Books

Praise for Animal Husbandry:

“Exceedingly funny…Clever, engaging…continually amusing.”
—Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post

“Girl meets boy, boy dumps girl…Zigman siphons off the tears and the curses and by alchemy converts them into laughter.” 
—People

“[A] funny tale of love found and lost…if a little laughter can help mend a broken heart or strengthen a healthy one, then Animal Husbandry should be on reading lists of all the old cows and, for that matter, the old bulls out there, roaming the lonely grazing fields of love.”
—USA Today

“Fresh and hilarious…should do for dumped girlfriends what Olivia Goldsmith’s The First Wives Club and Fay Weldon’s The Life and Loves of a She-Devil did for dumped wives: hearten, console, viciously amuse.”
—Time

“This is great fun, a dog-eared hoot. Zigman’s second effort can’t come too soon.”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer

“[A] charming debut novel about a woman’s quest to truly understand the mind of the male beast.”
—Vanity Fair

“Wickedly funny…Witty and entertaining…Zigman’s triumph here is to invest the old story of a woman scorned with fresh, contemporary relevance, while also conveying the universal poignancy of heartbreak. Her portrayal of single Manhattanites, male and female, is right on the mark”
—Publishers Weekly

“A wonderfully entertaining, dead-on look at the downward trajectory from bliss to bafflement that characterizes modern romance. Zigman presents characters that are shaded and insightful and richly engaging.”
—American Bookseller

Praise for DATING BIG BIRD:

“Hilarious….Heartwarming.”
—The Washington Post Book World

“Hilarious.”
—Glamour

“Keeps you hooked from the first line.”
—New York Post

“Full of wit and charm and insight…You will be rooting all the way for Ellen Franck in this delicious book.”
—Newsday

“The thirty-five-year-old narrator of Laura Zigman’s second novel is undeniably likable…she’d be fun to have drinks with.”
—The New York Times

“A tale that makes for laughs and touching moments…well told and funny.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“The absorbing train of events and amusing dialogue make this a lark of a read.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Charming, witty…an amusing fairy tale.”
—BookPage

“A light, breezy read, enjoyable.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“Often hilarious…[A] clever, zippy new novel.”
—The Detroit News/Free Press

“As you read, you’ll laugh yourself into imaginary labor pains, but you also cringe at the poignancy between the lines.”
—The Nashville Tennessean

“Funny and convincing enough to penetrate the cynicism of readers who still associate parenthood with ‘minivans and portacribs.'”
—USA Today

“A page-turner…this astute novel explores – hilariously – the mind-set of pregnant women, toddlerettes and the fashion world.”
—Mademoiselle

Praise for HER:

“Zigman has produced another book of the moment….A fun read.”
—New York Daily News

“This is one rampaging hoot of a book, likely to strike a resounding chord….The fun here is in the details.”
—The Seattle Times

“Her is as addicting as Zigman’s previous work….Sharp, hilarious.”
—BookPage

“A howl….As scary as it is funny.”
—USA Today

“Zigman makes her heroine neurotic, jealous and believable….Check Her out.”
—People

“Delightfully frothy…It’s a fun ride.”
—Chicago Tribune

“Laced with insight. It’s a bit like juicy gossip — you can’t wait to get the dirt.”
—Boston Magazine

“It’s impossible not to like Elise, the down-to-earth heroine of Her.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“Laura Zigman conveys neurosis, misperception and desperation with a deft comic hand…edgy hilarity and snappy, cinematic dialogue.”
—The Miami Herald

Praise for PIECE OF WORK:
“Hilarious.”
—The Boston Herald

“Wonderfully entertaining….Zigman’s novel is a funny page-turner in the tradition of her earlier novels, Animal Husbandry and Dating Big Bird. But, the book also deals with America’s obsession with celebrity and explores the notion that fame (and the public exposure that comes with fame) is bound to make anyone crazy.”
—The Connecticut Post

“Zigman does better grappling with the upheaval of gender roles and the ways a woman’s priorities shift with motherhood…. As the mother of two 3-year-old boys, I found myself tearing up over a tenderly mundane telephone conversation that Julia has with Leo about his new train while she’s stuck in a sterile hotel room with an abusive has-been. It’s a moment sure to wring the heart of any woman who has ever left her children for a business trip — or book tour…PIECE OF WORK is…a sweet and often funny book, just the sort of thing you’ll be happy you tucked into your bag when you find yourself waiting in line at, say, the Container Store.”
—The Washington Post

“Zigman…has a breezy style and clearly can write, and she knows her territory.”
—USA Today

“PIECE OF WORK by Laura Zigman (Warner, $23.99) For any woman who has ever been stressed about balancing work and children, imagine if your job was like child rearing, only worse. Meet the fictional Julia Einstein, a suburban mother forced to return to her celebrity publicist job when her husband becomes out of work. Her new client, Mary Ford, is a diva has-been with outrageous demands, klepto tendencies and childish breakdowns. Forced to be on the road with Mary, Julia learns a hard lesson about stabilizing work and family while keeping her  own mental health in check.”
—New York Daily News

