As Long As She Needs Me - Softcover

Weinstock, Nicholas

2.96

151 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060198249 ISBN 13: 9780060198244

Publisher: William Morrow, 2001

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Anyone who has worked for someone else knows the endless routine, the twisted psychology, and the near-impossible obstacle course that comprise the daily life of the assistant. And anyone who's gotten married knows that planning a wedding can be similarly daunting. For ten long years, Oscar Campbell has worked as the personal assistant to the legendary Dawn of Dawn Books, as famous for her temper tantrums as for the success of her powerful New York City publishing house. Yet none of Oscar's experiences has prepared him for his greatest challenge: planning his boss's wedding.

In the tradition of classic screwball comedies and with flair for modern-day irony, As Long As She Needs Me is a masterful satire of the publishing industry, a romp through the wedding industry, and a sparkling fable of love and luck in Manhattan. Juggling monster agents and mega-authors, passed hors-d'oeuvre options and centerpiece styles, Oscar labors to pull together the event without falling apart in the process. Help arrives in the form of popular wedding columnist Lauren LaRose, with whom Oscar strikes a bargain: his editorial expertise for her nuptial advice. As the two work together to manufacture the romances of others, they stumble into one themselves -- a development that soon has Oscar secretly planning an event of his own.

In As Long As She Needs Me, Nicholas Weinstock has crafted an irresistible novel of the highest comedy. A savvy tour through the high-rolling world of the book business and the grueling maze of single life in Manhattan, the novel is a riot of unforgettable characters and -- against all odds -- a love story for our time.

Hilarious and wise, literate and charming, As Long As She Needs Me is an utterly delightful achievement.

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About the Author:

Nicholas Weinstock is the author of The Secret Love of Sons and the novel As Long As She Needs Me. His writing has been featured on National Public Radio and in publications including the New York Times Magazine, The Nation, Vogue, Nerve, Ladies' Home Journal, and Poets & Writers. He is a member of the council of the Authors Guild, and he works as vice president of comedy development for 20th Century Fox Television and lives in Los Angeles with his wife, the writer Amanda Beesley, and their three children.

From Publishers Weekly:

This frothy and frolicsome first novel is a "musical comedy without the music," in P.G. Wodehouse's phrase. Oliver Campbell, a tall, gawky but handsome former English major, is trapped in the job of executive editorial assistant at Dawn Books. Lauren LaRose, a beautiful but burned-out journalist, pens "The Aisle of White," a popular monthly magazine column devoted to trendy theme weddings. At the nuptials of Oliver's college roommate, Oliver and Lauren are seated together at the Butt Table (the opposite of the Head Table). In their early 30s and weary of dating, both live solitary lives, but as the wedding winds down, Oscar draws Lauren onto the dance floor. Once back in New York, their attraction is in classic comedy fashion challenged by obstacles and misunderstandings. Dawn, Oliver's nightmare boss, commandeers his time, demanding that he plan every detail of her upcoming top-secret marriage to literary super-agent Gordon Fox. Taking Oliver's obsession with wedding plans as evidence that he is engaged, Lauren keeps her distance and endures a string of disastrous blind dates. Will the two ever manage to get together? Although the answer is never in doubt, getting there is a merry and manic dance through the cutthroat world of New York publishing and the insanity of contemporary "coordinated" weddings. Clever quips (some misfire, but there's always another coming up), insider information, swift pacing and a bright cast of secondary characters are the bubbles in an entertainment as effervescent as Perrier-Jouet. Agent, Tina Bennett. (Apr. 1)Forecast: Weinstock paid his dues working at three publishing houses, so the tease of a roman ... clef is sure to generate buzz among those in the business. Like David Sedaris, he has been featured on NPR and his comic insights and deadpan wit will further broaden his appeal to a wide swath of readers.

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