Rating: 
Summary: Do I love it? Hate it? Want to throw it in a Dumpster?
Review: I, along with plenty of other readers, give this book mixed reviews because it's painful to read and a little disgusting (poor Delores...raped at 13, taunted to death, obese, lesbian, mom dies, placed in mental institution, divorced, emotional pain..yikes!!) I wouldn't read it again...don't read "She's Come Undone" if you like lighthearted comedies.
Rating: 
Summary: You're right...Oprah's come undone
Review: I was utterly sick when I finished with this book. I haven't felt this disturbed since I watched "The Crying Game" in college. Frankly, anyone who wishes to just stay in their own little homo-phobic world should ignore this book like the plague. I am a pretty open-minded person, but I was not prepared for many of the themes in this book. I feel like I was lured into reading something that I would have normally passed up just because Oprah liked it. After reading this book, I only felt like brushing my teeth to get rid of the bad taste in my mouth.
Rating: 
Summary: A MUST FOR ALL WOMEN
Review: As an avid reader, I often come across wonderful (and terrible!) novels. Of all of the books I have read in my life, very few deserve a five star rating--She's Come Undone is definitely deserving of this honor. Mr. Lamb tells us the story of Delores Price through her eyes, and does her story justice through incredible imagery and convincing emotional intensity. I have read this book four times, and each time, it's magesty and beauty never cease to amaze me. The only thing I wish I could change? I wish I could go back and erase all of my memory of the novel so I could experience my first reading all over again. This story changed my life. Thank you Mr. Lamb!!!
Rating:
Summary: Done With She's Come Undone
Review: Can you say sucked? I am sorry to come across as crude but this book was absolutely ridiculous. I have never read such trash in my life. I, like many others, was strung along by all the raving reviews this book received. However, to be quite honest not only is the book depressing, it's depressing that so many people could find the tremendous amount of sorrow the character faces entertaining, let alone someone to be placed on a pedalstool for inspiration. Horror after horror does not make for a very interesting plot as far as I am concerned and the book could have easily be made shorter. I only finished because I owed myself that much. I certainly echo another reader's sentiments. A waste of time, money and energy!
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Ever
Review: I loved Wally Lamb's second book, so it didn't surprise me when I picked up his first and couldn't put it down. What did bowl me over was his ability to perceive the world through the eyes of a female growing up in the last half of the 20th century. Having weathered the same treacherous journey, I can vouch for his accuracy in evoking each era, particularly the 50s and 60s - not just with references to popular culture (music, TV shows, etc.) but with small details about everyday life and the attitudes of the times. Delores may be unique and larger-than-life, but there's something of her in anyone who's ever felt unsure of themselves or frustrated with the refusal of loved ones to fill the idealized roles we've written for them. She doesn't just resist the notion that life isn't fair; she wrestles with it - almost to the death. Ultimately, hers is a story of looking for love in all the wrong places, of learning to recognize it in its many unlikely guises and to thrive on its imperfect gifts. A depressing story? Actually, it's wickedly funny. And I was glad the heroine didn't turn out to be a significant artist or world-renowned humanitarian. She could, but it would be beside the point. Delores isn't an ugly duckling on her way to swanhood; she's a woman with more defects than virtues and more bad breaks than lucky one who learns to appreciate people for who they are - including herself - and to open up to the delightful surprises that every life has in store. She's Wally Lamb's assurance that there's hope for us all.
Rating:
Summary: This Book Was My Savior
Review: I'm actually not being dramatic with that title. I picked up this book when I was in college and it saved my life. I may not have been in danger of commiting suicide but I was very much in danger of losing sight of the life I was capable of having. This book made me believe I deserved it, just like Delores starts to believe she does as well. I grew up much like Delores did, overweight, teased, with self-esteem that wasn't very high. As Delores grew and learned about herself and what her life was capable of being I learned as well. I found that each of her triumphs became mine just as each of the fears she had were often mirrored in my thoughts. I rejoiced with her, cried with her, grieved with her -- I identified with her in so many ways. I would recommend this book to anyone who is feeling as if life is never going to go their way. It's about more than being fat in a society that doesn't accept you. It's a book about the human spirit and overcoming obstacles, no matter the form they appear in. You'll cheer for Delores and you may even learn to cheer for yourself. I did.
Rating: 
Summary: a man wrote this?!?!
Review: I read with interest some of the other reviews of this book and were really surprised that they were so negative. I bought this book because an entire series of people had recommended it to me. I finished it in day or two mainly because it was such a good read. I feel that Wally Lamb very accurately described the pains and anguish of a young woman growing up, and then growing older and learning how to love herself. It surprised me greatly that Lamb was able to so accurately portray a woman throughout the course of her life; the book is very well written. Furthermore, for anyone who has ever struggled with poor body image, fat or thin, and for anyone who has ever struggled with personal demons, mental, physical or emotional and for anyone who has ever withdrawn from life for the sake of withdrawing, this book hits many nerves that exist in everyone, men and women. The fascinating thing about Dolores' journey, to me at least, was the constant flux of the people in and out of her life and how they change, whether due to no fault of her own (e.g.: her mother) or due to her own misguided attempts at what she perceives to be an ideal life. What is superbly thought-provoking in this book was the placement of pop icons in a purely negative manner-- how television slowly erodes her soul, how twinkies become her psychiatrist, how her ephiphany occurs at the infamous burger king. I have to say however, that while I enjoyed the end, the last few pages of the book left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth. I'm not sure how to improve the ending, nor do I want to ruin it but I was a little bit disappointed in it. But that's solely my opinion, obviously. This book, while it is not the eptimimy of inner feminine torment like Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, is a very insightful look into a woman's life and how she manages to keep falling down, and how she manages to keep dusting herself off and getting back up (even if this occasionally takes an eccentric psychiatrist, a swimming pool and a borderline anorexic diet).
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have read.
Review: I couldn't stop turning the pages on this wonderfully written book. Wally Lamb is an amazing writer who captures the story of this girls life where you feel apart of Dolores' life. I laughed with, cried for/with, are astonished and amazed by some of the things she does in this novel and feel for Dolores. I recommend everyone to read this book. It was one of the best books I have ever read!!
Rating:
Summary: Unconvincing
Review: The main flaw of this book was that the author was unconvincing in his efforts to write from the standpoint of a woman. I was never able to forget that the author was a man (as I was with Roddy Doyle's "The Woman Who Walked Into Doors"). The main character's language and thought process were dictinctly male in many instances. The plot was not credible. It almost seems that this book was a trial run for his later novel " I Know This Much Is True," which is an amazing read.
Rating:
Summary: MY FAVORITE ALL TIME BOOK BY FAR
Review: I read this book as a Junior in high school, I am now a Junior in college. I still look back to this book and think of it as the best book I have ever read. I can remember so many parts of it in such great detail...how many books can you do that with after so many years? Wally Lamb is by far one of the best authors around now. He grasps the inner voice of a young, troubled woman with such force and stability. It is amazing that a man wrote this book, yes, but even more amazing is that some people have been rating this book on the lower end of the scale! They must have missed most of its' meaning to rate it so low. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a good book to stay up late with...I promise you won't be able to put it down!
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