Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant interpersonal drama
Review: It would seem like the perfect family living in the perfect place under ideal circumstances. But the idyllic facade masks all manner of familial dysfunction. Joyce Carol Oates has written an atmospheric story populated by regular people who happen to be caught in strange and dangerous situations. The characters are believable and fascinating as their constricted world changes. The well written, angst-laden plot belongs to the prime characters especially. A story about rape, alcoholism, exile, and loss -- it all seems too simple and easy, yet the audience will still adore the chronically impaired family.WE WERE THE MULVANEYS is a powerful relationship drama that leaves the reader in awe of the author while digesting disturbing thoughts about loved ones. This novel will leave quite a mark on the readers. The story line is superb, amusing, and quite entertaining. Anyone who relishes something unique and different in their reading material will find this bathos a top choice. Anyone who relishes a complex, realistic, soul-searching novel will want to read Oates' latest. It's a fabulous tale that shows Oates saves readers who enjoy uniqueness in their novels. Lurdane Blurber
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT WRITING
Review: There are ample reviews for this book, so I will keep mine short and sweet. I lived the terrorizing trauma of this book, and Ms. Oates's describes it so vividly, so perfectly, that I lived it once again. It was a nightmare to experience it twice. Many times I have read books with this theme, but never, ever, as precisely and horrifingly honest as this account. Superb writing that broke my spirit, and my shield from my past, and scattered me into a million pieces. Read this incredible writing if you have the strength; if not, spare yourself the agony. Brilliant but brutal.
Rating: 
Summary: Painfully boring and depressing
Review: This was by far one of the worst books I ever read, and I usually like the books Oprah picks. Somewhere inside this book was a halfway decent idea for a story, but it gets lost so fast in a waste of detailed descriptions of every character that ever had any contact with this family. I kept thinking that maybe the story would get better, get back to Marianne and what happened to her. But it doesn't, it just drags on and on about the mental unravelling of this family. I found it so totally depressing, and was happy to see that other readers felt the same way. Don't get me wrong, books don't have to be happy go lucky for me to like them, not at all. But this book has a heaviness about it that makes it painful to endure.
Rating:
Summary: Depressing, Unrealistic, Bad.
Review: What a tremendous disappointment! I must agree with other reader-critics: the book is no darn good. Chief complaints: the characters are underdeveloped and behave in ways that run contrary to what development existed for them. The story shifts from character to character, leaving huge plot lines lost in the transfer, never to be revisted. The moment one character begins undergoing change or growth, they are abandoned until the overly tidy happy ending. When you 'meet' these characters again at the end, the how's and why's of how they got there remain unanswered. It's just bad writing-- surprising from a writer seemingly so well respected and prolific. I put the book down several times out of sheer annoyance with the stylistic sence of Oates-- I finally plowed through to the end, no happier than when I had abandoned it. You're better off reading an as of yet unread Toni Morrison--an author who weaves characters around each other with far better precision and dexterity.
Rating: 
Summary: I've read better
Review: There are true stories that amaze--why tell one like this? Our book group read this and a nonfiction titled seductive poison and hands down the non fiction was better and had the redeeming quality of being uplifting. In the real world, thank God, we can still find heros and heroines.
Rating:
Summary: Why didn't I read these reviews first?
Review: I could have saved $$ and time! Like many readers, I have a hard time not finishing a book once I've started it. But in the case of WWTM, I think I'll make an exception. This is undoubtedly one of the most torturous books I have encountered in a long time. I have been speed reading to get through it...and after 2 weeks I am only on page 250!! Like others have mentioned, I have read and enjoyed several books by Oates, particularly Bellefleur. But WWTM is trivial, contrived, boring. Need I say more?
Rating:
Summary: This book makes an impression
Review: I wasn't going to comment on this book until I read other reviews, good and bad, and what is fascinating is that everyone makes some valid points. I too had thought this family's fall from grace should have been a little more dramatic. I figured the sister gets raped and the brother kills the rapist, court trials, accusations, all that good stuff. What I got was a lot more psychological than expected. It's a good book. Oates is a good writer. I have to say that the Mulvaneys reminded me of many families I've known, including my own. I know that many people thought many of the character's actions were unrealistic, but I am constantly amazed on a daily basis about the bad decisions my family and friends make. Sometimes with disasterous results. If you think the truth is relative, you'll probably like this book. If you think the truth is absolute, you'll probably hate this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Something missing here.
Review: Oates is one my of my favorite authors; her talents for storytelling and in-depth characterization are irrefutable. But something is missing here. It wasn't very difficult to convince me that this family could have some serious flaws beneath the surface of the perfect family image; we all know people like this (maybe ourselves!). As I followed the deterioration of the Mulvaneys I knew that Michael Mulvaney would die a lonely death. Although it is uplifting for a story to have a happy ending, I was not prepared for the "happily ever after" reunion in the final pages of this novel. Marianne suffered from serious depression - how could the reader believe that she married, had children (uh,oh - SEX!)without aggressive pyschological help? Or are we just to assume she received treatment in the short pages between her meeting Whit West and the family reunion? Corinne was an emotional wreck whose deep faith failed her; Patrick and "Mule" and especially Judd were shallow characters at best. The only "real" character was Michael, seriously flawed, with a "real" illness, alcoholism, who met his demise sadly but realistically. It seems Oates ran out of steam at the end, but I enjoyed the book anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Lessons we all need to learn
Review: This is a fantastic book, but I'll start out right away saying what I didn't like. I couldn't really get deeply involved emotionally or mentally in the book because it is all layed out for you! You don't get to analyze much at all, or figure anything out for yourself. However, the story lies to be so true, espically in todays society. It gives us all a slap in the face about how it may seem that we know our kids and that they trust us and we're close, but really, that's just superfacil. In many cases, that's only true when things are okay and not broken. But the minute that the surface is broken, so is the relationship. It gives us all a chance to appreciate what we have and our relationships. Oates also teaches us about the effects of rape on all family members. It's very interesting to see how different family members react. You could probably relate most of the Mulvaney family to someone you know (in your family or not). It's a great read, and I would recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best I've read in a while
Review: I have to admit some surprise at all of the negative reviews of this book. I think it is the best Oprah pick yet. I actually came home from workearly so I could curl up and finish this book. I admit I could not completely understand why the rape had such a disastrous effect on the family, but that was the whole point. Oates was showing that this family, that seemed to have this "gift for happiness," this family that had everything going for it, was actually the definition of dysfunctional. All it took was one incident to disturb that "perfection." I kept reading because i wanted to know what would happen. Would Marianne ever be able to go home? Would Patrick kill Zacahary Lundt? Would Corrine ever get past her tunnel vision and see things as they really were? Yes, it was depressing, but it was real. There are families like the Mulvaneys all over America, whether we want to admit it or not. Overall though, I thought this was a wonderful book, and I can't wait to read more Joyce Carol Oates.
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