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Long Division: A Novel
A winsome novel-as-memoir about what happens to a young teacher left by her boyfriend to her own devices Annie Harper is a twenty-four-year-old elementary school teacher when her soldier-boyfriend, David, is sent overseas. Determined to record her desolate and devoted hours, she begins a memoir that she imagines will be a tender homage to "all the women at home." Instead, Annie misses David but finds herself. Told through Annie's memoir-in- progress, Long Division vividly renders the inner life of a quirky young woman stuck between what she really feels and what she thinks she should. Readers of Curtis Sittenfeld and Marisa de los Santos-as well as the many real-life women left awaiting a soldier's return-will be captivated by Jane Berentson's quirky and wonderfully refreshing debut novel.
- GenresFiction
337 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 29, 2010
1 person is currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
Jane Berentson
5 books6 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 27, 2018
This book is a glorious guilty pleasure. I actually own a copy, which is pretty high praise for a book that's not a classic. The main character is relatable, her thought processes are familiar, and she's well-developed. Other characters are fleshed out as much as they need to be, which works really well for the medium (the novel is written as a diary/memoir). As far as easy reading goes, this is an adorable wacky delightful motherlode.
July 14, 2013
If it weren't for the footnotes, I probably would've given this book 5 stars. I don't know why authors do that. It was a bit distracting. But it was a cute, funny, light story. Identified with the character in many ways.
October 14, 2010
Third grade teacher Annie writes a memoir of the year her boyfriend is in Iraq . . . and finds during that year that she really loves Gus, her childhood friend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 13, 2015
Cute, quirky story that held my interest because the narrator is adorable and I would totally be her bestie.
August 3, 2020
Maybe not quite a full four stars, but I did really enjoy this read. Annie Harper is a snappy, quirky third grade teacher who decides to write a memoir of the year her boyfriend David is deployed to Iraq.
Over the course of the year she struggles with missing David and then with not missing him enough and trying to figure out what it means to keep the home fires burning and keep moving forward with life. For Annie, that means teaching an adorable and active bunch of third graders, adopting a pet chicken, befriending an elderly woman, and spending time with her equally quirky best friend Gus.
Sometimes the writing was little too slick and witty but mostly I enjoyed Annie’s voice. She goes through a lot in a year —love, guilt, self-loathing, grief, simple joy...the gamut. And the story is hilarious, heartbreaking, and honest. It’s definitely a book of the early oughts (at one point a character asks if Annie has a VCR), which was kind of great.
Over the course of the year she struggles with missing David and then with not missing him enough and trying to figure out what it means to keep the home fires burning and keep moving forward with life. For Annie, that means teaching an adorable and active bunch of third graders, adopting a pet chicken, befriending an elderly woman, and spending time with her equally quirky best friend Gus.
Sometimes the writing was little too slick and witty but mostly I enjoyed Annie’s voice. She goes through a lot in a year —love, guilt, self-loathing, grief, simple joy...the gamut. And the story is hilarious, heartbreaking, and honest. It’s definitely a book of the early oughts (at one point a character asks if Annie has a VCR), which was kind of great.
May 23, 2023
I bought this book for the third-grade teacher protagonist. There are a few instances of things only a teacher appreciates (crisscross applesauce, Heads Up, Seven Up). The romance here is bland, a boyfriend deployed and a best friend boy who becomes more and more of a boyfriend. The story is cute, but the footnotes are distracting.
October 1, 2017
It was about 1.5 stars for me, but I didn't HATE it-hate it, so erred on the generous side.
March 23, 2020
Cute story
November 2, 2010
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Wow! If you are to read one book this summer this should be it! Long Division: A Novel by Jane Berentson was truly one of the funniest books I have ever read. One of those laugh out loud books! As we follow the life of Annie Harper we are not only amused but also enthused. This charismatic intoxicating individual has bequeathed herself with the task of tracking and documenting her life sans major hottie and boyfriend Lieutenant David Peterson- as he is in Afghanistan for a year.
Alone in Tacoma, WA, Annie’s thoughts race and quickly change. Slightly obsessively she reads the New York Times Names of the Dead fretting about her boyfriend constantly. She is neurotic and slightly delusional at times. Yet I love her! In order to distract herself from the monotony of life sans her Army hunk she begins a book to describe her life and experiences. In her charge to herself Annie attempts to push herself to describe everything even her most deranged thoughts.
