What do you think?
Rate this book
Temporary Insanity
Meet Alice thirty-something, single and determined to take control of her own destiny ... even if she is stuck in a series of secretarial temp jobs and living with her beloved ninety-year-old grandmother -- a feisty, funny, former Ziegfeld showgirl. But that's easier said than done when your job counselor can't spell "employment" correctly, your boss has you planning her daughter's wedding, your new boyfriend cares more about his career than caresses, and your dreams of stardom are dashed when a hotshot casting director suggests you get your nose fixed -- and you already have. But even as it seems that Alice's world has gone crazy, and she succumbs to a Mr. Right who turns into a Mr. Not Right Now, she knows that any insanity is only temporary ...
322 pages, Paperback
First published May 25, 2004
4 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Leslie Carroll
31 books164 followersI used to tell people that I was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx; but the truth is that apart from the stellar education I received at the Fieldston School in Riverdale, much of who I am was shaped by my two grandmothers, who encouraged me to follow my bliss long before it became the sort of catchphrase you find on tee-shirts and new-age tchotchkes. My East Side grandmother took me to FAO Schwarz, the New York City Ballet, and afternoon tea at the Plaza Hotel, where I dreamed of becoming another Eloise. My West Side grandmother took me to the Central Park carousel and the zoo and treated me to colorful paper parasols and gummy, lukewarm pretzels from the vendors whose wares my East Side grandmother deemed too "dirty" for human consumption.
There are writers on both sides of my family, and although I always loved to write, I never anticipated that it would become my profession. I had wanted to be a ballerina; and though my club feet were corrected at birth (from the stilettos I adore now, you'd never know) and my short Achilles tendons made my toes turn in (corrected at the age of 9), I was never going to end up en pointe.
About a year later, I decided to become an actress when (if?) I grew up, and I never looked back. I majored in Theatre at Cornell University, worked in summer stock, and took classes with a couple of acknowledged masters. I performed a lot of Shakespeare and other classics in New York parks, basements, church choir lofts, and the occasional Off-Broadway theatre; then founded and ran my own nonprofit theatre company for several years. And when things got slow, and I found myself working three survival jobs simultaneously (one of them as a journalist and editor), I decided it was time to pursue an additional creative avenue.
Fast forward a decade. I'm now a multi-published author in three genres, as well as a freelance journalist. And I've also adapted a number of classic texts (Ivanhoe; The Prisoner of Zenda; The Scarlet Pimpernel; Mark Twain's The Diaries of Adam and Eve) for the stage. I began writing women's fiction and historical fiction simultaneously, but my first published novel was the urban romantic comedy Miss Match in 2002. In 2005, as I continued to write about feisty female New Yorkers, my first historical novel was published under the pen name Amanda Elyot. While keeping those literary plates spinning I made my historical nonfiction debut in the spring of 2008.
In what I laughingly refer to as my spare time, I'm still a professional actress, working when the scripts and the roles excite me.
I'm such a native New Yorker that I still don't have a driver's license, "Big Sky Country" means Central Park, and the farthest I've ever been from the Upper West Side for any great length of time was my four-year stint upstate in Ithaca, at Cornell, known for its rigorous academics and its equally harsh permafrost.
My birthday falls on the same day as two of my heroes—F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jim Henson. So I reread The Great Gatsby every year and number Miss Piggy among the great actresses of her generation. My favorite color is deep hydrangea blue, and it just kills me that it doesn't look good with red hair.
I live in Manhattan with my husband Scott—who is my hero and everything I ever dreamed of. For the past couple of years we've been considering an addition to the family in the form of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
There are writers on both sides of my family, and although I always loved to write, I never anticipated that it would become my profession. I had wanted to be a ballerina; and though my club feet were corrected at birth (from the stilettos I adore now, you'd never know) and my short Achilles tendons made my toes turn in (corrected at the age of 9), I was never going to end up en pointe.
About a year later, I decided to become an actress when (if?) I grew up, and I never looked back. I majored in Theatre at Cornell University, worked in summer stock, and took classes with a couple of acknowledged masters. I performed a lot of Shakespeare and other classics in New York parks, basements, church choir lofts, and the occasional Off-Broadway theatre; then founded and ran my own nonprofit theatre company for several years. And when things got slow, and I found myself working three survival jobs simultaneously (one of them as a journalist and editor), I decided it was time to pursue an additional creative avenue.
