The highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel The Rosie Project, starring the same extraordinary couple now living in New York and unexpectedly expecting their first child. Get ready to fall in love all over again.
Don Tillman and Rosie Jarman are back. The Wife Project is complete, and Don and Rosie are happily married and living in New York. But they’re about to face a new challenge because— surprise!—Rosie is pregnant.
Don sets about learning the protocols of becoming a father, but his unusual research style gets him into trouble with the law. Fortunately his best friend Gene is on hand to offer advice: he’s left Claudia and moved in with Don and Rosie.
As Don tries to schedule time for pregnancy research, getting Gene and Claudia to reconcile, servicing the industrial refrigeration unit that occupies half his apartment, helping Dave the Baseball Fan save his business, and staying on the right side of Lydia the social worker, he almost misses the biggest problem of all: he might lose Rosie when she needs him the most.
Graeme Simsion first introduced these unforgettable characters in The Rosie Project, which NPR called “sparkling entertainment along the lines of Where’d You Go Bernadette and When Harry Met Sally.” The San Francisco Chronicle said, “sometimes you just need a smart love story that will make anyone, man or woman, laugh out loud.” If you were swept away by the book that’s captivated a million readers worldwide, you will love The Rosie Effect.
Author -
Graeme Simsion is a former IT consultant and the author of two nonfiction books on database design who decided, at the age of fifty, to turn his hand to fiction. His first novel, The Rosie Project, was published in 2013 and translation rights have been sold in over thirty-five languages. Graeme lives in Australia with his wife, Anne, and their two children.
Rosie and Don are living in NYC, where Rosie is elbows deep in the challenge of a joint MD-PhD program at Columbia University, where Don is a visiting professor and researcher. Once again written in first-person limited point of view, we only know Don's side of the story, and what a story it is! His shenanigans are as complex and convoluted as we came to expect in THE ROSIE PROJECT, and author Graeme Simsion once again displays his brilliance at weaving crazily-cascaded series' of events as only Don Tillman could possibly create them. Don's true troubles begin when Rosie announces that she's pregnant. It's been hard enough for Don to adjust to his role as husband and defender, particularly when Rosie expects him to face down neighbors with whom she argues, and Don is struggling to handle multiple issues and avoid a personality "meltdown"...his greatest fear, which rears its head when he is at the end of his ability to cope. Whatever Rosie's expectations were (when she announced her pregnancy to Don) we never actually learn, since she does not articulate them. We watch as poor Don falls down the rabbit hole, trying to understand why Rosie is becoming more and more aloof. Their communication breaks down so miserably that there is more lie than truth, and eventually they retire to separate bedrooms. Don engages the help of a ragtag band of brothers--his three male friends (he's making progress!)--in his efforts to win Rosie back, and the hijinks ensue.
What makes THE ROSIE EFFECT so different from its predecessor? First of all, it cannot have the charm of a boy-meets-girl story, because it is not one. Surely we can all agree that a married relationship is an entirely different type of story to tell...so this book is quite different from the first. A new, married status, a new country, new jobs, new home (in fact, two)...and a pregnancy...imagine the strain on Don and Rosie's relationship, then add Don's Asperger's...and you can imagine the wild ride this story is. Sometimes hysterical, sometimes heartbreaking, other times frustrating and disappointing...but at all times, just like in the first book, Don is Don...every single line, every single moment of this story. That is the brilliance of Graeme Simsion...he writes a character so true, so himself, that he is Don Tillman in every word and action; never for a moment does Don do anything out of character, until he learns, analyzes, adapts, and chooses to act differently.
Like some reviewers, I must say that I am disappointed in Rosie's behavior in EFFECT. Rosie displays a new level of selfish here...admittedly getting pregnant by intention, without even discussing with Don. She displays a marked lack of interest in communicating with Don about the imminent change in expectation of him and their lifestyle, and basically is concerned only with her own needs. In PROJECT, Rosie was essentially self-absorbed, but we saw regular moments of concern for and appreciation of Don's many efforts, even sacrifices, for her. Though I wondered a few times in this story just what Don was getting out of his relationship with "the most beautiful woman in the world," I have so terribly much respect for Don that if he feels, as he tells us, that she is the thing he wants most in the world, then that's good enough for me.
PLEASE give us more, Graeme; we are not nearly done with Don Tillman. I can't wait to hear from him again. Do we want another sequel? CORRECT.
Don Tillman and Rosie Jarman are back. The Wife Project is complete, and Don and Rosie are happily married and living in New York. But they’re about to face a new challenge because— surprise!—Rosie is pregnant.
