Rating: 
Summary: Terrible Negative characters..Doomsday writing..
Review: Characters all negative..book fizzled out at the end..nothing said about the 2 sons and their problems..and how they were helped..only daughter entering college..but with what money when mother was without monies..book just didnt hold up..only sorrow and misiry all the way through..very depressing to read..won't read any more of her books
Rating: 
Summary: A Long Journey Worth Taking and Enjoying a Page at a Time
Review: As a writer, I admit that I wouldn't have handled the English language as Mary McGarry Morris does from time to time in her book "Songs in Ordinary Time." There were more than a few passages that lost me, even after reading them two or three times slowly. And it was difficult to get into the book and keep all of the many characters straight until I knew them better.But there were also times when Morris handled the language beautifully, perfectly capturing sensations and feelings only I thought I'd experienced. And there were often times when Morris's language was nothing less than poetic. As the pages turned, it was a pleasure to take a few moments to see what was happening with the very real people she develops. I am in awe of Morris's achievement in writing this book. The considerable work she put in it is obvious. "Songs" is a long book, with a very rich, deep, and poignant story to tell. But like most things in life, the process of getting to the end should be what's honored, and not just getting the damn thing over with. Furthermore, there's been some criticism that there's too much yelling in the book -- Marie is always after her children, screaming at them, making them and the reader crazy in the process. But there are a good many families out there where this happens, mine included as I was growing up. The yelling is realistic, and often a sign that there are some very frustrated, bitter parents dealing with some big issues in their lives. I found Omar to be a very well-developed character, with lines of dialogue Morris handled brilliantly; I was never disappointed in how Omar always got himself out of his predicaments and lies. You would almost think that Morris personally knew someone like him in order to depict him so realistically. I also feel most readers find his story to be very tragic, even though it's of his own making. My hope is that when Oprah covers Morris's book this fall on her show that she spends more time talking about what happens in the book and less on the strength and power of women. It's obvious that, despite what happens to Marie, she is a strong and admirable woman, who is able to hold a very difficult family like hers together. I would ask Oprah to talk to Morris about where these characters came from, and how difficult it was for her to write this book. There's a powerful woman's story to be told right there. For those of you who haven't read this book yet, by all means do so. You won't regret it
Rating:
Summary: What a depressing book!
Review: The writing here is basically good (or I wouldn't have finished it), but the characters and stories are SO depressing, I'm sorry I spent so much time reading it. At times I felt like I was reading someone's classroom assignment to explore characters in depth. I know that not every story has a happy ending, but I kept hoping for some sort of redemption for any of them, especially Marie, and it never really came. I've generally enjoyed the books Oprah selected, but this was a real downer -- I never felt like I "connected" with this book
Rating: 
Summary: slow moving, but interesting
Review: When I first started reading this book, I thought Oprah was out of her mind. It takes awhile to get anywhere..and I am still not sure where it went..the only part of the book I enjoyed was the relationship between Marie and her children. I felt everyone's frustration. I wished that Marie hadn't been so gullible
Rating:
Summary: Ordinary time is the life between crisis and celebration.
Review: As her invisible companion, Mary McGarry Morris takes us into the lives of single mother Marie Fermoyle and her family in small town 1960. Morris' gifted use of omniscient point-of-view enables us to see through the eyes of each character, feeling their ache and suffocating on their fear as they trudge through daily desperation. There are no incidental characters in this story. Everyone has a perspective, everyone is important; just like in real life. We walk with them through the secret fear each experiences in a unique way and join the struggle as each searches for a way out. There is no map for this journey for no one plans to go here. What surprised me about this novel is that it is about a desperate single mother and her dysfunctional family, the kind of woman we take for granted and pity but don't generally want to identify with or glamorize. The ordinary strength of everday women is shown here and it's about time
Rating:
Summary: Wow! A literary novel in the 1990's!
Review: I LOVED this book! I am amazed by the reviews of people who just apparently don't get it. I think we so rarely see a book of this caliber, and most people are so conditioned by the Grishams, Steeles, Krantzs, etc., they don't recognize a masterpiece when they see it. I lived in Atkinson with these people, even though they are as far from my life as can be. I was completely engrossed while on the beach at Maui, ignoring all the scenery around me. It was like reading Thomas Wolfe or Theodore Dreiser. The beauty is in the journey, in the unfolding
Rating: 
Summary: THIS is a NY Times Best-Seller???
Review: I am disappointed, to say the list, that this book reached the NY Times best-seller list and has maintained a #1 position for as long as it has. It is a slow-moving, boring, overly-long book centered around a group of very shallow people. Couldn't this have been done in a LOT fewer pages?
The only reason that I made it to the end was because I was reading it while riding in a car, without another book in sight!
Rating:
Summary: Boring. Very ordinary, struggle to read
Review: Uninteresting, shallow characters who are rather stereotypical. No great shakes, which is okay, but I thought there would be more character development. Too many flowery descriptions, but no real insight to characters, who they are, what they want, etc. It's a character driven story, with no character development
Rating:
Summary: It was so good, I read it in 48 hours.
Review: This book showed me how tenuous things really are. I also see that the 6 degrees of separation rule is well noted here. Ms Morris is an excellant story teller. I was so engrossed, My Husband and child said I dissapeared right into the book
Rating:
Summary: One of the most enjoyable books I have read in recent times
Review: Hey out there! I haven't finished this book, but I am loving it so much, I wanted to tell you. The characters move right into your home; you know Marie is going to get conned by Omar, but you can't put the book down. No, Marie! Don't let it happen! But, it will. Then what? Read this tantalizing tale to find out - I don't know! I haven't finished it yet! The only bad part - it will end someday! Beautifully written, mesmerizing, and just wonderful
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