Reviews

Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro

katiegilley's review against another edition

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5.0

I adore Dani Shapiro's voice and can't wait to read more by her. Earlier this year I read her memoir called Devotion, which chronicled a spiritual crisis that she was experiencing. Inheritance was the perfect follow-up to Devotion.

This was another book that reminded me that we all go to the grave with secrets that have the potential to rock the worlds of our children and families - make them question everything they thought they knew. What incredible lives we live!

elleriekaren's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective sad fast-paced

3.5

dunder_mifflin's review against another edition

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2.0

I really enjoyed the first half, then it went downhill. Once she found Ben Walden, everything fizzled out. There was no further mention of her half-brothers even though she seemed very interested in her half sister. She was repetitive, it got boring, nothing really happened after finding out who her 'father' was. I would go on, but other (quite negative) reviews have covered my main points.

darcys01's review against another edition

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5.0

Compelling read. Thought provoking.

fbroom's review against another edition

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I love Dani Shapiro's writing and I read this till the end. However this book was not meant for me. I just couldn't sympathize for what was happening. I felt that the whole thing was overly dramatic. I just shouldn't have picked this one. I read this till the end though because I just like her writing style.

angelsrgorgeous's review against another edition

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5.0

Wow - so much so emotion adequately put into accessible language. Thank you.

khornstein1's review against another edition

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4.0

At times indulgent and written from a very privileged point of view (some of us search our ancestry only to find drunk shepherds as Laurie Anderson once said), this book contains some superb writing, on a par with and similar to Joan Didion's. Some of it reads like poetry.

msilkwolfe's review against another edition

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5.0

Don’t even know where to begin with talking about this book, besides that Dani Shapiro’s writing is absolutely exquisite.

alidottie's review against another edition

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4.0

I found this story fascinating. I have never read a story about someone who finds out they were conceived with donor sperm in the early '60's. This story probably had the best possible outcome which probably made me enjoy reading about it. This could have been a totally depressing read. With today's insights into DNA there are sure to be so many more stories like this one and I think I will be fascinated again and again.

Also, I found it interesting when the author said she is an INFJ on the Myers-Briggs personality test (introverted, intuitive, feeling, judging) which she said is a category that makes up less than one percent of the population—I am an INFJ also!

mfontana06's review against another edition

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5.0

This book was fantastic! I loved listening to the author describe how she went about exploring her revelations. She's a very engaging writer.