A novel by Chantel Simmons
(Key Porter Books, May 2007)
A Winnipeg Free Press bestseller
A Chatelaine Best Beach Book & July 2007 Book of the Month
A Vancouver Sun Editor's Choice
Mara Brennan is about to unravel. Three days after her twenty-eighth birthday, her boyfriend dumps her, leaving her with nothing but a basement apartment, a futon and a pile of unpaid bills. On top of that, her job, working as a receptionist at a cosmetic surgery clinic, is a nightmare; her boss is a tyrant; and her best friends have gotten ahead of her in the game of life. Mara realizes it’s time for an identity makeover. She devises the OM List, a personal pathway to perfection inspired by her best friends, Olivia and Mitz, and her newfound love for yoga. But instead of finding the perfect job, getting the perfect body and cooking the perfect meal, Mara hilariously tries and fails at all the things she thinks will make her the sophisticated grown-up she wants to be.
Navigating the dueling worlds of yoga and cosmetic surgery, gourmet dinners and Frankenberry cereal, etiquette handbooks and too-helpful loved ones, Stuck in Downward Dog is Chantel Simmons’ unforgettable comic debut about how to get unstuck when you’re caught in a rut.
ADVANCED PRAISE "Quirky, endearing, wry and zeitgeist-savvy, Mara Brennan is a chick-lit heroine of the highest order. Too bad we couldn't tell Mara right from the start that her foibles are her strength, and her curvaceousness, her beauty and her zaniness are her great organizing principles. Then again, that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun. Chantel Simmons is an energetic young author with an admirably shameless sense of fun.
–Louisa McCormack, author of Six Weeks to Toxic
Chocolat magazine My little pleasures...
A first-time novelist and magazine maven on the things she loves best.
Winnipeg Free Press Reviewed by Gabrielle Giroday
The advertising slogan on Torontonian Chantel Simmons' yoga-themed chick-lit novel says it all: "It's not about getting the guy, it's about getting a life."
MY TRAGIC RIGHT HIP "I finished reading Chantal Simmons's Stuck in
Downward Dog. I got a little teary at the end, and it
was refreshing to read a chicklit novel where 'getting
the boy' wasn't the central focus of the story. I
liked how the book was more about a journey for the
character into herself versus a more stereotypical
journey into the right relationship."
Our Funny Little Bunny Blog I'm not one to write book reviews, but I had to write a short piece about this great book recommended by Nadine over at MFM. Her list has a lot of good choices and "Stuck in Downward Dog" was the first one I picked. Read more...
Upside-down and Inside-out We've been caught in all sorts of positions: On our back, upside-down and even in doggie style. And that's just during, erm, yoga class.
LOULOU MAGAZINE “Ahh, yoga. That which aligns body and spirit, and puts you in control. Unless, of course, you’re Mara — dumped, broke and working at a job she despises. No amount of yoga can stop Mara from feeling inferior to her “perfect” best friends. Can trendy duds and gourmet cooking make her feel more secure? Maybe it’s more advanced-yoga classes and yummy cupcakes she needs to feel better...”
EXTREME MAKEOVER Author Chantel Simmons explores the dueling worlds of cosmetic surgery and yoga, and finds they-re not as different as you'd think.
