Scan barcode
snowmaiden's review against another edition
4.0
This book is somewhat episodic and not as good as McNeal’s later novel [b: To Be Sung Underwater|9418326|To Be Sung Underwater|Tom McNeal|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436390595s/9418326.jpg|14302658] (which I recommend wholeheartedly to everyone), but I still enjoyed my time with it very much. The story starts in the early 90’s when Randall Hunsacker is a high school student, and his life after he arrives in a small town in rural Nebraska reminds me of my own high school days. I think part of the reason I read books like this is to bring back all the things, both good and bad, that I left behind me in North Dakota.
shelfimprovement's review against another edition
4.0
About halfway through this book, McNeal describes a pivotal moment in a high school football game. His description takes a dozen pages and includes several points of view. If it were a scene in a movie, it would be in super slow motion. In many books, this would be obnoxious or trite. McNeal pulls it off. This isn't the kind of story that I would normally read, and I certainly didn't enjoy this as much as To Be Sung Underwater, but McNeal is phenomenally gifted at constructing powerful sentences and forcing his readers to feel for even some very unlikable characters.
stenaros's review against another edition
2.0
I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I had this book on my to-read list. The cover looked familiar, but I couldn't place it. I read to about page 100, and then one line caught my attention. I had read this before! After that one line, the plot came tumbling back and I decided not to keep reading. It's a good book and well written, but sadder than I wanted to experience. It turned out that I had requested this book from the library because the author wrote the short story that the movie Tully was based on.
writergirl70's review against another edition
3.0
Looking to read the backlist of Mr. McNeal as I loved "To be Sung underwater". This was a good book, full of flawed characters and irony. But I didn't love it.
cmnchls1's review against another edition
4.0
not nearly as good as To Be Sung Underwater, but I really liked it.
florapost's review
4.0
Wow. I'm not sure how I can describe this book, except to say that the characters led lives I hope I never do, but I was a very enthralled voyeur into their world. Such fierce emotions, and stark landscape, both emotional and physical. Stay tuned for Tom McNeal's new book, To Be Sung Underwater, coming from Little, Brown in spring 2011.
rachelm31f6b's review
2.0
Not my favorite book but was interesting. At first I thought it was a book about Randall...but then it became a book about Marcy(with a side of Randall)...then I think it was about Dorthy (with a side of Marcy and Randall)..then it was about Lewis and sorta Dorthy...before finishing with being about Randall and Marcy. There were ups and downs....mainly downs. Nebraskans are not hicks is what I want to say after reading this. Marcy traveled to California and was told 'I think of Nebraska as a kind of English-speaking foreign country...All that swaggering and roping and branding.' She responded 'they don't brand so much anymore.' (p242) bam take that?
mountaincitybooks's review
3.0
Well, I feel bad that I didn't like this as much as other people did. Maybe if you are from a small town, it resonates more with you? I felt like some of the details didn't mean anything to the story but were there just for the sake of detail. I wanted this to have a big finish, that all the background I was reading up to that point would come together in some way as to mean something extraordinary. I am giving this 3 and 3/4 stars, I did really love Marcy's parents and their story, even though it ended so tragically. I was turned off by the kind of person Randy began to be and that he would be friends with the guys who hung out at The Eleventh Man bar. Based on his escaping such a dreadful life in Utah, I thought Randy was destined for a better life than that. I was just left with the feeling that living in a small town, you are doomed to live a dreadful life, which I don't think is true. I think the movie Tully, which is based on Tom McNeal's short story, does a much better job of helping you see the beauty of small town living. Having my brother in the movie helps, too (grin).
jillde2a1's review
3.0
On one hand, it was a depressing, somewhat cliched look at life in small-town Nebraska. On the other hand, I liked it. There was a sweetness at the end that made the muck OK.