Rating: 
Summary: Engaging and triumphant--you won't be disappointed!
Review: A beached whale. This is how Dolores Price pictures herself when she succumbs to a mental breakdown at age 18. Overcome with all of what life has dealt her, she is committed to an institution and takes the first steps on the road to recovery. In his novel, Wally Lamb creates characters that seem so real, you feel like you are having dinner with them. The first character we meet is Anthony, Dolores' father. After unsuccessfully dealing with his wife's birth of a stillborn child, he leaves his family. Both his leaving Dolores without notice and his wish to make a fresh start with her create a paradox for the reader. While he captures the essence of a man who is easy to hate, the reader is also forced to confront the side of him who is crying out for his daughter's forgiveness, whether or not he may deserve it. Next, we meet Bernice, Dolores' mother. Lamb shapes her as a caring woman who has a mental breakdown and must leave her daughter to go to an institution for a few months. She is portrayed as an individual we should both pity for her inadequacies and then applaud for pushing Dolores to make something out of her life by attending college. One of her most significant acts in the novel is when sending a picture to Dolores of a flying leg that she made in therapy at the institution. While the image may amuse and confuse us, it gives Dolores strength and helps Dolores relate to her mother. Dolores keeps this painting with her as she then battles her own emotional and mental problems that are a result of both her upbringing and her rape at age twelve. It is Dolores herself whom the reader cheers on as she repeatedly overcomes adversity only to meet yet another obstacle. This is a novel of survival, and Dolores has enough spirit to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges. We also notice that even when she seems to need the most care and compassion, she is looking for ways to better the lives of others. One person whom she seems to change for the better is her hilarious grandmother. She is someone who provides both comic relief and support for her troubled daughter, Bernice, and then for granddaughter, Dolores. It becomes natural to care about what happens to Dolores as she encounters many of the issues surrounding the small tragedies of everyday life. Dealing with a dysfunctional family, coping with obesity, going off to college, falling in and out of love, confronting homosexuality and finding the road to inner peace are carefully woven together so as to evoke a powerful and lasting image of a strong and courageous woman. Dolores Price draws the reader in, and we realize after reading about her life that her journey is like the one that we will all take in life as we, too, seek happiness and peace
Rating:
Summary: Wally Lamb enhanted me into the world of Dolores Price!
Review: "She's Come Undone", is by far, the most heartfelt, sensitive, realistic and over-all best book that I have ever read. Lamb's characterization of Dorlores reels the reader into the story...I could feel her pain! I cried. This is the first and only book that could even bring tears to my eyes, let alone make me completely and utterly weep. I recommend this book to anyone who has even an iota of compassion whether you are the "sensitive type" or not, this book will create a deeper understanding of human beings for all of us. It doesn't matterifr you are over-weight or not, "She's Come Undone" will touch home, and strike a couple of nerves that may need to by touched. I know that by reading this book, myself, I have discovered a new person that was hiding within me, and I shall never judge a person or even look at a person in the same context ever again. Thank you Mr.Lamb for forever changing my outlook on life.-Nicole Bec
Rating: 
Summary: Grow up and quit whining!
Review: At least that is what I kept thinking through the
first two-thirds of this book! And yet, here
I am suggesting that reading this book is worth
somebody's while! Now, for a last third of a book
to accomplish such a feat makes it worth mucking
through the first two-thirds! I can't personally
imagine a better review!
I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Lamb's writing style and
often found it somewhat witty but that would be
far from calling this book hilarious! It is an
enjoyable read, just make sure you don't give up
until you have at least read three-fourths of the
way through!!
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely THE Best Book Ive read all year!!!!!
Review: I work for a major chain bookstore, and was reluctant to read this. . .For some reason a book that I heard about on Oprah didn't make me wanna run out to get it. Thank GOD I was wrong. Mr. Lamb has triumphed by bringing us Delores sad, but all too familiar and realistic story. From beginning to end I just couldn't put the book down. I laughed, cried and grew with Delores in the course of 400 some odd pages. Shes Come Undone is an absolute must read
Rating:
Summary: Wally Lamb has written an unforgettable book.