“The popular author of Animal Husbandry brings needed levity and insight to the challenges of a new mother forced to return to the workplace. Zigman’s heroine, Julia Einstein, finds that her time in toddlerville proves perfect prep to her new public relations task of resuscitating has-been celebs; Zigman’s own decade in PR provides rich dividends in this engaging romp.”
—The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“PIECE OF WORK is every bit as fun as an E! True Hollywood Story—only a little darker and much more honest (even though it’s fictional). It’s a page-turning look at the underbelly of stardom—and those who get paid to put up with it. If you love celebrity gossip as much as I do (and admit it…you do), you’ll love this book.”
—Nights And Weekends

“This is a genuine ‘feel good’ book; a wonderful break from the gloom and drudgery of the daily grind. Go out and buy it right now, you’ll thank me for it.”
—New Mystery Reader Magazine

“This is a great book for moms and a must read for a stay-at-home mom that’s returning to the work force (just to help you keep things in perspective). Check it out, it’s SharpMom recommended!”
—SharpMom

“[PIECE OF WORK] is the first Laura Zigman book I’ve ever read and I only wish that I had tried her work sooner. Her characters are believable and entertaining,plus she doesn’t take the easy way out with making certain characters cardboard villians. You have a delightful time as you wonder just which celebs are being playfully teased and root for everyone to come out on top. PIECE OF WORK has just arrived in a bookstore near you,so it’s the perfect book to sit with as you wait for the leaves to change colors or for your own little one to come home from school.”
—Living Read Girl

“PIECE OF WORK is a quick read, light and entertaining and I did enjoy it — a good book to pass time on an airplane or at the beach.”
—Antique Mommy

“I just received a book entitled PIECE OF WORK by Laura Zigman. It’s incredibly well written! ….If you’re looking for a good read, I suggest picking up a copy.”
—Another Diaper

“PIECE OF WORK is a fun, light, read.”
—CA Reviews

“Although [PIECE OF WORK] will have a special resonance with working mothers, it appeals to everyone, especially those of us who fall prey to our difficult customers, jumping through hoops to satisfy their every misjudged whim.”
—Joanne Benham, Reader Reviews

“PIECE OF WORK by Laura Zigman — From the bestselling author of Animal Husbandry comes a touching and hilarious novel about a stay-at-home mom reentering the working world as a celebrity publicist with the client from hell. Scoff if you will, lit-snobs, but Publishers Weekly says it’s ‘an amusing read, and the ending is just as happy as can be.'”
—Powells Books Blog

“This book—like every Laura Zigman book I’ve ever read—had me laughing so hard I made a fool of myself everywhere I took it. Biting, hilarious, brilliantly observant, and brutally honest…a luscious read.”
—Cathi Hanauer, author of Sweet Ruin and editor of The Bitch in the House

“A funny, fast-moving novel about a happy stay-at-home mom forced back into the working world. With her usual wit and sharp eye, Laura Zigman chronicles the absurdities of parenthood and celebrity culture.”
—Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children and Election

“In her fourth novel, Zigman (Animal Husbandry) tells the story of thirty-something Julia Einstein, who has put her career as a publicist on hold to be a stay-at-home mom. Julia loves spending her days with her young son, even though she’d be the first to admit she’s not exactly a domestic goddess. Everything changes when her husband, Peter, gets fired from his high-powered job and quickly proves to be much better at the household chores. Soon, Julia has no choice but to rejoin the work force. She takes a job working for a firm that represents “has beens,” and her first assignment is to relaunch a difficult, elderly, once-upon-a-time movie star, Mary Ford. Mary’s comeback vehicle is a perfume that, everyone agrees, literally stinks. Nonetheless, Julia ends up orchestrating the star’s comeback-and her own. This is a humorous and well-written look at what happens when the girl with the great single life gets the hot guy and becomes a mom. It’s been a few years since we’ve seen a novel from this author, so there will be demand.”
—Library Journal

“When Julie Einstein’s husband, Peter, loses his job, she is forced to revive her career as a celebrity publicist, a position she happily walked away from in order to become a full-time mom. She’s been away from the game for three years, just long enough to have tumbled from being the go-to whiz kid at an A-list firm to being the clueless gee-whiz kid at a shop handling only B-list has-beens. Julia lands the worst of the bunch in Mary Ford, a cantankerous former screen star whose launch of a malodorous perfume is supposed to revive a career that has been on life support for decades. As difficult as Mary is to manage, Julia’s biggest challenges are coping with the separation from her son and jealousy of her stay-at-home husband, whose sudden mastery of domestic duties would indicate that he is channeling the spirits of June Cleaver and Julia Child. Vulnerable yet persistent, Zigman’s plucky heroine succeeds through an engaging combination of warmth, wit, and wisdom.”
—Booklist

“Zigman (Animal Husbandry ) visits the popular chick lit landscape of Manhattan public relations, but with a less glamorous twist. The publicist is 36-year-old Julia Einstein, a Connecticut housewife who has been relishing her life as a stay-at-home mom to toddler son Leo. When her husband, Peter, loses his job, Julia is thrust back into the world she left behind. After calling on a savvy and successful friend for advice, Julia ends up at John Glom Public Relations, a “firm that handles desperate has-beens,” where she must work with actress Mary Ford, billed as a “client, paying for the right to suck the life out of us.” That Julia finds an antidote for Mary’s dwindling fame is predictable, but the process generates its share of chuckles. Ford is ceaselessly cruel, but her vulnerability flickers tellingly beneath her veneer of icy disgust….Julia’s swift handling of potential PR disasters make for an amusing read…”
—Publishers Weekly