Rating: 
Summary: Boring Boring Snooze Snooze
Review: This book had potential but quickly lost any fire it had from the start....I will be more careful when choosing which Oprah books I will read from here on out. I was looking forward to this book and was disappointed..big time!
Rating: 
Summary: Great literature!
Review: Sure people don't like this book...it's long, depressing, full of rich detail and is a challenging read. But that's not a good enough excuse to call this a poor book. Most of the Oprah books are easy reads. Look a little further into Mulvaney and you'll see symbolism and irony like no other. Did you not see the foreshadowing when Judd awakens in the middle of the night to see the dogs kill the deer? I wanted to smack the Mulvaney parents over the head with a spade. How dare Corinne give up on her daughter like that!
Rating: 
Summary: Probably The Most Depressing Book I've ever Read
Review: This book was SO depressing. Also,I was so upset at the way the parents treated the daughter by banishing her after SHE had been a victim. I found it especially unbeleivable thet the mother, who was portrayed as so loving and strong could turn her back on her child when she needed her most. Also,Oates style of writing in long, long run on sentences was extremely irritating.
Rating: 
Summary: We Were the Mulvaneys, a review
Review: Oates, Joyce Carol. We were the Mulvaneys. In this book, an all American family has to deal with tragedy when their daughter is raped. The book centers around them trying to come back together, after falling apart. For me, the book seemed a bit long and drawn out. The story line was great, but there were times when I found myself bored and uninterested in the dialogue that got away from the storyline. The characters were well developed and the book certainly meets the criteria of "families in crisis." Some of the actions of the parents seemed unreasonable to me, and I could not imagine a parent reacting the way these parents did, but then I have never been in their situation. I would hope that my husband and I would have a very different reaction to this situation in our family. I can't imagine parents being able to send their child away, have no contact with them, and go on with life. Although their life was certainly effected, they did not try to deal with the situation, but rather simply tried to forget it.
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling
Review: Completely enjoyed this book. Compelling & tragic. Gets you from the beginning and you just want to know all about the Mulvaneys.
Rating:
Summary: "We Were the Mulvaneys" is a masterpiece!
Review: I have to say that I'm often disappointed with the reactions to various books by American readers. For instance, I still can't understand why books like "Bridget Jones' Diary," John Grisham's books, and "The Ya Ya's" are so successful and have so many people gushing over how good they are. Those books are so superficial! I LOVED "We Were the Mulvaneys." I feel that every main character was very well-developed. I certainly did not agree with the parents' actions, but that doesn't mean they didn't react in a realistic way, especially given the time period and their background circumstances. Joyce Carol Oates did a wonderful job in not only developing the characters, but also in describing the setting. I could feel the wind of High Point Farm, and smell the animals. Yes, the plot may have moved too slowly for John Grisham fans, but to me, every detail was essential to the story's unfolding. Many reviewers get mixed up in distinguishing between what the characters do and the author's writing ability. But one doesn't have to approve of how Mike Sr. behaves to appreciate Joyce Carol Oates as a masterful writer. I loved this book, and I miss it already!
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not quite the old Oates
Review: I read "We Were the Mulvaneys" long before it was selected by Oprah. I have been an Oates fan for some time, and have enjoyed her writing. I think her best work was her earliest. The 1969 National Book Award Winner, "Them," was a tremendous book. The prose for that book was very balanced, with just the right amount of detail/descriptions. Her short stories are written very well. She is a writer who focuses on family life, the violence that often plague families, and the harsh environments Oates' characters struggle in, and try to cope with. I think "We Were the Mulvaneys" touches on many different levels of the human condition: how people react to their mediocrity and failures. However, as many of us have found by reading Oates, her details often over-shadow her aim for the story. I don't think one can say she is a boring writer by any means! You think "We Were the Mulvaneys" has too many details, try reading the enriched prose of "My Heart Laid Bare." I recommend "We Were the Mulvaneys" because of the author, not so much of the story (although it is interesting). It is not one of Oates's best books; she does offer, however, if one is willing to read slowly and enjoy the details, a novel about a good family reacting to the cruel realities that so many of us experience. Great writers do not desperse themselves for public grand!
Rating:
Summary: Awful
Review: I wish I had read these reviews before I wasted my money. I don't think I'm that demanding, but whew! I am on page 153 and can't force myself to go further. Life is too short. I am vaguely interested in how the family handles the crisis, but can't wade through the inconsequential stuff. Get to the point! I am waiting to see what happens. Read Jodi Picoult instead for some great reading.
Rating:
Summary: The wost novel I've ever read
Review: The book developed the characters and the setting well but the book had absolutely no climax. Basically it was a literary stream of consciousness with half of its content being irrelevant tangential information. I threw the book in the trash when I was done with it.
Rating:
Summary: Raising Marianne
Review: To begin, I will not repeat the plot of this book as it has been summarized by other reviewers. The central issue of the book is is Marianne's removal from the family. I feel that a precedent was set in Michael Sr.'s family because of his own father's rejection, and I could understand him to some degree, but I had real problems with Corinne. What on earth would motivate a mother, so willing to send her daughter away? Could she not have become Marianne's advocate and argued with her husband that sending their daughter to some distant relative would be perceived by Marianne as blaming the VICTIM? Was she, with all her Christian beliefs, not very Christian, in a practical sense,at all? I understand her devotion to and love for her husband, but she seemed to have no mind of her own, no backbone in this affair. As a person with such religious devotion, here was her moment to practice her faith and she failed to protect her daughter. I feel that Oates cleverely exiles Marianne in one of the shortest chapters in the book, thus emphasizing the amount of time it took to make and carry out the expulsion. Further, she beautifully draws Marianne after her exile as an incomplete, childlike, and confused being, stuck emotionally at the age of her tragedy (the rape AND the removal from the family which could have supported her and help her grow more surely into a woman). Other issues which concerned me were the excrutiating detail of every aspect of the Mulvaney Family from where they sat at the dinner table to where they put their mail each day. I get the picture: They were Perfect. I also agree with another reviewer that the end was like an unrealistic return to this idealized version of a family. How did they heal so well and so quickly? They knew eachother so little, in fact not at all. All in all, WWTM is a well written, complex book, both thought and conversation-provoking. I recommend it to anyone in a book discussion group.
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