Review: The author of this book taps into the female experience so well that you will be astonished to learn the book was written by a man. I had to keep flipping to the back cover to convince myself. What sets this book apart from other coming-of-age tales is the existence of Dolores, the smart-mouthed, hard-luck main character. She survives rape by a neighbor she has an adolescent crush on and her mother's stint in a mental hospital by retreating into junk food and television. She takes comfort in the food, and becomes engrossed in the lives of the characters in her favorite TV shows. She enters her late teens fat, sarcastic, and unhappy. After her mother's death in a freak accident, Dolores rethinks her adamant decision not to go to college, and it proves to be a life-changing experience. Dolores is fascinating. She's bitter and sarcastic, but also bitingly funny. She'll take you from sympathetic crying to hysterical laughter in an instant. She wavers between victim and aggressor, and startles you with the depth of emotion and compassion she exhibits one second after being cruel. Lamb creates a truly original, in-your-face character in Dolores. Lamb has a gift for creating characters who pop off the page and become vividly real. His scenes are at once absurd, touchingly funny, and haunting. Be forewarned, this is by no means an easy read. It is difficult because of the depth of emotion present and the sometimes brutal life Dolores leads. It is a rewarding reading experience because it makes you think, it makes you laugh, and it makes you cry. If you can stick with this book through the hard stuff, you will come away with a different perspective on life
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading - couldn't put it down!!!
Review: This was an excellent story about one woman's struggle with identity, self-esteem, weight, and rape. You want to cry, laugh, and rejoice throughout the book. It's really amazing at how-well this male author relayed a woman's point of view. Kudos to Wally Lamb! A must-read.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it, but love hurts
Review: Go figure. After haplessly tagging along through rape, deaths, mental illness, high school and the Pysyk Twins, I was neither exhausted and depressed. And though I experienced a nagging impression that way too many incidents had been packed into one novel, I would be unwilling to give up any one of them. You want to claim them, just as you reclaim your own long-lost memories which somehow come sneaking back between the pages. Such are the word treasures Lamb creates. Just the description of Grandma's rosary, left behind for comfort after Dolores's rape, was evocative enough to bring tears. This remotely tender scene, coming late in the book, was just one of many individually crafted little events that virtually turn the pages themselves. Much has been written of this brilliant male writer who speaks so eloquently in a woman's voice....but are flattering ourselves? Are women really able to examine our wounds as coldly and boldly as the heroine of this novel does? If we faced the tragedies of our past so clear-eyed and full-out, might we not go blitheringly mad? Maybe not, Wally Lamb teaches us. Dolores survives; so can we
Rating:
Summary: Loved it, but love hurts
Review: After following Dolores through rape, death, high school and the Pysyk Twins, I was exhausted and breathless. I couldn't help feeling that just too many incidents were packed into one novel -- but don't ask me to give any of them up! Just the description of Grandma's rosary, left behind to comfort Dolores after the rape, was evocative enough for tears. By the time I reached this lovely little spot late in the book, I realized that each of the countless vignettes in She's Come Undone was just like that...full of little passions and recognition, pecadilloes and heartbreak. No one gets through this novel without dredging up some hurtful memory of our own, perhaps dormant for years. Dolores, without missing a mote of detail, guides us through her own rough terrain while somehow making us feel just a little bit luckier, saner and more capable ourselves.
P.S. The gender thing: "How can a man know of such things and write so beautifully in the voice of a woman?" we ask ourselves. But are we there yet? Few women can look as boldly and coldly at our experiences as Wally Lamb does. We're afraid: If we ever relived our own painful experiences full-on with such descriptive clarity, might we not go blitheringly mad? Maybe not. What draws women to this book is its inherent challenge: Don't look away from your memories, brush them off or set them aside, sugarcoated. Like Dolores, you'll survive.
Rating:
Summary: An absolute must read
Review: Wally Lamb has captured the soul of young women everywhere. One of my all-time favorite books; I've given copies to several of my friends, and passed my dog-eared copy on to otthers. I cried and cheered for Dolores from beginning to end.
Rating:
Summary: A very inspirational novel!
Review: There is never a dull moment in this book about a girl who faces uphill battle after uphill battle. The book triggered a myriad of emotions. It is amazing to me that a man can write such a compelling novel that is centered around a woman's thoughts. This book is definitely a page turner
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