Camden S. (xserafinx) 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!
Catherine S. (cathienova) 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.
Kerry D. (owlandtwig) 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.
Suzanne K. (suezeeque) 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.
Rita K. (bklyn) -
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.
Kris L. (miss-info) reviewed Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 386 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
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.
Mary (grammyteach) -
Helpful Score: 1
slow and hard to get into
Kris L. (miss-info) reviewed Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 386 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
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.
Kris L. (miss-info) 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.
Amy M. (Amyaloha) 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.
T D V. (amberwench) 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.
ShawnMarie M. (ShawnMarie) reviewed Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 78 more book reviews
This book started out well, but got very boring in the end. It was also quite depressing and negative. Would be interesting to someone of Irish descent I think though.
Tamara T. 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.
Gretchen F. (MOMSBOOKS) 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.
Jennifer M. (jenmcptx) reviewed Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 32 more book reviews
Good ..bit times in the middle hard to follow but picks back up nicely.
Kathy P. (taffy) reviewed Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 120 more book reviews
The autobiography of a woman who began life as one of nine children in a poor Dublin family. It is a good Irish read.
Patricia H. (thrifter66) reviewed Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 91 more book reviews
A most unusual,but unteresting read. There were definitely parts of her story that were identifiable to the stories of many,though not all write & publish them.
Christine H. (xoxohall) - , reviewed Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 24 more book reviews
Very good.
A very open, honest memoir. Interesting view of the life of a poor, Catholic, North Dublin upbringing, and a woman's path to professional success, contrasted with personal loneliness and sense of longing realized in middle age.
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.
Hazel H. (TypicalYankGirl) reviewed Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 13 more book reviews
This book was an amazing read, one I would highly recommend to all out there, it touched my heart and soul to read Nualas words, and I connected to her story on so many levels....at one point I saw myself in her story....
Susan H. (Higfin) reviewed Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 227 more book reviews
I thought I would love this book, and I just could not get into it. She is an interesting woman and writes very well, but the story was endless and did not seem to have a clear point.
Sue K. (Bossmare) reviewed Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 306 more book reviews
I read this book after I found out the author had died recently. It was a very interesting read.
Paula W. (Paula) reviewed Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 19 more book reviews
A very good book and easy read. Lets you see into the life of O'Faolain and everything she went through.
Linda F. (EASY22) - , reviewed Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 161 more book reviews
she is an incredible woman but her story is so sad, it was difficult to read it.
Bonnie F. (harmony85) reviewed Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 982 more book reviews
A remarkable memoir.
Couldn't read this one.
Lisa G. (Lisa) reviewed Are You Somebody: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman on + 51 more book reviews
Got this as a gift and never read it. Brand new!
