I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You: A Novel Hardcover – June 10, 2014

British artist Richard Haddon has finally found success with his first solo show in Paris, although he feels he's lost his edge and is selling out. And while he should be happy to finally be selling his work, the rest of his life is a shambles. His affair with an American journalist has ended, as she's left him to marry a cutlery designer. Richard's despondence over the end of his affair exposed the secret to his wife Anne, a successful French attorney, who is maintaining cordial relations solely for the sake of their young daughter.But when a painting that Richard made for Anne when she was pregnant and they were deeply in love sells as part of his show, the bottom drops out of their relationship, and he suddenly realizes he is going to lose both his wife and his daughter. And after months of not really caring, he feels the potential of this loss greatly. He knows he must do all that he can to win his wife back, which won't be easy, because he has to first realize what relationships and love are really all about. And at the same time, he's desperate to get some of his professional edge back."But can we come back to love after an absence, or does it die from neglect?"I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You is an enjoyably moving and funny story about a man trying to regain control of his life, professionally and personally. It's about realizing that perfection isn't perfect, and isn't possible, but that reality has so much more to offer. And it's also about seeing things in a different light.Courtney Maum does a great job with this book. Richard and Anne aren't always tremendously likeable, but I really enjoyed their characters and rooted for them to be happy. And while the plot of the book is fairly familiar, Maum throws in some fun twists and supporting characters along the way. Some of the reviews I've read of this book liken it to a mix of Where'd You Go, Bernadette and Beautiful Ruins, but I disagree. I think this is a fun, sweet, fairly straightforward book that should be enjoyed without comparison to anything else.

This is possibly the most boring book I have read on infidelity. Lately, I have read many over-the-top books in which the guilty party of an affair either dies, loses a child, loses his/her mind or ends up on trial for murder. That being said, I was more than ready to read a more relaxed take on adultery, perhaps along the lines of a Jonathan Tropper book, which I always enjoy. Unfortunately, this book is a book about infidelity where nothing original happens. The story is so predictable I could have simply read the first few chapters and the last chapter to have gained the essence. There are very few surprises, high points, or nuances in character development along the way to the rather blasé ending.Richard Haddon, an Englishman has the seven year itch and cheats on his French born wife with a ditzy American. Richard and his wife Anne met when Richard was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design. It is instant fire-works and the couple marry shortly after and have a child. They move back to Paris, where Anne practices law and Richard has just had his first successful art showing. Appearing to have sold out in order to be more commercial, he has finished the Keyhole View series, in which he depicts scenes into different rooms. When he exhibits and then sells his wife's favorite painting, called the Blue Bear and then stupidly puts his mistress letters in his brief-case for his wife to read, Anne says enough. I could have easily told Richard that you only miss what you have when its gone.The author does a lovely job in describing Paris, Brittany and London, both the beauty and the culture. I also came away with a much better understanding of the French people and how and why they think and act the way they do. Despite a few well written observations and the fact that the book takes place right before the Iraqi war, and our involvement, which is very apropos to recent developments, the story/characters are just not that engaging for me to recommend.

I have to say that I do not often find myself questioning the gender point of view of an author. In this case, I am not sold on Richard's point of view. He had entered the doldrums of married life and had taken a mistress. She has left him, and he has found that he values the wife he had neglected. He has decided to not only win her back, but to make himself fall in love with her again. All this comes to his heart when a painting he had created for his wife is sold. It is a "keyhole" view of another room in which a blue teddy bear is prominent.Much of the writing is witty, and by no means does it drag. But Richard can be distinctly annoying in his self indulgence. And again, this shortcoming seems very much to be how a woman might imagine a man coming to understand his own selfishness. While the flow of his thoughts do engage the reader, I found him just too frustrating at times. Flawed as I find it, I still think this is an interesting study of the perils of mid-life.

As I read the book I found my feelings evolving for this character actually changing to a feeling of sympathy towards the main character, cheering him through this process especially once he realized how much harm he did with his mistake. The process of loosing oneself thinking something new will make us happy and realizing that we had everything we needed to be happy, we just got lost in the daily routine of life, is a long arduous journey that everyone goes through at different times. He exposed himself in a very vulnerable way that made me go from annoyance to pity for this character. The author made him very real. The wife and her reactions to the events were incredible, very human and torn in many directions which is a reality for many in her position. I had not been so sucked into a book in a while and became obsessive about reading this book while on vacation, it was a great beach read.

I really shouldn’t like this book which is a sort of nauseating heterosexual love story but somehow, I really enjoyed it. I fell hard for the characters and their story. I disliked Richard and wanted to give him a slap for messing up his marriage to an amazing woman. I really felt for Anne. I also felt sorry for Lisa, the mistress, caught up in Richard’s mess because their relationship seemed to mean a lot more to him than it ever did for her. I could relate to them. Plus, I’m a sucker for a good love story, OOT romantic gestures and I just want everyone to be happy. This book got to me.

Loved every moment of this book and would like to eas more from this lady. The way she made you feel about the characters was facinating.

Very well written, the story is about a man and a woman and normal troubles of their marriage. Although I did not get who would have said the where having fun without the other. Very good description of places, especially Paris.

Haven't finished reading

Hard to get through some chapters but otherwise, okay.