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Summary: You know all these characters!
Review: I read this book in about 5 days - not an easy feat with four kids! You got so emotionally involved with each of the characters. Terry McMillan writes just like the way my family talks and acts! You will feel like you could be reading about your own family life! There were definitely some laugh-out loud parts and some break-down crying parts too. Excellent read!
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Summary: For Anyone Who Has a Brother or Sister...
Review: "A Day Late and a Dollar Short" does start off a bit slow -- you have to take the time to get into the heads of six different family members, each one writing a chapter in his or her own voice. But once most of them gather together in Vegas to aid their mother Viola, recovering from a severe asthma attack, all heck breaks loose and the book takes off... the characters come alive off the page very well, and you WILL care about them. The ending of this one seems a bit better than "Stella" or "Exhale" -- in those books, it seemed like McMillan just stopped writing, whereas with this book, you get much more of a sense of "completeness". Have a small box of tissues handy for this really terrific read...
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Summary: Excellent!
Review: This is Terry McMillian's best work since "Mama." I took this book with me on a recent trip to the People's Republic of China and for 15 hours and 24 minutes, I did not realize I was flying half way around the world! I could not put this book down. "Day Late" is vintage Terry McMillian. It is well worth reading and passing it on to your best friend. I can't wait for the movie!
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Summary: WHEN is the movie coming out??!!!
Review: This is the Terry McMillan that I miss! "Mama" was my absolute FAV by her and now I am torn! I am not sure if "A day late and a dollar short.." surpassed the classic "Mama" by now or what! You will LOVE this book! It made me laugh out loud on the train on my way to work....CRY at the hair salon....This is truly a WINNER.....One thing that she definately captured was the LOVE of family, in spite of their flaws....because we are after all, not PERFECT!
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Summary: A look at the dynamics of family relationships.
Review: Terry McMillan's long awaited novel is a page-turner indicative of her style of writing. Her fans will not be disappointed.Viola Price is the matriarch of the Price family. She finds her self on the verge of her fiffy-fifth birthday separated from Cecil, her husband of thirty-eight years who is courting a woman young enough to be his daughter, and worrying about her four grown children. Paris, the overachieving, wealthy oldest child, can't find a man and won't admit she is lonely and a fat bank account just won't fix things. Charlotte has issues that go beyond middle-child syndrome and is forever trying to compete with and live up to Paris' standards. Lewis, the only male child, can't keep a job, is in and out of jail, and spends his days drinking and dreaming about patenting his many inventions. And Janelle, the baby of the family is a career student and a home wrecker who cannot see what his happening to her daughter before her very eyes. And Viola wonders what they will do without her guiding them. All in all, this book makes you sit back and think? Are these traits in my family? Where do I fit in the dynamics of the relationships of siblings? How strongly do circumstances as a child effect your family and marital relationships later on in life? I felt the "We are family, got all my sisters with me" ending was a little too pat, but Terry has characterizations down like no other. She's still the queen of pop fizz.
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Summary: A Day and A Dollar
Review: Now THIS was a good book! I stayed up until 3:30 in the moring to finish this book. I think this is the absolute BEST book Ms. McMillan has EVER written. Mama and Disappearing were good, but by far, this is the best. It is written with such honesty, realism and humor, you can't help but to be drawn into the story. However, the angry and sad parts are just as powerful. By the end of this book, I had to keep stopping to wipe my eyes (it's a little hard to read when you're crying). Anyone with family issues, and with at least ONE sibling needs to read this book. You know these people. Either in your own immediate family, extended family or your friend's family. Whatever the case may be, you know them and they really touch you. You may even recognize shades of yourself in a character or two! I don't want to give any of the story away, but I do want to urge any- and everyone to please read it! Viola, the mother, was a card. I liked how the story began in the voice of one parent and ended in the voice of the other. Also, reading the story in the voices of all the characters, chapter by alternating chapter, was a great way to get an insight into this family's dynamics. After reading this book, I am sure it will make a lot of people look at the dynamics that exist in their own families. What the four kids went through after an event involving Viola, I could totally understand, having gone through the same thing myself. That feeling of unfinished business and not being ready, no matter how old you are, to stand on your own two feet without your mother's guidance and being forced to reevalute life in general and your life in particular. The learning that in a blink of an eye, everything that is safe and comforting can change, whether you're ready for it or not. Oh yeah! This book truly touched me. Had me nodding, smiling, laughing out loud, sniffling and sometimes downright crying. In closing, I want to say to Terry: Thank you for this extraordinary piece of work! Girl, you got it right this time. THIS is the Terry we had come to love and respect. Waiting to Exhale and Stella, while being pretty good, can't begin to compare to this. Thank you for a job, and a story, very well done!
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Summary: I KNOW THESE PEOPLE!
Review: Anyone reading this book will be able to identify someone they know (if not themselves) out of the many characters in the book. The book started out for me slow as the characters were being introduced and developed. I kept reading because the book is just too darn long not to start picking up. That's exactly what happened. The authenticity of the characters kept me reading because I could relate so easily to this family. The last five chapters had me glued to the book. The last three left me emotionally spent and yes I did shed tears. Dysfunctional families: we all have them. This book was worth the wait for Ms. McMillan.
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Summary: Great Book
Review: "A Day Late and a Dollar Short" was a fantastic novel. I was mesmorized with the characters and completely shocked when the mother Viola died. I cried through the whole thing. I think this one is the best yet and Toni Morrison should keep up the good work. This book really hit close to home and that Viola I tell you she's one sassy character.
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Summary: Another Great One from the Queen!
Review: Terry McMillan's new book was quite an adventure in families. You will see lots of people you know in that book! It starts out with narrative from the matriarche of the family Viola. You will laugh and cry with this family. At first I was wondering why Ms. McMillan didn't give the name of each narrator at the beginning of each chapter. After getting through several and identifying them myself, it was obvious why. You get to know the characters. You move in with them and feel their joy and pain. I was sorry when it ended. Reminds me of one of her first books, "Mamma". Great reading!
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Summary: McMillan Does it Again
Review: This book was great, there were no slow moments, it just barreled along. The characters were so real, dealing with a lot of issues that come up in not so perfect family. But, I loved the conclusion to it all. It made me laugh and cry, reminded me of a lot of women and men in my own family. It was like Terry McMillan had been at one of my family reunions.
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