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Women's Fiction
She's Come Undone

She's Come Undone

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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: She's Come Undone-Who Wouldn't? A Life's Journey
Review: This is an account of a journey thorough life's many hurdles and victories. The book is interesting and very readable-a lot happens to Delores Price in these 460 some pages. None of Wally Lamb's narrative is tedious or boring. If anything, TOO much happens to Delores, much more than she herself can deal handle. This book's initial chapters seem easy going with their reminiscences that include 1950s memorabilia and the description of a hilariously delicious parochial school triumph over bullies that will make you laugh out loud. Shortly thereafter, the book takes very somber turn and then continues in this serious tone to its ending. . At that point one can clearly identifiy this as an Oprah selection, the story of an individual person dealing with the many hurdles of a tumultuous and difficult life.

The crises presented to Delores over thirty some years include parental abandonment (deliberate when her father moves in with a girlfriend and non intentional, when mental illness overwhelms her mother ), rape (by a family "friend "), social isolation (unpopularity in high school and college), lesbian seduction (by a sympathetic fellow victim of social isolation), spousal infidelity, abortion (of a child she really wants) , divorce, and infertility. Five people close to her die during these years. Delores fails to cope successfully with the multitude of problems and dilemmas she faces. Instead she escapes into compulsive behaviors including overeating and vicarious living through television . She succumbs to obesity, depressive mental illness, and carries out a serious suicide attempt. With all these crises one might suspect the novel would be in danger of degenerating into a sobby soap story. That it certainly does not become. Wally Lamb holds our interest in Delores. She is a survivor. Delores faces some trials with which we can all identify. We want Delores to find happiness. We root for her to win those battles with depression and weight control. The failure of her first marriage which was based on fantasy, deception, and compromise on her part is no big surprise. We want to see her find a good solid relationship with the opposite sex.

The novel will bring back memories of the 50',60s,70s and 80s with its allusions to familiar memorabilia from those days for the older reader. Quotes from lyrics we all know from many familiar catchy classic tunes are woven into the fabric of the narrative. Significantly the author never quotes another familiar and very depressing tune from those times about an individual faced with some terrible tribulations who sings " Is that all there is ? Is that really all there is to life?" A happy ending and a generally upbeat and fighting attitude on the part of the heroine keep the events in this novel from overwhelming and depressing us. Highly recommended as a reading experience.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Emotional and Captivating
Review: I was stunned to find out half way through the novel that Wally
Lamb is a man --- WOW - he is right on target of the emotions and experiences young women go through. I started this book and could not relax until I was finished - I fell completely into its story and world. Delores represents every woman at some point in her life -- we all know her, relate to her, and I see her in every women I pass on the street.
I throughougly enjoyed every page - I would reccommend it to anyone and everyone. It is a true pleasure to find a book that gives you so much - it was an emotional rollercoaster and I loved every minute of it!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: She was rude!
Review: I gave "She's come undone" Four stars because at times I didn't like dolores, like when she was rude for no reason. It amazes me that a man wrote this book, He knows so much about women. This book is excellent, theres a little bit of everything in it. Read it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SOO GOOD
Review: You HAVE to read it.... i have nothing else to say except that :)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: my favorite book! EVER!
Review: I read this book when i was away in prague and feeling miserable and depressed and home sick and i laughed for 5 days as i read this book and skipped my study abroad classes to find out what teh hell dolores price was getting herself into. I LOVE HER. this book is so great. the writing is maginificent and i wish i could grab her and be friends with her. thats when u know its a good book when the main character is soo very very human.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Loved it, want more
Review: This was the first book I read that was recommended by Oprah Winfrey and I must say...I LOVED it! Being an avid reader, I am always looking for books that capture my attention right from the beginning. Well, this did it. Wally Lamb has a writing style that brings all the characters to life and I was actually able to see myself in this book. Definitely a keeper!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Shes Come Undone is Incomparable
Review: I first wanted to read this book because one of my favorite singers had sung its praises. I finished reading it within 3 days of picking it up from the library. Very few books that I've read were able to keep my attention page by page. Many people are surprised to learn that the author is a male, because he portrays the main character, Dolores Price, so accurately and realistically. I would recommend this book to anyone, no matter what gender, race, age or background. Lambs skillful writing appeals to all the senses, with each word he creates a flood of imagery. In the most subtle ways he makes you relate to Dolores, you find yourself wanting to be her friend, you find yourself laughing at her sarcasm. It seems like we all know someone like Dolores. I also really liked how Lamb covered different times in her life, spanning from a young 8 year old, to a 40 year old woman. You witness her emotional rollercoasters as they happen. A lot of traumatizing events occur in her life, some of them she overcomes, and some of them she just runs away from. All in all though, I think this book, although sad at times, is very well written and easy to get lured into. If you haven't read it, you definetly should

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: WOW
Review: I had to give this book only 4 out of 5 stars because the beginning of it (meaning the first 200 pages or so!) was so profoundly disturbing to me. Like so many others, I am astounded that a man can so accurately depict a woman's experience. I just read a review of this book from a reader who seems angry at the exaggeratedness of Dolores's character, at the fact that she has so many problems and experiences so many tragedies. Not surprisingly, this reader is male. ... And the intensity to which we feel these things is something Lamb clearly understands.

What I appreciated MOST about this book was the exaggeration that is Dolores. She goes through many things that many women do, in fact, go through to some degree--broken home, loneliness, eating disorder, relationship disappointment--only 50 times worse. At first, this brought back many memories of my own past and was so disturbing that I started feeling insecure. But once I reached a certain point in the book, and things started looking up just a bit, I felt elated. Her struggles are my struggles, and the struggles of so many women, to a greater degree. I am amazed at Wally Lamb's insight.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing
Review: I had been meaning to read this book for a few years, when i found myself alone in Europe, looking for something to do on evenings home. I bought a copy of the book and fell fully and hopelessly in love with it. For all the hardships and trauma befitting Dolores Price's tale, i am still left with a feeling of hope for the human condition. As depressing as it can get, it leaves you with an appreciation for human kindness and the value of friendship.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Lamb's POV is on right on target.
Review: The actress best known as "Pat" on "Saturday Night Live" got it right when she said she was in awe of Wally Lamb. Lamb must have either a) been a woman in a previous life, b) been raised by a strong female community, and/or c) developed a helluva good ear for listening to people's dialogue. Whatever the reason, his portrayal of a young woman is sharp, respectful, and at times hilarious.

We follow Dolores Price from early childhood, filled with the usual suburbia dysfunction, to adolescence, filled with the usual parent-child tensions and sexual confusion (including sexual trauma), to adulthood, filled with more unusual than usual marital, social and personal conflicts. Don't let the heavy use of "usual" here fool you; Lamb has crafted a character who honestly and painfully chronicles her life as a child of divorce, a grossly overweight adolescent (at this point I was strongly reminded of Margaret Atwood's Lady Oracle), and an adult who pursues a sense of self-worth via people who really don't deserve someone so wonderful--particularly her selfish husband. Definitely check out the scene where Dolores discloses to her husband that she spent the better part of her college years stalking him, long before she ever met him in person and married him.


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