| Baby Proof (Charnwood Large Print) |  | Author: Emily Giffin
Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd
Category: Book
This item is no longer available
Rating:  255 reviews
Sales Rank: 4366785
Format: Import
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Large Print Ed
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
ISBN: 1846177316
EAN: 9781846177316
ASIN: 1846177316
Publication Date: May 1, 2007
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| Customer Reviews: Read 250 more reviews...
 Somewhat Disappointed... November 17, 2008
I've read Emily Giffin's two other novels (Something Borrowed/Something Blue) and I have to say that this one was not as enticing compared to the other two. The book didn't keep my attention like the other novels, I think because the ending was too predictable. In the middle of the book I already knew the outcome and I felt like I was forcing myself to finish the book to the no surprise ending.
Maybe this book was dull because her other books referenced to each other, however this one really had no reference to her previous books. I'm going to try her last novel... I hope the next one is better than this one.
 Author cannot write a believable childfree woman at all November 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Baby Proof is a fake childfree book written by a parent trying to impersonate the childfree voice, and she gets it all wrong.
**SPOILERS AHEAD**
Claudia, the main character, is like a background player in her own novel. I kept wondering why, in a book about a nominally childfree-by-choice woman, so much time was given to X, Y, or Z mommy or mommy-wannabe of the protagonist's acquaintance. She had no interests of her own besides her job; most of the time it felt like she was sitting around waiting for the phone to ring so she could listen to the mommies go on and on about themselves. All Claudia ever did was work and serve as a sounding board, babysitter, and supporter for the mommies she knew. When she finally hooks up with the hot childfree guy and goes on a fantastic vacation with him, she can't enjoy it because "something is missing." Gee, could the missing thing be...A BABY??!1?! Subtle, Giffin ain't.
And Ben, Claudia's husband, comes off as so shallow, naive, and selfish that I couldn't stand him, and couldn't comprehend why Claudia wanted him back. When she left him, I thought GOOD RIDDANCE! He came off like a whiny, pouting, manipulative child himself. I couldn't imagine how any woman would want HIM around, let alone want to have his baby.
Then towards the end, Claudia finally gets lonely and beaten-down enough to try to get back together with her husband by offering to have his baby, and at that point I wanted to throw the book across the room. It stopped being chick lit and became, for me, a very subtle horror story about how loneliness and relentless, soul-deadening social pressure force unmaternal women into having unwanted children just to get along in a world that treats non-mothers like second-class citizens. Yet Giffin depicts this slow erosion of her protagonist's true self as PROGRESS. Gee, glad to know that even women who are 100% sure they don't want children really-truly always want one deep down. Biology always IS destiny then, no matter what that woman's pesky CONSCIOUS MIND wants. Good to know.
A very insidious book. Perhaps for an encore, Giffin can write a novel about a gay woman who gets pressured into a heterosexual marriage because everyone in her life wants to pretend she's straight. Or maybe she can give us the story of Ben and Claudia's 16-year-old daughter, who grows up knowing that her mother Claudia never really wanted her and only had her because her father Ben demanded it.
 Insightful and Fun - Addresses an Often Untalked about Topic October 27, 2008
This was a great book! It was funny, smart, and insightful. It tackled an often untalked about topic - making a choice to not have children. So often in our society, women who choose not to have children are labeled as selfish and uncaring. Honestly, if you think about some of the reasons that people have children, they are quite selfish. To decide not to have children in a world that expects nothing less requires someone has who has insight and a strong enough sense of self.
The author tackles this topic in a thoughtful and engaging way through the experiences of Claudia and Ben who have each chosen a childfree path. Heading into their marriage, there is an agreement that they will not have children. The story is about what transpires when Ben realizes that he actually does want a child while Claudia remains steadfast in her decision to live childfree.
I found myself empathizing with both and wanting each to have what he/she truly wanted, while at the same time having one another. Impossible. Baby Proof is a journey that doesn't disappoint. It is intelligently written with great dialogue.
 Ok book October 6, 2008
This book is about a woman who didn't wants kids and that eventually led to her divorce. While she tried to move on, she witnessed baby-related things happened to her friends and family and wondered if she made the right choice...
This is an ok book because I skipped some parts which I think are very unecessary to throw into this book. A little draggy toward the end.
Some people said that this book is against feminism because she **************spoiler********** decided to have kids for her husband but I din't think so. Yes, she changed her mind but the reason she didn't like to have kid in the beginning is because she didn't want to be like her mother (who cheated, abandoned their kids,...), it's not because of her career and other random stuffs (yes, she did says that those are her reasons but they are only excuses because she really didn't want to face her real reason, IMO)
I LOVE the fact that Giffin squeezed in the after-marriage life of Ethan and Darce, I was really surprise when I got to that part and can't stop smiling knowing that they are still madly in love, and have a baby GIRL on the way.
my favorite so far September 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
i thought this was emily giffin's "smartest" book yet. while i really liked something borrowed and something blue, the characters felt a little too conventional at times (rachel the "good girl" and darcy the "selfish girl"). i thought claudia was a more real, human character, a smart and thoughtful woman with her own set of issues and flaws. i found her sense of betrayal at ben to be authentic and really enjoyed her romance with richard and her ultimate decision in figuring out how she wants her life to be. aside from darcy in something blue, i also thought that claudia was the character who developed the most from the beginning to the end of the story. the side issue of whether to have kids or not was an interesting backdrop for this love story.
definitely my favorite giffin book so far and i am looking forward to reading love the one you're with.
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