Fast forward a decade. I'm now a multi-published author in three genres, as well as a freelance journalist. And I've also adapted a number of classic texts (Ivanhoe; The Prisoner of Zenda; The Scarlet Pimpernel; Mark Twain's The Diaries of Adam and Eve) for the stage. I began writing women's fiction and historical fiction simultaneously, but my first published novel was the urban romantic comedy Miss Match in 2002. In 2005, as I continued to write about feisty female New Yorkers, my first historical novel was published under the pen name Amanda Elyot. While keeping those literary plates spinning I made my historical nonfiction debut in the spring of 2008.
In what I laughingly refer to as my spare time, I'm still a professional actress, working when the scripts and the roles excite me.
I'm such a native New Yorker that I still don't have a driver's license, "Big Sky Country" means Central Park, and the farthest I've ever been from the Upper West Side for any great length of time was my four-year stint upstate in Ithaca, at Cornell, known for its rigorous academics and its equally harsh permafrost.
My birthday falls on the same day as two of my heroes—F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jim Henson. So I reread The Great Gatsby every year and number Miss Piggy among the great actresses of her generation. My favorite color is deep hydrangea blue, and it just kills me that it doesn't look good with red hair.
I live in Manhattan with my husband Scott—who is my hero and everything I ever dreamed of. For the past couple of years we've been considering an addition to the family in the form of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 16, 2011
This book was predictable, but entertaining and it satisfied my need for SOMETHING to read, so I reckon for that it gets 3 stars. But it's just so obvious though.
Another thing is why do books like this always have to have some woman who is bitchy and mean to the main character for no reason other than she's just there to do that?
And they always have to have a love interested that turns out to be a jerk. Then you have the small breasted short haired women. What is up with that? They are mean to the main character.
I did like her grandmother at least. But, again. You just know what's going to happen. Urg.
Still, it was an entertaining distraction, which is what I can use.
Another thing is why do books like this always have to have some woman who is bitchy and mean to the main character for no reason other than she's just there to do that?
And they always have to have a love interested that turns out to be a jerk. Then you have the small breasted short haired women. What is up with that? They are mean to the main character.
I did like her grandmother at least. But, again. You just know what's going to happen. Urg.
Still, it was an entertaining distraction, which is what I can use.
December 13, 2010
I wanted to really like this book because I think the author has a fun sense of humor and style. I'm not sure if the character was whiny or if I just got tired of the drama, or if the book took too long to actually DO anything. I will say that Grandma's character was fun... It seemed kind of like a summary of the last few years of someone's life rather than an actual story with a plot, though. Only the last couple of chapters had much of an arc. I was disappointed... but I finished it and at the end I was glad I had read it.
January 31, 2023
A touching and hopeful look at the underworld of the office temp from hilarious author Leslie Carroll.
Meet Alice Finnegan: 30-something, single, and stuck in a cycle of horrific secretarial temp jobs. She's trying to fulfil her childhood ambitions of on-stage stardom while sharing an apartment with her 90-something grandmother, a feisty, funny, former Ziegfeld showgirl.
Along the rocky road to independence Alice encounters a colourful cast of oddballs, nuts, and control freaks (including members of her immediate family). And just to keep life interesting, she succumbs to the pitfalls of office romances and the perils of nasty bosses as she endeavours to keep her sanity intact and make that big break into the spotlights.
Meet Alice Finnegan: 30-something, single, and stuck in a cycle of horrific secretarial temp jobs. She's trying to fulfil her childhood ambitions of on-stage stardom while sharing an apartment with her 90-something grandmother, a feisty, funny, former Ziegfeld showgirl.
Along the rocky road to independence Alice encounters a colourful cast of oddballs, nuts, and control freaks (including members of her immediate family). And just to keep life interesting, she succumbs to the pitfalls of office romances and the perils of nasty bosses as she endeavours to keep her sanity intact and make that big break into the spotlights.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2019
Alice Finnegan has spent years trying to make it big in the acting world. To make ends meet, she takes a variety of secretarial temp jobs. After a name-calling incident forces Alice to quit working for her lawyer uncle, she signs on with a high powered law firm, summarizing documents.
