Dating Big Bird: A Novel

This book gives one of the most realistic views into the mind and heart of a thirtysomething professional woman Ive read in a long time. Ellen faces the sometimes harsh, sometimes bittersweet situations that a single woman whose friends are mostly married and have or are going to have children in a way that I find very realistic. Sometimes youre jealous because your life hasnt seemed to work out in the same way, sometimes youre happy for your friends because theyve achieved what makes them happy, and theres everything in between. This book did a good job of capturing the whole spectrum of emotions that can arise. In the end, this book was a good reminder to me that life takes equal parts of pursuing what you want and being patient for things to come out as they are meant to.

Let me first qualify my review by saying that I am a 23 year old woman who is nowhere close to having a serious relationship, or wanting to have a baby. Perhaps if I was in a situation closer to the main characters I could have identified with her, and thus would have enjoyed the book a little more. That being said, I enjoyed the reunion with a girl from high school (although I had a hard time believing that their relationship was based solely on their mutual desire to have a baby and their poor relationships). The cast of characters and the antics at her work were enjoyable. Also I could not help but feel sorry for the relationship she has with Malcolm, her boyfriend. I was disappointed with the end of the book, in part, because it was no suprise and I had a hard time believing what happened with Malcolm.

Light, fast, fun read with no major trauma. A nice respite from heavier-duty reading. Decent writing and an amusing story, albeit with a predictable ending.

I picked this book up yesterday just because the title struck me as funny... I couldnt put it down. Dating Big Bird is one of the funniest books Ive read in a long time. Its a great summer read; whether you like fluff or deep literary tomes, youll enjoy this book quite a bit.

Good light read.

Dating Big Bird focuses on an (almost) middle-aged woman that would do anything for a baby of her own. The problem is that her relationships are frozen, so whats a girl to do? Which is what the book is about. Personally, I found the book cute, funny, and rather adorable. The humor was fantastic, very witty with alot of one-liners. I loved the main character, just as I loved the secondary characters, and of course, a happy ending. Id recommend this book to someone that wants a cute, sweet book with humor.

I cant say I was entirely shocked by some of the behavior recounted in this one. Rumors have been flying around for years of what was going down on that Childrens Television Workshop soundstage. Culled entirely from hypnosis confessions, several of Big Birds victims come forward and tell of their experiences at the hands of this madman. At this point, were all familiar with BBs quirks. Shame, lawsuits, and disease just seem to follow this guy around. Im a little tired of it, and a lot of the material is old news. The more famous stories werent interesting anymore. After all, weve heard them a million times. Who wants to hear again about Grover and that mule? Or how our protagonist got the nickname Birdy Sanchez? The really telling stories were of the lesser known episodes in BBs life. I, for one, didnt know he grew up in a jail brothel or that he lost his virginity to Marth Raye. (yes, he said he often called her The Big Mouth during) That lady was the Wynona Ryder of her day. Not many got away from her. (Hugh Downs and one other) I bet ole Martha Raye would put a hurtin on Bright Eyes. Shed tear that Kansan a new one alright! I felt a little sorry for the young ladies (and gentlemen) as they told of their hotel experiences with Bird. I have to admit though, I couldnt help but chuckle when Dottie M. said she actually fell for it when asked upstairs to see his Yella Fella!! I mean, jeezey pete, thats the oldest puppeteer trick in the book.

Laura Zigman is a good writer, but this book was disappointing, the latest entry in the capable single woman with dilemmas genre that began so well with Bridget Jones. Its plot so closely follows a pattern of wish fulfillment that the ending (where evrything works out) feels like a fairy tale. Im sure that would be frustrating for women hoping to identify with wanting a child - it would have been interesting to read more about what happens after Ellen gets her wish and the baby arrives. Is it everything she hoped for? Well never know...

Wonderfully written, I completely connected to the main character- she was so real and relatable.

tho im only 19, i feel weary and cynical about the state of things, and i can understand ellens need to have a child so much she wont mind having one by an unknown sperm donor. big bird would make a really good father, like ellen said, but that does not exist in real life...sigh!