Publication date: October 4th 2016
If Herman Koch is the master at writing all the unpleasant things we might think about our fellow man, then Maria Semple is the heart behind the tough things we think about ourselves. In her newest novel, Today Will Be Different, that angst is directed at not being nice enough and not being present in life. Every day. All day. It’s a tall order, but one Eleanor Flood is determined to fill because her life is so good and she knows it. She has a fabulous husband, an eight-year-old son who may be a bit quirky, but is overall a good kid and she was the creator of a wildly successful animated television show. On paper, she’s a candidate for bliss but in reality she’s as tired, apathetic, and annoyed as the rest of us. Until one day, when reality takes a hard left and what she thought she knew is not the case. Oh, and the past comes back to bite her in her yoga-pants-clad ass.
Today Will Be Different has much of the Semple readers love—the-how-did-she-get-inside-my-head prose and the often wearied tone of women who feel like they’re doing more than ever but getting less done. I loved every sentence of Eleanor powering through her day, ruminating about sex in marriage when you’re in your fifties (do it or you could get dumped for a younger model), describing her perfect friendship
As far as I’m concerned, the only thing sweeter than seeing a friend is that friend canceling on me.
or simply describing how she wants to be:
My face will be relaxed, its resting place a smile. Today I will radiate calm. Kindness and self-control will abound.
But then the plot intervenes in all these rueful realities of modern-day life. Within the one day mentioned above, Eleanor thinks her husband has gone to work, but his assistant says he’s on vacation and her son plays sick to get out of school. When she goes to pick him up another mother’s set of car keys triggers bad memories so she steals them and from there the mayhem increases exponentially. Semple’s humor flounders as the story veers and jumps wildly in time and place leaving me more confused than anything.
I realize that not loving Today Will Be Different is a level of heresy that may get me kicked out of Seattle. And that even those of you who could care less about Seattle are horrified that I didn’t love the latest novel by the creator of Where’d You Go, Bernadette. Honestly, I’m as heartbroken as you are. I love Semple’s style and wit, but Today Will Be Different is so far over-the-top that I was not carried along, but left behind, saying “What?”. If you love Semple and are a fan of zany, this could be a case of It’s Not You, It’s Me.
For another opinion about this book visit April at The Steadfast Reader.
Fantastic (honest) review 🙂
I have yet to read Semple’s first book (which got such glowing reviews from bloggers I trust) and initially the topic of this book appealed to me more than Bernadette but, after reading your review, I might start with Bernadette after all.
Definitely! Bernadette gets wacky as well, but it’s reined in- if that makes sense.
I’m still sad about this….and am still debating on whether to read it. My library’s ebook isn’t compatible with my Kindle, so I think it’s looking less and less likely.
I had kind of a bad feeling about this one. It kept moving further and further down in my list. I think I’ll be skipping it!
I hate to be the bearer of bad news because I love Semple, but I’m trying to believe it was just me!
Hmm. I will pass on this one. I read her first book, but trust you that this one goes off the rails, which others are saying as well. I don’t think you’ll get kicked out of Seattle but keep low for awhile 🙂 ps. Have you ever heard of the author Jim Lynch? Apparently he’s a Seattle author but I hadn’t heard of him, but he is here this week at our city’s book festival giving readings. Funny guy. I just read & reviewed Lindy West’s Shrill too, so it must be Seattle week …
Oh my gosh, YES to Jim Lynch! I’d never heard of him, but his newest novel, Before the Wind is marvelous. I loved everything about it. Highly recommend.
Oh thanks for letting me know about Lynch’s Before the Wind. I have a copy!
It’s going to be in my top 10 for the year. I hope you like it!
Oh yikes. I feel for Semple – having to create something that compares with Bernadette was a tall order. Sounds like she missed it. I love the way you describe her work in the first line though! And she really nails the sweet, sweet relief that comes from a friend cancelling plans. It sounds like this one is suffering a bit from Kinsella Syndrome. I found that in the middle of the Shopaholic books, Becky is bouce-off-the-walls insane and the hijinx just didn’t even make sense anymore. It wasn’t even funny. Eventually, Kinsella righted the ship* – hopefully that happens with Semple too.
*Although actually I can’t decide if the latest, Shopaholic to the Rescue, was a fitting end or not.
You are so right about the Shopaholic books!! I loved the early ones, but by the time she went to L.A. and then her father disappeared?! It went from funny to silly.
Awww that’s too bad! I may still pick it up, but at least I know if I don’t love it, I’m not alone. 😉
Well, I guess this makes me feel a little better; I just texted Sarah, in distress, because Amazon is telling me that I can’t buy a Kindle version right now and there are a million holds on the copies at my local library. Thank you for managing my disappointment, Catherine! 🙂
At the very least, you can comfortably wait for it at your library, Tara! I know it worked for some people, I just wasn’t one of them.
Such a bummer about this one 🙁 I started it (just a few pages!) and set it down, mostly because I just wasn’t in the mood, but now I’m not sure if I’ll end up getting to it…it seems that many people haven’t been totally thrilled.
I completely agree with your assessment. It was one of those books that I had to make myself pick up to finish, hoping it would get better. Alas, it really didn’t.
Damn. I know I will still read it, but to be honest, this is one of a few followups that I have been really fearful of picking up (Donald Ray Pollock’s being the top of the fear list). I hope you don’t get kicked out of Seattle, isn’t it a vive le difference kind of place? I’m sorry you didn’t love it, but I love an honest review, good or bad, and I’m sure parts (hopefully not all) of this will resonate with me as I read it. I’m not a huge fan of “far out,” so I’m going in with trepidation.
She is funny throughout, but the plot is too weird for me.