“Dear Annie,
You must write to provoke, elicit, and understand your deepest emotions. To coax them out and paint them plain and ugly. Sweet and/or bitter. In documenting how you pass into this year, you will hopefully come to understand something more profound about yourself, David Peterson, Lonesome George, George W. Bush, and maybe (if you’re lucky) the entire universe.
Fondest Regards,
Annie Harper”
As we continue her memoir we follow Annie through the many trials and tribulations that direct her life. Annie begins to want more than obsessively writing and long for David. But what? Anne has greater endeavors; we follow her as she volunteers at a nursing home, raises a chicken, reminisces about a lost brother-she never knew, and falls out and in love. Struggling to come to terms with her emotions and feelings our hearts beat and fluxuates with Annie’s. Her truest companion is Loretta- a 93 year old woman- from the nursing home. Loretta is her confidant and sounding board.
This novel is way more than every other wartime love story. It is a story of the heart and hope, a truest test of love and faith. With space in Annie and David’s relationship they change and grow without each other. This novel is immersed with love and growth; weighing the issues about “loyalty vs. real gut wrenching love”. Annie is a quirky, eccentric young woman determined to not succumb to the Army life. We feel and read every thought with her. Annie copes with so many things over the year that we can only hope for her, for changes, continued growth, and laughter.
Jane Berentson has truly written a loving, funny, and inspiring novel. The character of Annie is relatable and loveable. Her dialogue is intriguing and engaging. Not only is the plot charming, the characters may have different names but we all have been involved in a situation like this. A unique fact about this novel is the appendices which describe each character in detail, as well as many footnotes which describe her thoughts. Berentson’s prose is appealing to the reader; you are roped in with every word. Not only is she able to present dialogue but she diversifies her prose to include emails, phone calls, chicken talk, and so much more. Overall this novel should not be missed at all. I wholeheartedly recommend Long Division: A Novel by Jane Berentson.
http://www.missomnimedia.com/tag/read...
Wow! If you are to read one book this summer this should be it! Long Division: A Novel by Jane Berentson was truly one of the funniest books I have ever read. One of those laugh out loud books! As we follow the life of Annie Harper we are not only amused but also enthused. This charismatic intoxicating individual has bequeathed herself with the task of tracking and documenting her life sans major hottie and boyfriend Lieutenant David Peterson- as he is in Afghanistan for a year.
Alone in Tacoma, WA, Annie’s thoughts race and quickly change. Slightly obsessively she reads the New York Times Names of the Dead fretting about her boyfriend constantly. She is neurotic and slightly delusional at times. Yet I love her! In order to distract herself from the monotony of life sans her Army hunk she begins a book to describe her life and experiences. In her charge to herself Annie attempts to push herself to describe everything even her most deranged thoughts.
“Dear Annie,
You must write to provoke, elicit, and understand your deepest emotions. To coax them out and paint them plain and ugly. Sweet and/or bitter. In documenting how you pass into this year, you will hopefully come to understand something more profound about yourself, David Peterson, Lonesome George, George W. Bush, and maybe (if you’re lucky) the entire universe.
Fondest Regards,
Annie Harper”
As we continue her memoir we follow Annie through the many trials and tribulations that direct her life. Annie begins to want more than obsessively writing and long for David. But what? Anne has greater endeavors; we follow her as she volunteers at a nursing home, raises a chicken, reminisces about a lost brother-she never knew, and falls out and in love. Struggling to come to terms with her emotions and feelings our hearts beat and fluxuates with Annie’s. Her truest companion is Loretta- a 93 year old woman- from the nursing home. Loretta is her confidant and sounding board.
This novel is way more than every other wartime love story. It is a story of the heart and hope, a truest test of love and faith. With space in Annie and David’s relationship they change and grow without each other. This novel is immersed with love and growth; weighing the issues about “loyalty vs. real gut wrenching love”. Annie is a quirky, eccentric young woman determined to not succumb to the Army life. We feel and read every thought with her. Annie copes with so many things over the year that we can only hope for her, for changes, continued growth, and laughter.
Jane Berentson has truly written a loving, funny, and inspiring novel. The character of Annie is relatable and loveable. Her dialogue is intriguing and engaging. Not only is the plot charming, the characters may have different names but we all have been involved in a situation like this. A unique fact about this novel is the appendices which describe each character in detail, as well as many footnotes which describe her thoughts. Berentson’s prose is appealing to the reader; you are roped in with every word. Not only is she able to present dialogue but she diversifies her prose to include emails, phone calls, chicken talk, and so much more. Overall this novel should not be missed at all. I wholeheartedly recommend Long Division: A Novel by Jane Berentson.
