The New Book Review

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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Oh! That Blind Date Thing-- Revisited!

Eyes Wide Shut
Title: All Men Are Cremated Equal: My 77 Blind Dates
Author: Elizabeth Fournier
Genre: Women's NonFiction/Chick Lit
ISBN-13: 9780595533008
Format: Paperback, 212 pages
Publisher: iUniverse, Incorporated (January 2009)

Review by Cate Garrison, author OF MUTTS AND MEN, MIRANDA AND HER
DAUGHTERS, CHOICE CUTS OF LAMB


Elizabeth Fournier is a motorcycling, ballroom dancing, beer drinking mortician who decides to go on 77 blind dates; if that isn't a formula for success, I don't know what is. And, believe me, this page-turning, hilarious yet thought-provoking book lives up to the promises of its premises. Elizabeth's imagery is alive and glorious; her dialog pops off the page; the pictures she creates shout aloud with color. In
particular, the thumbnail sketches of the guys she dates are telling and resonant. We recognize these jerks; nay, we have dated them, if not blindly, then certainly (in my case) with our eyes closed. And her central character (herself) is beautifully drawn, quirky, half-vulnerable, half-brimming with confidence, at all times both totally empathetic and yet refreshingly unexpected. Buy this book for
your girlfriends (and boyfriends), and they will forever be grateful.

About the Author:

After she got over her dream of being a Solid Gold Dancer, Fournier promptly headed into the local funeral home and asked for a job, any job. She became the live-in night keeper which meant she resided in a trailer in the far reaches of a large, hilly cemetery and slept with a shotgun near her bed. It was the scariest summer of her life. She is currently the voice of the autopsy exhibit in the forensic wing at the United States National Museum of Medicine and a full-time mortician. She is also a ballroom dance instructor at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. But she couldn't resist writing the story of her unusual method of dating that led her to the love of her life.


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3 comments:

Christie Walker Bos said...

HI Elizabeth:

I, too, self-published my first novel, The Magical Man List. When novel number two was picked up by Cerridwen Press, I showed them my first novel and they picked that one up as well and re-published it as an e-book. I noticed you had 10 items on your list. I had 65 items on my wish list. Our books are very similar, except I'm not a mortician! Magical Man List is about two women who make "Man Lists" and then create ceremonies to activate their lists. This story was based on how I found my husband, although, unlike yours, I fictionalized it.
Check me out at http://www.ChristieWalkerBos.com to read an excerpt from The Magical Man List.

LuAnn said...

I'm totally fascinated by the description of this book. I'd love to read it.

Elizabeth Fournier said...

Christie and LuAnn -

Thank you so much for stopping by. I love your interest in my wacky life!

Elizabeth