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by: Cathy Alter  List Price: $24.00 Amazon.com's Price: $16.32 You Save: $7.68 (32%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 818.602 EAN: 9780743288408 ISBN: 0743288408 Label: Atria Manufacturer: Atria Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 336 Publication Date: July 01, 2008 Publisher: Atria Studio: Atria Related Items:
Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display Editorial Review: Product Description: By age thirty-seven, Cathy Alter had made a mess of her life. With a failed marriage already under her belt, she was continuing down the path of poor decisions, one paved with a steady stream of junk food, unpaid bills, questionable friends, and highly inappropriate men. So she sat down and asked herself what she truly wanted. A decent guy. A nicer home. More protein. When she took a closer look at her wants, she noticed something that seemed very familiar -- with the addition of exclamation points, her list could easily be transformed into the cover lines on every women's magazine: Find the love you deserve! Paint to the rescue! Eggs-actly perfect meals! So Cathy gave over her life to the glossies for the next twelve months, resolving to follow their advice without question. By the end of her subscriptions, she would get rid of upper-arm jiggle, crawl out of debt, host the perfect dinner party, run a mile without puking, engage in better bathtub booty, ask for a raise, and rehaul her apartment. Well, at least that was the premise of her social experiment. What actually happened was much less about cosmetic change and much more about internal transformation. Singular in its voice and yet completely universal, Up for Renewal will appeal to all who have ever wondered if they could actually make their life over. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - 12 Months to Change Your LifeWhen I came of age and left home I was at that stage of life where I didn't trust (or want) my mother's advice. I found myself sitting in the break room at work nibbling on my bagel and being stared at by the flawless faces of actresses and supermodels while bright colored cover lines offered all the advice I was looking for. My uber strict, religious parents had never allowed magazines in the house, especially those where teens could read about sex or learn how to find the best bikinis. Here were ... Read More Rating:  - Up for Renewal... naw, just leave on the shelfAs a huge magazine reader I was really looking forward to reading this book. As I got further and further into the book I found myself rooting against the author. While the premise of the book was engaging the actual execution of the idea lacked any commitment. This is really a "novel" that would have made a good magazine article but lacked the substance necessary for a book. Rating: - Started out well, then fizzledAt 322 pages, this book is about 200 pages too long. The book starts out with a very interesting summary of the newly divorced author's toxic romantic/sexual relationships and other self destructive behaviors, and describes her interesting plan to improve her life. Unfortunately, my interest waned rapidly as the book progressed. The writing style was inconsistent. Brilliant in places, incredibly boring in others. Borrow this book from the library if you feel you must read it. Rating:  - A Cosmo Cover Comes to LifeAs an editor and book critic at PODBRAM, I have read a number of books aimed at women, and this is certainly one of the best of those I have read in that genre. I cannot speak for all male readers, but from my viewpoint, Cathy Alter is a highly competent writer in all respects. As I have sometimes done, I chose to read Ms. Alter's lighthearted poke at the frivolity and pseudo-seriousness of women's magazines sandwiched between a pair of books of much heavier subject matter, and Up for Renewal proved ... Read More Rating: - Better than the description soundsWhen I first read the description of this book, I thought it would be like the website chronicling following Oprah's every piece of advice. I was wrong. The magazine advice is really just a structure around which the author builds her story of breaking her self-destructive patterns and creating a new life for herself. Each month, she focuses on a different area- diet (the author doesn't need to lose weight and isn't trying; she just wants to stop eating her lunch out of the vending machine), ... Read More 
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