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Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman
Are You Somebody The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman
Author: Nuala O'Faolain
One of nine children born into a penniless North Dublin family, Nuala O'Faolain was saved from a harrowing childhood by her love of books and reading. Though she ultimately became one of Ireland's best-known columnists, her professional success did little to ease her loneliness and longing for a deep connection to the world. Are You ...  more » distills her experiences into a wisdom that can only come from an obstinate refusal to shrink from life.
ISBN-13: 9780805089875
ISBN-10: 080508987X
Publication Date: 2/17/2009
Pages: 224
Edition: Second Edition
Rating:
  • Currently 2.7/5 Stars.
 3
2.7 stars, based on 3 ratings
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

 xserafinx avatar reviewed Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 78 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
The book didn't grab me in the beginning... but, I'm glad I persevered. It is an amazing account of "any woman's" life! I am so glad I didn't give up on it! Definitely worth the read!
reviewed Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 4 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
This is a deeply affecting yet not always coherent inner story. O'Faolain has a strong point to make about loneliness and the modern woman.
bklyn avatar reviewed Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 129 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
We read another of her books - My Dream of You - in our book club. That led me to buy and try to read this earlier book - Are You Somebody? - by this author. I lost patience with this one, and gave up after about 40 pages. Other readers obviously didn't agree with me as this book was a NY Times Best Seller.
reviewed Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 3 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Some small parts of the book were interesting, but overall really boring. Too much introspection and dragging on and on about some things so that after a while you didn't care. I wish she had written more details about her childhood, describing the everyday life of poverty and dealing with the oppression of the Catholic schools and the church in general.
owlandtwig avatar reviewed Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 30 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I found this book to be really boring. I initially really enjoyed the first few pages, but the author jumped around so much, I found the book confusing. She would start talking about something from her past, switch to some other point in time, and than jump back. It was only a little over 200 pages, but felt like it was 800 pages. By the end of this memoir I found the author downright irritating in her lack of self-esteem. I wanted to yell at her to get a hobby & stop whining. I realize she has been through some very very hard times in a dysfunctional family, and there are moments of clarity where I found the writing style quite fluid and beautiful. However, this book couldn't end soon enough for me.
Read All 28 Book Reviews of "Are You Somebody The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman"

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 bookaddict avatar reviewed Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on
I just wasn't as captivated by this book as I wanted to be. Well-written, but rather dry, and the events did not seem to justify a book. It's nice to hear the Irish woman's voice, instead of the constant Irish man's paean to Mom (who was too damned busy to dwell on her own life, and didn't have the time to write it down herself). Still, I prefer those to this one. It wasn't unpleasant to read, but I didn't find it very satisfying.
MOMSBOOKS avatar reviewed Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 64 more book reviews
This book hits many chords of resonance with women who were raised in dysfunctional families.A sometimes painful coming of age of a very intelligent Irish woman.
reviewed Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 34 more book reviews
This was a great book. It was great getting to hear about a life in Ireland during that time period.
Amyaloha avatar reviewed Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 31 more book reviews
Couldn't get through it. Pretty rare for me, too self self indulgent. Boring. Could have been timing but my sister agreed.
amberwench avatar reviewed Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 26 more book reviews
Humour from a time of sorrow. A good read, but Nuala's second book "Almost there" is better.
miss-info avatar reviewed Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 386 more book reviews
This could have been called Sex and the Irish Girl. It starts with her hormones in the teenaged years and ends plaintively wishing she was not too old to attract men any more. The rest covers the despressing effects of being raised by an absentee father and alcoholic mother. The author does a LOT of name-dropping, but since I didn't know any of the names, some of the paragrahs simply read as lists of people. Uninteresting and uninspiring.


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