The New York Times has called Christine Lavin "A garrulous comic observer of contemporary manners." Lavin lives in New York City when not on the road, and alloys a sweet, delicate voice with pop-jazz based acoustic folk to produce subtly witty musical commentaries. I Was In Love With A Difficult Man is the sixteenth album by Lavin, solo, and with 4 Bitchin' Babes. Lavin's humour is centred on smiling at your own lifestyle. In Boston, you may be nodding your head in agreement. On the Yakima Reservation, you might be thinking, "I saw that on TV!"

Many of the songs on I Was In Love With A Difficult Man are so interesting that they are as impossible to escape as wind chimes. You can either smile in agreement at the mild wackiness or lash out, "Which America is that, Christine?" One neutral song is "Wind Chimes." A tropical night on a hotel balcony, a white sand beach, the faint sound of wind chimes...wind chimes that become relentless. "Making Friends With Grey Hair" is about that journey we all take in our 40s. First Christine lets her hairdresser frost her hair, but then decides she will accept it, along with the wrinkles and extra pounds. She can use that money for a cruise...then she takes off her glasses, and there are no more wrinkles!

She sings a story ("Jack And Wanda") about a two senior love-birds toasting their monthly anniversary in the airplane. Lavin has chosen a single life, but these old folks are really inspiring. With,"Trade Up" she's at a party, and they're drinking decaf cappuccino. (out here we drink Full Sail Porter or heavy duty espresso!), and the conversations aren't really fun, they're just advantageous. On "Looking Good On Paper," a love affair with a married man drags on for years in third person. She walks out. You think this sort of thing won't happen to you. In the next paragraph a love affair begins to drag on for years in first person. What a neat gimmick!

Lavin does has a strong lyrical ability to recreate culture. I thought, however, that the many of the lives portrayed here were not really like mine, that I might as well be watching an interesting movie about Nepal, so I couldn't laugh too much about my own lifestyle. The arrangements on the songs are effective and unobtrusive, except for the incessant wind chimes. Backing musicians were selected with care and include Suzy Roche and Heather Eatman.

Also included on the album is a song about the firemen who died in 9-11 called "Firehouse," reflecting the impact of the Big Crash on an ordinary neighbourhood in New York.