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Mara Altman
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Sparkle (Kindle Single) Kindle Edition

by Mara Altman (Author),   (Illustrator) Format: Kindle Edition
3.2 3.2 out of 5 stars 98 ratings
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Last fall, newly-engaged author Mara Altman rejected the showy sparkle of a multi-carat diamond ring, and chose instead a simple, three-figure bauble. But why? There began her reportorial journey to find the true connection of diamonds to marriage -- and to love.
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  1. Print length
    38 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    March 3, 2011
  5. File size
    166 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The tradition of giving a diamond solitaire engagement ring has long been the ultimate statement of love and romance, but no sooner does newly engaged Mara Altman set her sights on a unique, inexpensive, and--gasp--muddy brown diamond ring, than she begins to doubt the decision of breaking this custom. If she doesn’t have a diamond ring, are others questioning the strength of her relationship and the depth of her love? In an almost obsessive quest, Altman seeks to discover how and when the tradition of diamond engagement rings began. Her witty insight, thoughtful observations, and self-deprecating humor lend this Kindle Single its unique luster, resulting in a modern look at the meaning behind happily ever after. --Shirley Hong

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004QOA434
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (March 3, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 3, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 166 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 38 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.2 3.2 out of 5 stars 98 ratings

About the author

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Mara Altman

Mara Altman

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Mara Altman writes about issues that embarrass her (i.e. chin hair), because she has found that putting shame on the page defuses the stigma, leaving her with a sense of empowerment and freedom. Her newest book, Gross Anatomy: Dispatches From the Front (And Back), publishes August 2018.

Over time, Mara has become progressively fearful of airplane flights, but less concerned with getting fat (in the Spring of 2010, she started to eat bacon). She feels most inspired when walking across bridges and lives the perpetual Catch-22 of not being able to go to sleep without first drinking a glass of water, but then having to get up to pee at 3 a.m. She reminds herself that things could always be worse. Then she's stuck thinking about all the bad things that could happen. And then she can't get back to sleep.

Mara has published seven best-selling Kindle Singles. Thanks for Coming, her first book, which follows her on an adventure to find her orgasm, was translated into three languages - German, Spanish and Portuguese. The book was also optioned by HBO. Before going freelance, she worked at daily newspapers both in India and Thailand and was a staff writer for the Village Voice. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine and other outlets.

Customer reviews

3.2 out of 5 stars
3.2 out of 5
98 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

SoccaDiva617
3.0 out of 5 stars disappointed :(
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2011
Verified Purchase
i like the idea of a light, quick read and enjoyed the premise of this single but i could have done without the author's crude language. i'll definitely download singles in the future, just not from this author. my sister is recently engaged and we enjoy sharing books between our kindles but i'd be embarrassed to lend this one to her.
4 people found this helpful
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Mj.creates
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and Informative!
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2012
Verified Purchase
Sparkle is a Kindle Single, I downloaded it one night when i could sleep and even though its short to begin with I was surprised that I read the whole thing. It is witty and funny and cleverly written by Mara Altman.
This is a Non-fiction read where Mara tells us about her Boyfriend and now fiance and how it all came about. It started with a simple basic boring ring, a ring most women would look at and say "are you serious?!". However, Mara was always confidant that she did not want to get married so now that the non issue has suddenly become an issue because of this simple basic ring. Mara Dives into exploring learning and researching why women want/need/get diamond engagements rings and what it means to the men that give them and the women that receive them
Naturally I found this "Kindle Single" to be quite interesting because I also just got engaged. I thought Mara's thoughts and opinions through out the book were quite hilarious and a few times I had to shush myself from laughing to hard and waking up my fiance next to me.
2 people found this helpful
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P. Chung
4.0 out of 5 stars easily equal to a magazine...
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2012
Verified Purchase
...in terms of worth that is. It's hard to rate a Kindle Single. You can't use quite the same rubric that you would for a book or for a movie. I feel like the asking price is worth half a magazine, and if I bought a magazine with two such good articles, I'd consider it money well spent.

"Sparkle" is a fun, quick, light hearted read. Altman tells her story as if you were friends sharing updates over a coffee. It's not particularly well written, and the prose won't win any awards, but if you're looking for a personal account of the engagement ring process (and it is a process), "Sparkle" is worth both your time and money.
One person found this helpful
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breachingtheweb
1.0 out of 5 stars Self-indulgent navel-gazing
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2011
Verified Purchase
The author got engaged and decided she wanted an engagement ring, then got all conflicted about that desire, did a bunch of research, and wrote this article. I like Kindle Singles, and like the author, I've always felt conflicted about diamonds and engagement rings. So I was looking forward to reading this. However, I found it to be too introspective, too New York focused, too self-indulgent and too much like that one friend we all have who wants to know if she looks fat in those pants.

I believe my negative reaction was driven in part by the product description, which suggests that the book is more about diamonds and the tradition of the engagement ring. It's really about the author, with information about the history and traditions included as context and inspiration for her ruminations. If I had approached it from that perspective, I might have enjoyed it more.
2 people found this helpful
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Derek T. Jones
2.0 out of 5 stars Fairly tedious modern dithering
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2011
Verified Purchase
The writing isn't terrible, but this sort of story has been overtold lately: a modern unmarried woman with what appears to be every advantage and a loving, willing fiance, works herself into near-paralysis with self-doubt over whether she does or doesn't want the trappings of some tradition -- in this case, an engagement ring. The foray into the origins and consequences of the artificially inflated diamond market is interesting, but not by itself weighty enough to counterbalance the rest.
9 people found this helpful
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WorkerB's
3.0 out of 5 stars Sparkle with a dull shine...
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2013
Verified Purchase
I don't want to drop any spoilers so let's just say it was an interesting read but I wanted more substance in the end. The best part...I only spent $1.99 on the Kindle version!
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LDH
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved every moment of it!
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2011
Verified Purchase
I just finished reading Sparkle and I loved every word of it. I was grinning like an idiot from ear to ear while reading it and thinking to myself, wow, this captures every single emotion I had during my own engagement. I learned quite a bit about the diamond industry and how horrifying it truly is, while also being invited into the home and life of Mara and her hilarious and incredibly relatable, relationship. It's quirky, it's weird, it's laugh out loud funny. It's for every modern woman struggling with her own identity through the process of engagement and planning a wedding. I would love to see this turned into a kindle series about the other stages of planning. Not to mention it's a bargain! Don't think twice, I promise you will be highly entertained.
3 people found this helpful
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Amber
4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet and funny
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2011
Verified Purchase
Sparkle is a fun and lighthearted look at a woman's relationship with her engagement ring, and her fight for autonomy in conformity. Speaks to a lot of modern 20 something women thinking of getting engaged- definitely helped calm down some of my untraditional ring angst.

As for crude humor and foul language, Mara has a good voice, which reads easily and sounds natural. I found her writing quite funny and nothing she wrote shocked me with it's profanity. Might be a little much for folks with a fullhouse/laugh track sense of humor, but liberated young people who don't cringe at the words 'penis' or 'coochie' should be just fine.
6 people found this helpful
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