On her first day she meets a handsome lawyer, Eric, and their romance heats up quickly. But love turns sour when he chooses his career over fighting for their relationship. Mix the lack of acting jobs with her tepid social life, and what's a girl to do? At least Alice has her spunky grandmother, a former showgirl and the only one with Alice's best interests at heart. Will Alice ever land the acting job of her dreams, or is she stuck in the temp world forever?
This is a touching new chick lit novel. Fresh and funny, Alice never takes herself too seriously, but acts thoughtfully. Her relationship with her grandmother is heartwarming and adds depth to the story. Alice's struggle to find acting jobs is quite realistically portrayed, as is her mugging experience. Although there are stereotypical aspects (such as the New York city setting and the gay male friend) the romance storyline is not central to the plot and actually concludes in a surprising way. Family and friends are endearingly foremost.
A little more character development and exploration of some of the minor characters' issues would have rounded out the storyline. Yet Carroll writes with the deftness of someone who has been there and knows what she's talking about. This elevates Temporary Insanity above the general chick lit crowd.
On her first day she meets a handsome lawyer, Eric, and their romance heats up quickly. But love turns sour when he chooses his career over fighting for their relationship. Mix the lack of acting jobs with her tepid social life, and what's a girl to do? At least Alice has her spunky grandmother, a former showgirl and the only one with Alice's best interests at heart. Will Alice ever land the acting job of her dreams, or is she stuck in the temp world forever?
This is a touching new chick lit novel. Fresh and funny, Alice never takes herself too seriously, but acts thoughtfully. Her relationship with her grandmother is heartwarming and adds depth to the story. Alice's struggle to find acting jobs is quite realistically portrayed, as is her mugging experience. Although there are stereotypical aspects (such as the New York city setting and the gay male friend) the romance storyline is not central to the plot and actually concludes in a surprising way. Family and friends are endearingly foremost.
A little more character development and exploration of some of the minor characters' issues would have rounded out the storyline. Yet Carroll writes with the deftness of someone who has been there and knows what she's talking about. This elevates Temporary Insanity above the general chick lit crowd.
June 13, 2008
I really liked the book. My friend let me borrow her edition that she read while she was temping and then I lost my job after three years and started temping myself. It really made me realize how bad I don't have it out here in sunny CA, as opposed to temping in NY. But I'm also not an aspiring actress either as the author is. It was a funny light-read that I was able to read on my lunch hour. The only part that really threw me for a loop is when Gram dies at the very end of the book. I had to remember this was based on the authors life and in real life Gram doesn't come back from the dead, she really in truely dies.
If you are looking for a romance novel this isn't it. She does have a few love interests in the book, but it's not a romance novel.
I wish she had written another one like this but Leslie Carroll decided to delve into other venues for her next book.
If you are looking for a romance novel this isn't it. She does have a few love interests in the book, but it's not a romance novel.
I wish she had written another one like this but Leslie Carroll decided to delve into other venues for her next book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 31, 2008
I had such high hopes for this book, but it turned out to be something else. Oh well. I was expecting a romance, instead I got a look into someone's life...and it was fictional. It wasn't a "bad" book, just not what I was expecting.
January 24, 2017
I came across this book in a thrift store. I recommend it to anyone who has ever worked at a job that they hate while trying to pursue their dreams. the main character alice is someone who's very relatable and likable.
November 28, 2008
Disappointingly predictable.
June 20, 2017
I laughed, I cried...I grew to care...
And perhaps that's the highest compliment one can give a writer and their work of fiction...that the reader started to care.
As I read Temporary Insanity, I found myself invested in this cast of characters - I started to care about their lives and relationships; cared about their loves and losses; even started to care about what lay before them. In short, I wanted to know them better. I want to read more of what 'tomorrow' holds for them. Yes, I do know they're all fictional... then again...maybe a little touch of insanity- temporary, for sure - made them all a tad more real to me.
And perhaps that's the highest compliment one can give a writer and their work of fiction...that the reader started to care.
As I read Temporary Insanity, I found myself invested in this cast of characters - I started to care about their lives and relationships; cared about their loves and losses; even started to care about what lay before them. In short, I wanted to know them better. I want to read more of what 'tomorrow' holds for them. Yes, I do know they're all fictional... then again...maybe a little touch of insanity- temporary, for sure - made them all a tad more real to me.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews