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tyra_b's review against another edition
4.0
I flew through this book (its too hot to do anything other than sit and read!). I found Audrey to be insufferable, I could understand Karla's and Rosa's struggles with their choices in life, etc.
bamandia's review against another edition
2.0
ebook.
not sure about how i feel about this book. was it well written, yes, definitely? was it a compelling and interesting read, yes. but somehow i just couldn't get into it.
perhaps it's because the characters were so despicable...so unlikeable. it was not only difficult to relate to them, it was difficult to care about them. they were all horrible human beings. i couldn't even feel empathy for the dying man, as he was kind of a shit husband as well.
perhaps i don't get the satirical quality of this novel. i couldn't see past the awful people in it.
reviews have touted this novel a tale of self-discovery...which i see some of the characters have reached...but overall, i wouldn't recommend this book, and i'm kind of annoyed that i read it myself.
not sure about how i feel about this book. was it well written, yes, definitely? was it a compelling and interesting read, yes. but somehow i just couldn't get into it.
perhaps it's because the characters were so despicable...so unlikeable. it was not only difficult to relate to them, it was difficult to care about them. they were all horrible human beings. i couldn't even feel empathy for the dying man, as he was kind of a shit husband as well.
perhaps i don't get the satirical quality of this novel. i couldn't see past the awful people in it.
reviews have touted this novel a tale of self-discovery...which i see some of the characters have reached...but overall, i wouldn't recommend this book, and i'm kind of annoyed that i read it myself.
mikolee's review against another edition
1.0
Could not get into this book about a Jewish socialist NYC Family that goes into turmoil after the patriarch has a medical event. I think during another time I might be in to it. But the characters didn’t pull me in.
ivyphilosopher's review against another edition
5.0
I won't defend it as a great book and I see its flaws, but I nonetheless delight in it.
veronicafrance's review against another edition
3.0
Zoe Heller excels at misanthropy. It can be funny ([b:Everything You Know|1270385|Everything You Know|Zoë Heller|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg|193386]) or cringe-making ([b:Notes on a Scandal|6596035|What Was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandal|Zoe Heller|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg|6789783]) but here it just seemed to go a little too far. I felt like shaking Heller and saying, "You know, there are some people in the world who are kind and generous!". Not in Heller's world there aren't. Notes on a Scandal created a wonderful uneasiness, because I had a sneaking sympathy with Barbara while still being creeped-out by her behaviour. Here, Audrey is so horrible that you cannot imagine why her perfectly pleasant friend Jean would put up with her for so long -- or indeed why the members of her abused, dysfunctional family have not fled long ago. Even Audrey's apparently maganimous gesture at the end of the book seemed to me to be more manipulation, aimed at neatly pulling the rug out from under her enemy's feet and setting herself up (quite unjustifiably) as a saint.
I got fed up with the book after about 200 pages, but it did redeem itself later, and I'm glad I finished it. Zoe Heller writes well, is keen-eyed and waspish in her misanthropy, and she addresses some interesting issues. Most notable for me was the way that families (and particularly Audrey in this case) define their members' characteristics in infancy and are blind to any changes that happen later. So Karla is forever type-cast as a dim, pliable victim. Adopted drug-addict son Lenny is referred to by Audrey as her "baby" when he is 34, and Audrey is clearly uncomfortable with the idea that he might actually shake off his addiction and cease to be dependent on her. Heller also cleverly explores what the characters believe in and how it shapes their lives (mostly in nasty ways!).
I got fed up with the book after about 200 pages, but it did redeem itself later, and I'm glad I finished it. Zoe Heller writes well, is keen-eyed and waspish in her misanthropy, and she addresses some interesting issues. Most notable for me was the way that families (and particularly Audrey in this case) define their members' characteristics in infancy and are blind to any changes that happen later. So Karla is forever type-cast as a dim, pliable victim. Adopted drug-addict son Lenny is referred to by Audrey as her "baby" when he is 34, and Audrey is clearly uncomfortable with the idea that he might actually shake off his addiction and cease to be dependent on her. Heller also cleverly explores what the characters believe in and how it shapes their lives (mostly in nasty ways!).
cinnyminny101's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't great. I found the author's writing style engaging, but I thought there was too much build-up and then the story ended somewhat abruptly.
pris_asagiri's review against another edition
5.0
So call me a Zoë Heller fan. It's hard to describe a book that is so much fun to read when it is filled with really unlikeable people and one extremely dysfunctional family. A lot of people are divided on how to feel about [a:Jonathan Franzen|2578|Jonathan Franzen|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1357663607p2/2578.jpg]--did he write the next Great American Novel? I don't know. But what I feel is Heller wrote a story that is equal to Franzen in every way except length and possibly a more twisted sense of humor at how we humans are sublimely ridiculous. It's hard to compare in some ways as Franzen wrote a caricature of a conservative Midwest family and Heller wrote a caricature of a liberal New York family. But there were more similarities than differences in the dysfunction that exists in all families. I probably identified more with Franzen as I am a conservative Midwesterner, but I had a lot more fun with Heller.
If ever there is a need for an example to refute that women can't write "serious" books, I offer this one.
If ever there is a need for an example to refute that women can't write "serious" books, I offer this one.
jessicasophia's review against another edition
5.0
Someone described this book as a Jewish version of "The Corrections" and I tend to agree - same dysfunctional family, same self-absorbed, cold and cruel characters. Heller's writing is much funnier than Franzen's, though, and not quite as dark. I'd love to read more of Heller's work if it's as engaging as this was.