest. Far stronger is the author's sharp, often humorous depiction of the strong bonds among the four friends, their relationships with their families, and their community activities; readers will regret that McMillan did not develop these areas further. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/92.-- Faye A. Chadwell, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
