In the chaotic world of New York City in the ’80s, amidst the fashion hype, the yuppies, the designer drugs, the wine parties and the pages of Alex Witchel’s newest novel Me Times Three, stands heroine Sandra Berlin. Witchel, fresh from the success of her last novel, Girls Only: Sleepovers, Squabbles, Tuna Fish and Other Facts of Family Life, makes the reader think about just where his or her life is headed in her colorful and entertaining novel.
Sandra believes that her life is headed in the right direction. She has just become engaged to her high-school sweetheart, Bucky. Bucky is, in fact, a direct descendent of Betsy Ross.
They have had their problems in the past; she, a nice Jewish girl from suburban New York, and he, a poster boy for WASP.
His parents don’t approve, but whose parents ever really approve of anybody?
The happy couple has made it, and wedding bells will be ringing soon.
Besides that, Sandra has just been promoted to editor at the magazine Jolie!, a position that she has worked long and hard for.
Sandra’s fairy tale world soon comes to a crashing end, and like any good novel about life-changing situations, 50 pages into the book it happens. Sandra decides to go to one of Bucky’s work functions while he is out of town. There she discovers that he is engaged to another woman. This woman then tells her that actually, Bucky is engaged to still yet another woman. A grand total of three fianc?es, talk about setting high goals.
Sandra refuses to talk to Bucky and thus ends the first half of the book.
The second half deals with Sandra’s journey back into the world of looking for the next Mr. Right. One of the more pleasant points in Me Times Three is the character of Paul. Whenever he is around, his wild, exuberant antics and dialogue always seem to perk up the more melancholy parts of the book.
One starts to wish that Paul were not gay and that he and Sandra could live a worthwhile life together.
When Sandra puts her life in perspective, we the readers start to do the same thing. It is clear that Witchel clearly writes this book for females. She seems to be telling her readers that men are the bad guys and just when you think that you have found the perfect one, you haven’t at all. Yet, somehow, if male readers can put all the male bashing and “chicky” parts behind, the book will captivate their interest.
The only questionable part of the novel is the possibility of one man’s being engaged to three women.
If you can chalk it up to the ’80s and the fact that we all did crazy things (remember big hair and wearing your socks up high?), then you can completely buy into the novel.
Me Times Three is at times upbeat and at other times the complete opposite. We take the bumps along the road, just like the heroine Sandra.
The novel can make you laugh on one page and make you think deeply on the next. That’s the great part of this book, the style- it’s surprising and keeps you guessing.
Gender aside, Me Times Three is worth your time for a good read-unless you have to hang with your three fianc?es.