November 9, 2011
This book really kept me company on my flights to and from the northwest. I'm actually going to begin by pointing out several little "flaws": her vocabulary is unimaginative and often repetitive (how many times does she need to use the word ginormous); Annie whines with great frequency about how much she is whining--and eventually she convinces us that it's too much (I understand the reason for it, I just think it's overdone); ____ (I know there was one more fault that I'm blanking on now).
But that's it for my complaints. Otherwise it's an engaging, realistic, and entertaining portrait of a young woman proceeding through a year of self-analysis and romantic discovery. The style allows for a very "unedited" approach that I feel works particularly well in this age of reality shows and blogs. She is a woman (finally) being honest with herself and in doing so giving voice to common "taboo" emotions.
And the description of her relationships has a nice flavor of authenticity, especially the slow dissolution of her distance (in this case war-bound) love.
A curious little sidenote: at one point Annie has a terrorist "fantasy." In this she is the victim of a subway train suicide bomber. It's nicely described and provides an interesting insight into her state of mind. But the reason this scene really stuck with me is because of the differences between it and similar daydreams I might have. If I ever imagine myself into a violent situation, almost always I'm picturing myself physically escaping and saving others. At no point does Annie start throwing punches. I'm left to wonder if this is, in a very general sense, a difference between men and women, or a difference between people who watch a lot of action movies, and those who don't, or...
But that's it for my complaints. Otherwise it's an engaging, realistic, and entertaining portrait of a young woman proceeding through a year of self-analysis and romantic discovery. The style allows for a very "unedited" approach that I feel works particularly well in this age of reality shows and blogs. She is a woman (finally) being honest with herself and in doing so giving voice to common "taboo" emotions.
And the description of her relationships has a nice flavor of authenticity, especially the slow dissolution of her distance (in this case war-bound) love.
A curious little sidenote: at one point Annie has a terrorist "fantasy." In this she is the victim of a subway train suicide bomber. It's nicely described and provides an interesting insight into her state of mind. But the reason this scene really stuck with me is because of the differences between it and similar daydreams I might have. If I ever imagine myself into a violent situation, almost always I'm picturing myself physically escaping and saving others. At no point does Annie start throwing punches. I'm left to wonder if this is, in a very general sense, a difference between men and women, or a difference between people who watch a lot of action movies, and those who don't, or...
August 19, 2010
I read Long Division by Jane Berentson because I received it for review from Plume (Penguin Group). It was not what I expected from reading the back cover.
Annie Harper is a third grade teacher whose boyfriend is deployed to Iraq. She decides to write a book about being on the homefront while he is away. Again, it wasn't what I expected--she does not socialize with other women whose husbands/boyfriends are deployed, she does not socialize with other girlfriends; she starts working on her book, and buys a chicken for a pet. I did find lots of humor in the book--having a chicken for a pet, the endless entertainment of third graders, Annie's commentary in general. And I think she's a terrific teacher. But I feel that Annie is too young and too self-absorbed to write a book about the homefront. I felt that Annie was pretty selfish overall--she wasn't as giving or supportive as one would expect from a girlfriend whose boyfriend's fighting a war.
The other aspect of the book that would have made me put it down had I not been reading it for review were the footnotes. I, personally, do not enjoy or see the reason for footnotes in a fiction book. There were footnotes on almost every page. I found this very distracting, and feel that there should have been a way to put what was in the footnotes into the narrative.
Recommended for younger adult readers.
From a review posted on my blog:
http://pattispenandpicks.blogspot.com...
Annie Harper is a third grade teacher whose boyfriend is deployed to Iraq. She decides to write a book about being on the homefront while he is away. Again, it wasn't what I expected--she does not socialize with other women whose husbands/boyfriends are deployed, she does not socialize with other girlfriends; she starts working on her book, and buys a chicken for a pet. I did find lots of humor in the book--having a chicken for a pet, the endless entertainment of third graders, Annie's commentary in general. And I think she's a terrific teacher. But I feel that Annie is too young and too self-absorbed to write a book about the homefront. I felt that Annie was pretty selfish overall--she wasn't as giving or supportive as one would expect from a girlfriend whose boyfriend's fighting a war.