Don sets about learning the protocols of becoming a father, but his unusual research style gets him into trouble with the law. Fortunately his best friend Gene is on hand to offer advice: he’s left Claudia and moved in with Don and Rosie.
As Don tries to schedule time for pregnancy research, getting Gene and Claudia to reconcile, servicing the industrial refrigeration unit that occupies half his apartment, helping Dave the Baseball Fan save his business, and staying on the right side of Lydia the social worker, he almost misses the biggest problem of all: he might lose Rosie when she needs him the most.
Graeme Simsion first introduced these unforgettable characters in The Rosie Project, which NPR called “sparkling entertainment along the lines of Where’d You Go Bernadette and When Harry Met Sally.” The San Francisco Chronicle said, “sometimes you just need a smart love story that will make anyone, man or woman, laugh out loud.” If you were swept away by the book that’s captivated a million readers worldwide, you will love The Rosie Effect.
Author -
Graeme Simsion is a former IT consultant and the author of two nonfiction books on database design who decided, at the age of fifty, to turn his hand to fiction. His first novel, The Rosie Project, was published in 2013 and translation rights have been sold in over thirty-five languages. Graeme lives in Australia with his wife, Anne, and their two children.
SAMPLE CUSTOMER REVIEWS –
1) DIFFERENT THAN THE FIRST? "CORRECT." ANY LESS WONDERFUL? "INCORRECT," AS DON WOULD SAY. - Having worked with a number of students and adults with Asperger's Syndrome, I fell completely in love with THE ROSIE PROJECT and its perfect representation of the logos, ethos, and beautiful pathos of Professor Don Tillman. This sequel, aptly named THE ROSIE EFFECT, is a very different story, but no less interesting to tell or rewarding to read.
Rosie and Don are living in NYC, where Rosie is elbows deep in the challenge of a joint MD-PhD program at Columbia University, where Don is a visiting professor and researcher. Once again written in first-person limited point of view, we only know Don's side of the story, and what a story it is! His shenanigans are as complex and convoluted as we came to expect in THE ROSIE PROJECT, and author Graeme Simsion once again displays his brilliance at weaving crazily-cascaded series' of events as only Don Tillman could possibly create them. Don's true troubles begin when Rosie announces that she's pregnant. It's been hard enough for Don to adjust to his role as husband and defender, particularly when Rosie expects him to face down neighbors with whom she argues, and Don is struggling to handle multiple issues and avoid a personality "meltdown"...his greatest fear, which rears its head when he is at the end of his ability to cope. Whatever Rosie's expectations were (when she announced her pregnancy to Don) we never actually learn, since she does not articulate them. We watch as poor Don falls down the rabbit hole, trying to understand why Rosie is becoming more and more aloof. Their communication breaks down so miserably that there is more lie than truth, and eventually they retire to separate bedrooms. Don engages the help of a ragtag band of brothers--his three male friends (he's making progress!)--in his efforts to win Rosie back, and the hijinks ensue.
What makes THE ROSIE EFFECT so different from its predecessor? First of all, it cannot have the charm of a boy-meets-girl story, because it is not one. Surely we can all agree that a married relationship is an entirely different type of story to tell...so this book is quite different from the first. A new, married status, a new country, new jobs, new home (in fact, two)...and a pregnancy...imagine the strain on Don and Rosie's relationship, then add Don's Asperger's...and you can imagine the wild ride this story is. Sometimes hysterical, sometimes heartbreaking, other times frustrating and disappointing...but at all times, just like in the first book, Don is Don...every single line, every single moment of this story. That is the brilliance of Graeme Simsion...he writes a character so true, so himself, that he is Don Tillman in every word and action; never for a moment does Don do anything out of character, until he learns, analyzes, adapts, and chooses to act differently.
Like some reviewers, I must say that I am disappointed in Rosie's behavior in EFFECT. Rosie displays a new level of selfish here...admittedly getting pregnant by intention, without even discussing with Don. She displays a marked lack of interest in communicating with Don about the imminent change in expectation of him and their lifestyle, and basically is concerned only with her own needs. In PROJECT, Rosie was essentially self-absorbed, but we saw regular moments of concern for and appreciation of Don's many efforts, even sacrifices, for her. Though I wondered a few times in this story just what Don was getting out of his relationship with "the most beautiful woman in the world," I have so terribly much respect for Don that if he feels, as he tells us, that she is the thing he wants most in the world, then that's good enough for me.
PLEASE give us more, Graeme; we are not nearly done with Don Tillman. I can't wait to hear from him again. Do we want another sequel? CORRECT.
By The Literacy Advocate on December 30, 2014
2) The second Don and Rosie novel (4.5 stars) - Considering that I laughed all the way through The Rosie Project, it didn't surprise me that I started laughing on the first page of The Rosie Effect. Don Tillman, the narrator of the Rosie novels, is now a familiar character. In this case, familiarity breeds glee. This novel might not be quite as funny as the first, if only because the character of Don is less startling in this second encounter, but I still enjoyed it.
The Rosie Effect begins after Don and Rosie have been married for ten months. They are living in New York. Don is teaching at Columbia and Rosie is pursuing her doctorate. Don has managed to make new friends (he now has six), has abandoned the Standardized Meal System, and has agreed that sex should not occur on a fixed schedule. His otherwise orderly life is nevertheless unsettled by an unscheduled pregnancy that makes Rosie's emotions even more impossible for Don to predict.
The pregnancy also raises yet another problem that Don finds perplexing: Is Don fit to reproduce? Opinions are mixed. To address the issue, Don embarks on The Baby Project (i.e., he prepares for "baby production and maintenance"). His efforts are hampered by an interfering social worker who is offended by Don's lack of social skills. His life is further complicated by Gene, one of his six friends, a philandering psychology professor who comes to live with Don after his wife boots him out of the house.
As readers of The Rosie Project know, Don possesses the intellectual rigor of a dedicated scientist but has a shortage of empathy. Rosie has plenty of intellect but usually balances her left brain with her right. In pregnancy, however, Rosie is all about emotion despite her unwillingness to concede that the pregnancy might challenge her. Don's desire to understand Rosie's behavior in terms of its evolutionary origins and to offer "helpful" solutions is, like the rest of the novel, hilarious -- to the reader, but not to Rosie.
Much of Don's thinking makes perfect sense (to me, at least). For instance, having told Rosie that he loves her, why should he ever need to tell her again? After all, love is a "continuous state" and only a change in that state would produce relevant information that needs to be conveyed. The Rosie Effect has some insightful things to say about relationships (and some good advice for men), particularly relationships that might lead to reproduction.
While the novel makes a number of serious points about relationships and the value of truth versus deception, its most important lesson concerns the need to be true to oneself -- even if you are socially maladapted. I value The Rosie Effect and The Rosie Project for the lighthearted approach they use to make serious points, but I value them more for the consistent laughter they provoke. If I could, I would give The Rosie Effect 4 1/2 stars.
2) The second Don and Rosie novel (4.5 stars) - Considering that I laughed all the way through The Rosie Project, it didn't surprise me that I started laughing on the first page of The Rosie Effect. Don Tillman, the narrator of the Rosie novels, is now a familiar character. In this case, familiarity breeds glee. This novel might not be quite as funny as the first, if only because the character of Don is less startling in this second encounter, but I still enjoyed it.
The Rosie Effect begins after Don and Rosie have been married for ten months. They are living in New York. Don is teaching at Columbia and Rosie is pursuing her doctorate. Don has managed to make new friends (he now has six), has abandoned the Standardized Meal System, and has agreed that sex should not occur on a fixed schedule. His otherwise orderly life is nevertheless unsettled by an unscheduled pregnancy that makes Rosie's emotions even more impossible for Don to predict.
The pregnancy also raises yet another problem that Don finds perplexing: Is Don fit to reproduce? Opinions are mixed. To address the issue, Don embarks on The Baby Project (i.e., he prepares for "baby production and maintenance"). His efforts are hampered by an interfering social worker who is offended by Don's lack of social skills. His life is further complicated by Gene, one of his six friends, a philandering psychology professor who comes to live with Don after his wife boots him out of the house.
As readers of The Rosie Project know, Don possesses the intellectual rigor of a dedicated scientist but has a shortage of empathy. Rosie has plenty of intellect but usually balances her left brain with her right. In pregnancy, however, Rosie is all about emotion despite her unwillingness to concede that the pregnancy might challenge her. Don's desire to understand Rosie's behavior in terms of its evolutionary origins and to offer "helpful" solutions is, like the rest of the novel, hilarious -- to the reader, but not to Rosie.
Much of Don's thinking makes perfect sense (to me, at least). For instance, having told Rosie that he loves her, why should he ever need to tell her again? After all, love is a "continuous state" and only a change in that state would produce relevant information that needs to be conveyed. The Rosie Effect has some insightful things to say about relationships (and some good advice for men), particularly relationships that might lead to reproduction.
While the novel makes a number of serious points about relationships and the value of truth versus deception, its most important lesson concerns the need to be true to oneself -- even if you are socially maladapted. I value The Rosie Effect and The Rosie Project for the lighthearted approach they use to make serious points, but I value them more for the consistent laughter they provoke. If I could, I would give The Rosie Effect 4 1/2 stars.
By TChris TOP 100 REVIEWER on December 31, 2014
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