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Review Date: 5/26/2011
Helpful Score: 1
These are real people. This is not a book where everything turns out well; this is a story where life is told as it happens to most of us. Faulkner receives deserved attention as a teller of life stories.
Review Date: 9/1/2009
A fascinating study of function and disfunction in a family and community. We found the novel depressing at times, wishing the people could find a way out of their challenges, but understanding that was not possible. The characters are real and caught up in their lives from which they cannot escape. However, the novel does end on with a note of hope.
Review Date: 1/6/2018
The basic premise of the book is a surprise. The novel did not prepare this reader for the surprise. The writing style -- chapters of the novel told from various character's points of view either before or after the main event -- takes some getting used to. At the end of the book the writer comments that she sent it off to a publisher without submitting to an editor -- would that she had. It is a minor point, but there is a difference between ground and floor. Overall, we are going looking for another novel by Mary Kubica.
Review Date: 5/6/2010
well written, funny, characters well developed
Review Date: 10/22/2010
This is a well written book. The reflections of a disappearing professional are fascinating. Prepare yourself for a read that is not swift and action packed, but rather reflective and insightful.
Review Date: 9/29/2010
Helpful Score: 1
This is not a book that will let you laugh and relax. I would suggest that you not place it on your bedside table for relaxing reading before you fall asleep. I tried that and found myself reading on and on and getting more and more awake. This is a story that makes you question police methods and assumptions, that makes you question the abilities of the media to get at the truth, that makes you sympathetic with people who are accused of crimes (and sometimes publicly convicted without any trial held). Ms. Cummins, intimately involved in the story herself, does a good job of telling the story. It is the story of two of her cousins, who were murdered, and of her brother, who was witness to the crime, but accused of perpetrating the crime by police personnel who assumed rather than investigated. It is a good read.
Review Date: 9/25/2011
HAVING HEARD THE ANNOUNCERS FOR THE CUBS TALKING ABOUT HOW WONDERFUL THIS BOOK WAS, I THOUGH I OUGHT TO READ IT. HOW GLAD I AM THAT I DID NOT PURCHASE THE BOOK. IT IS NOTHING MORE THAN A SERIES OF STORIES WRITTEN BY SANTO'S FRIENDS AFTER SANTO DIED. THERE ARE GOOD BASEBALL BOOKS OUT THERE. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM
Review Date: 2/26/2012
Insights into the lives of regular people, some of whom are privileged, during the occupation of France by the German army.
Review Date: 12/14/2011
This is a great write. I had difficulty putting the book down. Spencer is a great writer, keeping my attention as he spins the story. Even though the plot is a bit out of the ordinary, Spencer tells the story in a way that makes it plausible.
Review Date: 5/6/2012
This is an essay on history disguised as a novel. On both counts it is excellent.
Review Date: 9/20/2009
Interesting coming of age story. Some of the situations defy reality; not this many adventures could happen to one person. The final episode that brings the boy to reality and life is believable, as some of the earlier episodes are not.
Review Date: 11/15/2009
This was an interesting read, but my overall impression is that it is "gossip in high places." So Ford did not like Reagan and was defensive of Chaney. That is understandable. Reagan beat him for a nomination and was not supportive when Ford ran for president. Chaney was his chief of staff and even though Chaney moved significantly to the right later and could care less about public opinion, Ford still saw him as a friend. Overall I found the book to reveal that those in high places are not different from the rest of us. They, too, are motivated and governed by petty concerns between people. I want to believe that those who lead us are different from us. This book disappoints that belief.
Review Date: 4/3/2017
Excellent story of three generations of women. Told from the youngest to the oldest, each generation holds surprises that the succeeding generation was not aware of. All three are heroic in their own way and misunderstood by the successors.
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