The other aspect of the book that would have made me put it down had I not been reading it for review were the footnotes. I, personally, do not enjoy or see the reason for footnotes in a fiction book. There were footnotes on almost every page. I found this very distracting, and feel that there should have been a way to put what was in the footnotes into the narrative.
Recommended for younger adult readers.
From a review posted on my blog:
http://pattispenandpicks.blogspot.com...
September 9, 2012
Annie Harper's boyfriend leaves for the war in 2003. She decides to document her time without him in a memoir.
From my perspective, The Good: Set in Tacoma (where I live). The author uses a ramble-y, stream-of-consciousness writing style that I tend to take to. There's lots of detail that people like me enjoy reading. Engaging.
From my perspective, The Bad: A little TOO stream-of-consciousness. There's lots of footnotes with even more ramble. The main character is 24, but she seems about 12 years old emotionally. You can figure out what's going to happen from the first 50 pages.
It probably deserves 2.5 stars, but I really enjoyed the writing style so am rounding up to 3 stars.
From my perspective, The Good: Set in Tacoma (where I live). The author uses a ramble-y, stream-of-consciousness writing style that I tend to take to. There's lots of detail that people like me enjoy reading. Engaging.
From my perspective, The Bad: A little TOO stream-of-consciousness. There's lots of footnotes with even more ramble. The main character is 24, but she seems about 12 years old emotionally. You can figure out what's going to happen from the first 50 pages.
It probably deserves 2.5 stars, but I really enjoyed the writing style so am rounding up to 3 stars.
January 26, 2016
What can I say about Annie Harper? Yes, she's a bit self-absorbed, but really, who isn't when they're young, not yet a parent, and in possession of a lot of down time? Her focus on herself is intentional, since the format of the novel revolves around her recordings of day to day life and feelings while her boyfriend is deployed to Iraq. I found Annie to be funny and self-deprecating, irreverent and profane at times, making me think we would have had fun hanging out when I was twenty-four! Slightly political, but leaning in the direction that I prefer, this novel was a fun and semi-lighthearted look at the time spent back home by one girlfriend of a soldier.
January 31, 2011
About what I expected. Wildly predictable, as these books tend to be, but with such an interesting narrator that I didn't mind the predictability at all. I loved this girl. I kind of wanted to be her friend. An interesting thing: Along the bottom of the cover, there is a line that says the book used to be called "Miss Harper Can Do it." Totally lame title. Good call on "Long Division," even if it's only mentioned once, and its relation to the plot is really sketchy. It's ultimately what made me pick up the book from the Borders bargain bin in the first place.
September 9, 2011
I spent the first third of this book disliking the narrator. Whiny, self-righteous liberal atheist! But, as the story progressed her quirkiness became endearing and I grew to not only like protagonist Annie Harper but also to find her easy to relate to. In fact, were I to compose a memoir of my life I think it would mirror Annie's in many ways. Rather ordinary life, personal musings, negativity. Basically what amounts to word vomit. Got to say I found my personal diatribe interesting and therefore this teacher's writing as well.
January 19, 2016
Leave no ego unstroked. Leave no id unturned. This is a book of the age. We handle the privations of private life by making them Spectacle (in the Debordian sense).
A scintillating commentary on love, war, chickens, public school, and/in a time when journaling is show biz.
(Aside: The protagonist repeatedly bemoans others' poor grammar, yet showcases some of her own -- e.g.: misovercorrecting, she uses "home in on" where "hone" is what makes sense.)
A scintillating commentary on love, war, chickens, public school, and/in a time when journaling is show biz.
(Aside: The protagonist repeatedly bemoans others' poor grammar, yet showcases some of her own -- e.g.: misovercorrecting, she uses "home in on" where "hone" is what makes sense.)
August 4, 2010
I probably would have quit reading this one but I had quit reading the two previous books that I started and figured I would tough it out. The book was okay but Miss Harper was definitely a whiny butt which grated on my nerves. The last 30 pages or so was better than the first part.
September 2, 2010
love it!
January 3, 2013
Good book, but I wouldn't read it again. Had some interesting twists and I enjoyed it but wasn't something I just fell in love with. It's one to get from the library rather than actually buy.
April 19, 2012
Quirky and fun. I enjoyed it.
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June 27, 2013I only read about 100 pages of this book....just couldn't get into it.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews