Some women shop. Some eat. Dora cures the blues by bingeing on books--reading one after another, from Flaubert to bodice rippers, for hours and days on end. In this wickedly funny and sexy literary debut, we meet the beguiling, beautiful Dora, whose unique voice combines a wry wit and vulnerability as she navigates the road between reality and fiction. Dora, named after Eudora Welty, is an indiscriminate book junkie whose life has fallen apart--her career, her marriage, and finally her self-esteem. All she has left is her love of literature, and the book benders she relied on as a child. Ever since her larger-than-life father wandered away and her book-loving, alcoholic mother was left with two young daughters, Dora and her sister, Virginia, have clung to each other, enduring a childhood filled with literary pilgrimages instead of summer vacations. Somewhere along the way Virginia made the leap into the real world. But Dora isn't quite there yet. Now she's coping with a painful separation from her husband, scraping the bottom of a dwindling inheritance, and attracted to a seductive book-seller who seems to embody all that literature has to offer--intelligent ideas, romance, and an escape from her problems. Joining Dora in her odyssey is an elderly society hair-brusher, a heartbroken young girl, a hilarious off-the-wall female teamster, and Dora's mother, now on the wagon, trying to make amends. Along the way Dora faces some powerful choices. Between two irresistible men. Between idleness and work. And most of all between the joy of well-chosen words and the untidiness of real people and real life. From the Hardcover edition. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Kaufman, a former L.A. Times staff writer, and Mack, a former attorney and Golden Globe Award- winning film and TV producer, check in with this solid, thoughtful chick lit debut. Dora, at 35, is a twice-divorced former young reporter on the rise at the L.A. Times. Second ex-husband Palmer is now head of Sony Pictures, and still supporting her. Dora's depressed, and she only leaves the house to stalk Palmer and buy more books. At the bookstore, she meets elegantly scraggly comp lit Ph.D. Fred, and they begin an unlikely courtship. Dora is soon surprised by Fred's invitation to meet his mother, Bea, whom Dora likes instantly, all the more so when she learns Bea is also raising Harper, the six-year-old daughter of Fred's troubled sister. The bond between Bea and Dora gives Dora something she never had with her own, alcoholic mother, and helps her make decisions that bring her life back into focus. Dora is the kind of deadpan and imperfect heroine with whom readers can easily identify. Kaufman and Mack mishandle the abrupt ending and epilogue, but are most likely setting up a welcome sequel. (June 6) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

One might think that Kaufman and Mack's first novel, about a Los Angeles woman who escapes life's problems by binge-reading and featuring a ten-page list of books and authors mentioned within, might be a natural choice for book clubs. But when the same novel contains a diatribe against the book club phenomenon and rails against all readers who don't like the same types of books the superficial and judgmental protagonist favors, one would reconsider. Caught between a new romance with bookstore owner Fred and her unresolved feelings for her soon-to-be-ex-husband, Palmer (who conveniently disappears from the novel until the plot needs him), Dora spends most of her time reading, drinking, and shopping, until Fred's family problems force her to take responsibility. Though Dora's life does come together by the book's end, readers will be turned off by her snide and superior attitude earlier on. Not recommended.-Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

One might think that Kaufman and Mack's first novel, about a Los Angeles woman who escapes life's problems by binge-reading and featuring a ten-page list of books and authors mentioned within, might be a natural choice for book clubs. But when the same novel contains a diatribe against the book club phenomenon and rails against all readers who don't like the same types of books the superficial and judgmental protagonist favors, one would reconsider. Caught between a new romance with bookstore owner Fred and her unresolved feelings for her soon-to-be-ex-husband, Palmer (who conveniently disappears from the novel until the plot needs him), Dora spends most of her time reading, drinking, and shopping, until Fred's family problems force her to take responsibility. Though Dora's life does come together by the book's end, readers will be turned off by her snide and superior attitude earlier on. Not recommended.--Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information