Reviews

Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg

iceangel9's review

4.0

A wonderful story of a young girl whose father is career military. Her mother has died, her dad is abusive, her older sister wants to runaway, and Katie must decide what she wants out of life. When her father announces the family is transferring from Texas to Missouri, Katie must decide whether to run away with her old sister and her boyfriend or move with her distant, sometimes violent, father. Set in the early sixties, this is a moving story of growth, pain, loss, and the different ways people deal with grief.

canadianbookworm's review

4.0

This short novel follows 12-year-old Katie as she goes about her life on an army base in Texas. While the novel doesn't say specifically when it is set, it has got a feel of the 1950s or 1960s about it. Katie lives with her older sister Diane, 18, and her father. Katie's mother died from cancer some years ago. While her father always had a violent streak to him, it seems to have gotten worse since her mother's death. Both girls try to avoid situations that set him off, but they often can't predict what will do so. Katie often hides under her bed, having imaginary conversations with her mother to figure out things in her life. Katie also has a good friend, seemingly her only real friend, next door in a girl slightly older than her, Cherylanne. Cherylanne's mother also plays a motherly role in Katie's life, often having her over for dinner.
Diane, in her last year of high school, and with a long-term boyfriend Dickie Mack, is starting to push back. When the girls are told that they will be moving again, Diane states her intention to finish her final year, of which only a few weeks are left here in Texas, staying with another family. This results in an eruption of her father's rage, and a change in the family dynamic. When Katie discovers that Diane has plans to run for Mexico with her boyfriend, she feels the pull to leave as well.
A moving book of a family struggling with the loss of a mother, and looking for new ways to move forward. The issue of domestic violence that is present here, isn't really addressed, but that also fits with the time period the book is set in.

dashausfrau's review

4.0

Extremely impressed with how well this relatively short book captures the tone of the 50s, which so much colored the rest of the century. I love how the protagonist's friend - because neighbor kids were automatically friends, even if they didn't have much in common - talks just like a magazine & follows beauty advice verbatim.

The story addresses the nature of attachment, the lightness / burden of childhood, the serious / not spoken of problems of a family unit.

mikolee's review

3.0

Touching novel focused on young 12 year old Katie, surviving on a hot Texas military base with her older sister Diane and their violent father. Wanting for the memory of her mom and for puberty to change her life Katie struggles to be the good girl. Aching and sensitive.

littlekatlittle's review

1.0

This read like a C-student's freshman lit. assignment. I am not sure there is much more to say about this ...