Spin Cycle

September 24, 2001
Rachel Katz would rather make people laugh than tell them unpleasant truths, so she has given up a promising career as a journalist in favor of the dicey life of a stand-up comic at the start of this warmhearted relationship farce from the author of Neurotica. Genuinely hip and decent to the bone, Jewish British single mum Rachel is an adorable heroine. From the opening scene with her hygiene-obsessed dentist fiancé, Adam, readers will be rooting for her to lose her dreary beau; prove herself to her suffocatingly anxious mother, Faye; gratify the adoring loyalty of her 10-year-old son, Sam; and win fame and fortune with her stage act. Though Rachel convinces as a stand-up talent, the jokes don't carry the tale. Little light is shed here on the anatomy of a joke, but the opposite is true of human anatomy. From Rachel's father's constipation and neighbor Shelley's labor pains to Rachel's sexual doings with delicious Matt (the visionary washing-machine repairman who provides the novel's neat title and romantic tension), every orifice has its moment in the spotlight. And if the novel is less funny and more ribald than it needs to be, never mind: there's a matey goodness here, an affection for all things human, that makes it a nourishing delight.

September 15, 2001
Margolis's last roll in the hay was Neurotica (LJ 7/15/99), a funny, sexy British romp which is exactly what she delivers again here. Rachel Katz is finally trying her hand at stand-up comedy and working as a maid for rich folks to pay the bills. She's trying to decide whether she wants to marry her boyfriend, the boring but ever-stable dentist, and working up the guts to enter a big comedy contest. Suddenly, Rachel's life is thrown into chaos when she trades sparks with Matt, the washing-machine repairman. He's definitely sexy, not at all boring, and understands all her jokes, of which there are many. What will Rachel do? Enjoy the ride with Rachel's funny parents, gay ex-husband, Barbra Streisand-obsessed ten-year-old son, and kooky friends. With a stand-up comic main character, Margolis is able to keep the witty one-liners spraying like bullets. Light, fun, and a bit silly; recommended for public libraries. Beth Gibbs, formerly with P.L. of Charlotte & Mecklenburg Cty., NC

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2001
Rachel Katz is devotedly pursuing a second career as a stand-up comic, much to the chagrin of her parents and her fiance, Adam. To support herself and her 10-year-old son, Sam, Rachel works as a cleaning lady for an eccentric couple who claim to be descendants of Karl Marx. Into Rachel's seemingly organized life walks Matt Clapton, a sexy washing machine repairman. With pressure from Adam and her mother, Faye, to set a wedding date, a distraction like Matt is the last thing she needs. But as she begins to see more of Matt, Rachel finds herself in bed, and possibly in love, with him. Meanwhile, Adam has taken off to South Africa for a month and may be having an affair of his own. As Rachel prepares to enter a comedy contest that could bring her the fame and success she's worked so hard for, she finds herself forced to choose between Matt and Adam. Rachel is a first-rate comic, and this delightful novel is filled with more than a few big laughs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)