All You Could Ask For: A Novel

by Mike Greenberg Narrated by Tavia Gilbert

Overview

All You Could Ask For, debut novel by Mike Greenberg, cohost of ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning, is a tender and insightful story of friendship and love, heartbreak and renewal, played out in the lives of three unforgettable women.

Brooke has been happily married to her college sweetheart for fifteen years. Even after the C-section, the dog poop, the stomach viruses and the coffee breath, Scott always winks at her in just the right moments. That is why, for her beloved, romantic, successful husband's fortieth birthday, she is giving him pictures. Of herself. Naked.

Newlywed Samantha learns of her husband's cheating heart when she finds the goods on his computer.

High-powered career woman Katherine works with heartbreaker Phillip, the man who hurt her early on in her career.**********

Brooke, Samantha, and Katherine don't know each other, but their stories are about to intertwine in ways no one could have imagined.

And all three are about to discover the power of friendship to conquer adversity, the satisfaction of unexpected delights, the incredible difference one human being can have on other lives--and that they have all they could ask for, as long as they have each other.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

This upbeat, snappy debut novel from ESPN sports talk host Greenberg (Why My Wife Thinks I’m an Idiot) involves three iron-willed, independent-minded ladies who meet and become friends through an online support group for breast cancer patients. Samantha Royce is a 28-year-old marathon runner and TV feature producer from New York City who, while honeymooning in Hawaii, discovers that her district attorney husband Robert is already cheating on her. Brooke Biltmore, age 40 and married to Wall Street executive Scott, with two children, protects her “perfect life” by keeping her diagnosis secret. Katherine Emerson, also age 40, has just decided to resign her high-powered corporate job for the man of her dreams when she gets the bad news. Samantha’s sense of humor helps Katherine get through her chemo, while Brooke reconnects Samantha with high school crush Andrew Marks, now a successful pediatrician. Greenberg’s promising first effort, told partly in the form of message board postings, develops the lead characters well enough for its predictably feel-good conclusion to feel justified. Agent: Jacques de Spoelberch, Jacques de Spoelberch Associates. (Apr.)

From the Publisher

Funny and moving.” — Connecticut Post

“Delves with authenticity and compassion into the lives and minds of three female characters . . . This well-written page-turner by a surprising author . . . features true-to-life characters who are entertaining and compelling. A must read for fans of smart women’s fiction.” — Library Journal

“Upbeat [and] snappy.” — Publishers Weekly

“The shared adversity these women face is portrayed realistically and tenderly . . . The three women are well drawn, and Greenberg displays an admirable ear for realistic dialogue. Fans of Deborah Copaken Konan, Sarah Pekkanen, and contemporary ensemble fiction will enjoy this debut novel.” — Booklist

“Mike is as clever, astute, and perceptive as he is brilliant. He has beautifully pulled off the three female voices in this novel — a rare feat for a man — with tremendous wisdom and insight. I can’t wait to see what he does next.” — Jane Green, New York Times-bestselling author

“Who would have guessed that a guy who works for ESPN could write such a terrific novel for women? . . . This book, and these women, surprised me all the way through, and moved me to tears and laughter both.” — Dorothea Benton Frank, New York Times-bestselling author

“I’m proud of Greeny. His characters could be anybody’s mother, sister or best friend. We can all relate in one way or another to their relationships and lives.” — Chris Golic, aka Mrs. Golic

“He may be the ‘king of guy talk,’ but wait until you read the way he writes women.” — Stacy Steponate Greenberg, aka Mrs. Greeny

“I read All You Could Ask For with slack-jawed admiration. Hands-down rookie of the year!” — Bruce Feiler, New York Times bestselling author of The Council of Dads and The Secrets of Happy Families

“ESPN radio host Mike Greenberg makes his living on guy talk, but who knew he had a gift for girl gab, too?...This novel celebrates women and the bonds that tie them together. Readers looking for a page turner about friendship, and finding meaning in one’s life, will be satisfied.” — Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers

Jane Green

Mike is as clever, astute, and perceptive as he is brilliant. He has beautifully pulled off the three female voices in this novel — a rare feat for a man — with tremendous wisdom and insight. I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Chris Golic

I’m proud of Greeny. His characters could be anybody’s mother, sister or best friend. We can all relate in one way or another to their relationships and lives.

