It's My F---ing Birthday: A Novel Author: Merrill MarkoeOn the first page of It's My F---ing Birthday, the unnamed narrator initiates a new tradition: every year she will write "a personal state of the union to help me chart my profits and losses." We get these annual reports in chapters, from "Thirty-Six" to the concluding "Forty mmmmppphhh." In between lie several years of angst-ridden dating and parental torment in the already hallowed tradition of Bridget Jones's Diary. There are two differences: author Merrill Markoe, who spent many years writing for David Letterman (and collecting many Emmy awards), has a considerably darker comic vision than Helen Fielding. And she also resists the temptation to pair her narrator off in the service of a happy ending. In fact, this is one woman who finds out she's happier on her own: "One great thing I have noticed about living all by myself: All of my annoying habits seem to have disappeared." --Claire DedererLaughed my head offI don't know if it's because my sister, the day before I started this book, had the exact same experience of dining with our parents or what, but when I woke her at 2 am to read an excerpt, rather than hang up, she said "keep going."

This book is hilarious but also very poignant. It hit home, especially the mother-daughter relationship. The sarcasm throughout was on the mark. I also found myself tearing up a bit in a few spots.

Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.A fun little quickieApproaching my upper thirtysomethings, I read this book with an "Amen, Sister!" frame of mind and knowing full well that I was not in for anything overly cerebral. It reads like a happy hour on ladies night, and as the last single woman in my circle of friends, I really appreciated and identified with this book. Many of the encounters the narrator recounts could have, down the last detail, been borrowed from events from my own life, and that's what makes it so funny. Oh, who am I kidding?! I laughed my [...] off. I recently celebrated my big 4-0 and I'm kind of itching to read it again. It's My F---ing ReviewSUMMARY: an unnamed, unmarried, thirtysomething female narrator takes the audience, via one chapter, through one year in her life. Every birthday, she analyzes her life, resolves to make changes, and vows to learn something new. Unfortunately, she can't seem to break the patterns of behavior with which she's been suffering for most of her life: bad boyfriends, bad sex, bad parental relationships. While not technically a memoir, this novel is too poignant and simply too REAL to be pure fiction.

WHY YOU'LL LIKE IT: True moments of hilarity abound throughout the text. I believe Markoe didn't name her protagonist because it allows the reader to mold the character into whatever they choose -- and good luck not identifying with most of her travails!

WHY YOU WON'T: There are numerous cringeworthy moments where you want to grab the narrator by her shoulders and shake some sense into her. I had several moments where I actually spoke, "What are you THINKING?! Stand up for yourself!" It can get frustrating, but that's what makes it real.

BOTTOM LINE: Not esoteric or life-changing, this novel is a quick and frothy read which will make you laugh, make you think, and make you appreciate how normal your family is (in comparison). more...


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