Piece of Work    by Laura Zigman Order:  USA  Can Warner, 2006 (2006) Hardcover, e-Book Read an Excerpt     Reviewed by Kerrily Sapet Julia Einstein's suburban life is picture perfect. A publicist turned stay-at-home mom, she worships her time with her Cheerio-eating, train-loving son Leo. All is wonderful until her husband comes home one evening and announces he lost his job. After a few months of using up savings, and piling up credit card debt, Julia decides to go back to work. She ends up working for a third rate publicist and a narcisstic has-been movie star trying to sell her perfume. Julia's new position stinks, along with the perfume she's trying to advertise. Julia's adventures in Laura Zigman's Piece of Work are amusing and unpredictable. Through Julia, Zigman confronts the ups and downs of balancing work and family. Julia misses her family and deals with the unpredictable, abusive movie star, rabid PETA activists, and PR nightmares. Not only does she juggle her miserable job, but to her dismay, her husband excels at creating a better 'organizational flow' of their house and becomes the toast of the preschool ladies. When he takes over Julia's special gingerbread project with Leo, matters come to a head. Piece of Work is a great read for any woman who has ever felt torn between work and home. Zigman's insightful and touching humor make the book an easy reading pleasure. And finally Julia ends up realizing that life doesn't always fit into neat categories or plans. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Contemporary books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews