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Fiction. Romance. HTML: The beloved New York Times bestselling novel, now with an exclusive letter from Jennifer Crusie in celebration of its tenth anniversary This is New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Crusie's novel about long shots, risk management, true love, and great shoes. . . . Minerva Dobbs knows how to work the odds. Calvin Morrisey always plays to win. But when they face off, neither one is prepared. Because when real life meets true love, all bets are off. . . . Minerva Dobbs knows that happily-ever-after is a fairy tale, especially with a man who asked her to dinner to win a bet, even if he is gorgeous and successful Calvin Morrisey. Cal knows commitment is impossible, especially with a woman as cranky as Min Dobbs, even if she does wear great shoes and keep him on his toes. When they say good-bye at the end of their evening, they cut their losses and agree never to see each other again. But fate has other plans, and it's not long before Min and Cal meet again. Soon they're dealing with a jealous ex-boyfriend, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, a determined psychologist, chaos theory, a freakishly intelligent cat, Chicken Marsala, and more risky propositions than either of them ever dreamed of. Including the biggest gamble of all�??-true love. Bet Me is the winner of a 2005 RITA Award.… (more)
User reviews
You know it and I know it. This means chick lit.
But this is the apogee of chick lit. This is chick lit for people who do not read chick lit. This is a great, multi-layered,
Min Dobbs is 33, fairly sensible, a conservative dresser, risk averse but mostly comfortable in her own skin. Being sensible, she knows she'll never be skinny, but she also knows her appearance will never break mirrors, and once her sister's wedding is over and her mother gets off her back about being able to fit into her bridesmaid dress she'll be going back to eating butter and doughnuts with a (nearly) clear conscience. She has wit, intelligence, a good (if slightly dull) job and and very good friends. She is, moreover, a nice person.
She also has a horrible ex, David. What Min really hates about David is not the fact that he dumped her because she wouldn't sleep with him (although she's not precisely pleased about that), but the fact he did it three weeks before her sister's wedding: now, her mother is nagging her about being dateless as well as being too big for the bridesmaid dress. David was a toad, but he was a toad that was keeping her mother happy. Even toads have some redeeming features.
In a fit of drunken amphibian pique, David bets his business acquaintance Cal a serious chunk of money that Cal cannot seduce Min within a month. Cal tries very hard to tactfully decline the bet, being willing only to bet a pittance on being able to take Min to dinner. He's so tactful, though, that his friends don't notice he's declined the bet.
Cal also has a horrible ex. No, that's possibly unfair. Cal has a deluded ex, who thinks he's still in love with her. Like Min, Cal has wit, intelligence, a good job and very good friends. He is also a nice person. Yes, he takes Min to dinner on a bet, but he soon sees past her boring suit. Cal likes Min. A lot.
Min also likes Cal. But Min doesn't want to like Cal, because she overheard David making the bet and she doesn't realise Cal refused to join in. And this is where things start to get complicated, because Min refuses to take the situation lying down (pun totally intended).
And so Min and Cal's story unfolds, interwoven with several excellent and well-developed plots involving the families, friends and exes of Cal and Min, plus an insane cat named Elvis.
Altogether excellent. Intelligent and fun. And ignore the pink and the shoes: just because this isn't serious and depressing literary fiction doesn't mean it's superficial, inane or irredeemably girly.
There wasn't one word, not one sentence of this book I didn't savor--down to the love scene which makes the usual sex scene in books seem bland and generic no matter how explicit--because Crusie imbues it with humor and wrote it so this is something not interchangeable with other characters but belongs to Min and Cal. The book even has a theme(tm). The text is headed by a quote from Gloria Steinem: Women's total instinct for gambling is satisfied by marriage. Oh, and after this I'm going to have to make Chicken Marsala. And maybe get a Krispy Kreme doughnut. Read the book and you'll understand.
Funny, sharp, smart, literate, with a good, clean prose style--I loved this to death--it deserves shelf space--I could see rereading this (particularly as a pick-up on a rotten day). Will I be reading more Crusie? You betcha!
Her prose is deceptively accessible, her characters
This is a wonderfully funny novel, a romp of a novel, and it's also a scalpel-sharp look at the way men and women approach each other these days, for better or for worse. Most readers will catch at least some of the veiled nods to the fairy tale: the rose bushes gone to thorn outside Min's house, the fact that Cal has to climb a steep hill to get there. But if you read carefully (which is hard, because you will be caught up in the repartee and the romance) you'll see that Crusie, a former academic, has taken a run at a dozen theories about love and attraction, and skewered them all. From the fairy tale to modern psychology to string-theory, everybody's take on what brings two people together and makes them stick is examined and found to be full of holes.
Except, in an odd way, the fairy tale itself. Cal and Min, non-believers, fight it, and can't quite escape fate or each other.
The biggest chance that Crusie takes here is the issue of Min's weight. She's plump, or chubby, or fat -- all of these adjectives get tossed around. She loves carbs. So does Cal, but he's got two things she doesn't: a great metabolism, and (this is the leap of faith) his head on straight when it comes to body image. He looks great, tall and well built; Min stays away from purple jumpsuits because they make her look like Barney's slut cousin. In one of the most interesting discussions between them, she finally comes out and asks him what he thinks about the f-word, and he gives it to her straight: she'll never be thin, no matter how hard her mother pushes dieting. Her genes won't allow it. And more than that, he doesn't mind.
This is what's so great about this novel. It takes on the thorniest issue of all -- women's bodies and sexuality -- and deals with it. As a woman made more in Min's image than a model's, I certainly identified. But did I believe Cal? In spite of the fact that I've been married to somebody a lot like him for a long time (tall, slim, good looking) and the fact that my genes are winning the battle to turn me into a small, round Italian matronly type, I *still* find it hard to believe Cal. That's the power of the modern myth.
Crusie takes it on and looks at it hard, and she makes you laugh while you look at it too. She gives us a great love story, a tremendous lot to think about, and a happy ending. What else could you possible want?
After being
Horrible families, ten-dollar bets, and over-protective friends aren't enough to fight the fates that seem to want Cal and Min together. Bet Me is a wonderfully light and enjoyable read. If I had a rating system, this one would get top marks!
The plot plays second fiddle to the characters, but there's still the usual Cruise climax, a jumble of people and confusion that somehow works out in the end. I know some people don't like the epilog, but I love that feeling of completion from knowing how everything works out.
Min lives her life by statistics, and the odds of a man like Cal actually being interested in her for herself are slim to none. But circumstances and coincidences (fate?) keep putting them together. Cal is a player, or so everyone thinks, and isn’t interested in a serious relationship - until he gets a look at Min’s zany shoe collection.
This is a fabulous book - my first Crusie, and I hope they rest are as good - one of the few times I’ve been tempted to turn the book over and start again immediately. I love the way the entire cast of characters interacted: Min’s two best friends, her bride-to-be sister and bridesmaids, her weight obsessed “no carbs, no butter” mother, the ex-boyfriend, Cal’s two friends, his sugar-induced vomiting nephew, his chicken marsala-making restaurant-owning friend, the ex-girlfriend, and the snobby parents - they make for one hysterical ride. The side stories and subplots create a rich story and a ton of laughs. You can’t help but love it!
It's
The humor was fun, and I liked the real issues the book
BET ME is hilarious. I love Minerva and her sexy shoes.