Stacy Steponate Greenberg

He may be the ‘king of guy talk,’ but wait until you read the way he writes women.

Dorothea Benton Frank

Who would have guessed that a guy who works for ESPN could write such a terrific novel for women? . . . This book, and these women, surprised me all the way through, and moved me to tears and laughter both.

Connecticut Post

Funny and moving.

Lisa Ko

ESPN radio host Mike Greenberg makes his living on guy talk, but who knew he had a gift for girl gab, too?...This novel celebrates women and the bonds that tie them together. Readers looking for a page turner about friendship, and finding meaning in one’s life, will be satisfied.

Bruce Feiler

I read All You Could Ask For with slack-jawed admiration. Hands-down rookie of the year!

Booklist

The shared adversity these women face is portrayed realistically and tenderly . . . The three women are well drawn, and Greenberg displays an admirable ear for realistic dialogue. Fans of Deborah Copaken Konan, Sarah Pekkanen, and contemporary ensemble fiction will enjoy this debut novel.

Booklist

The shared adversity these women face is portrayed realistically and tenderly . . . The three women are well drawn, and Greenberg displays an admirable ear for realistic dialogue. Fans of Deborah Copaken Konan, Sarah Pekkanen, and contemporary ensemble fiction will enjoy this debut novel.

Associated Press Staff

ESPN radio host Mike Greenberg makes his living on guy talk, but who knew he had a gift for girl gab, too?...This novel celebrates women and the bonds that tie them together. Readers looking for a page turner about friendship, and finding meaning in one’s life, will be satisfied.

Library Journal

Sportscaster Greenberg's (Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot) first novel delves with authenticity and compassion into the lives and minds of three female characters. Brooke knows she has all she could want from life—a husband who loves her, beautiful children, and a marriage that grows stronger daily. She's not willing to let anyone, or anything, destroy any of that. Katherine has all the money and success she could ever wish for, but she willingly suffers every day by working with Phil, the man who broke her heart years ago. She hasn't been able to move forward and search out happiness. After finding out that her new husband was unfaithful on their honeymoon, Samantha summons all her strength to pursue a life that makes her feel complete on her own terms. These women are strangers to one another until they learn something that changes their lives, forever linking them in friendship and courage. VERDICT This well-written page-turner by a surprising author (Greenberg is cohost of ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning) features true-to-life characters who are entertaining and compelling. A must read for fans of smart women's fiction. Fans of Greenberg's show might be curious as well. [See Prepub Alert, 10/28/12.]—Anne M. Miskewitch, Chicago P.L.

Kirkus Reviews

Sports pundit Greenberg tries his hand at chick lit, with somber overtones and mixed results. Part One of this first novel is pretty formulaic: Three former debutantes face the usual prickly situations the wealthy and naïve are prone to, involving men, of course. Well, not men per se but their own vulnerabilities with respect to the opposite sex. Katherine, turning 40, doses herself with exercise and affirmations as she faces another day as a Wall Street banker in the employ of a man who jilted her almost 20 years before. Brooke, a Connecticut yummy mummy married to a Wall Street banker, is also turning 40: Her biggest challenge right now is compiling a portfolio of naked photos of herself to present to her husband. Samantha, 28, has her own naked photo dilemma: The politician she has just married has a few (not of her) in his email inbox. She has fled her honeymoon in Kauai for a luxury hotel where her plutocrat father will bail her out of her difficulties and get her marriage annulled while she trains for a triathlon. Part Two will bring these women together. The unifying element, intended to lend gravitas to the frivolity, involves cancer. Although the cancer section provides opportunities for the women to discover what is truly important in life, it also affords Greenberg too many pretexts for preachy clichés and oversimplification. Any automatic sympathy conferred by illness will be mitigated, for most readers, by how little we've come to care for these superficial and uber-privileged characters.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170123667
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/02/2013
Edition description:	Unabridged

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