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Summary: Can you keep a secret?
Review: Delve into the secrets of a woman dealing with a failed marriage, overwhelming love, parenthood, and temptation. Forget the mystery and ethical dilemmas and just revel in the vivid descriptions of emotions and tasty details. A fine book.
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Summary: While I Was Gone's great writing helps survive boring trips
Review: I took this book with me from my girlfriend's apartment on a train trip back home, because that's what was available. I was wicked depressed it was another Oprah book, though. And I thought of the same thing that you do when you pick up any Oprah book -- dysfunctional woman, complications ensue.But I'm here to tell you -- this one ain't like that. After being utterly nauseated by Wally Lamb, I'll be fair to this author and to this book to say it was different.. I am the kinda reader who is intrigued a lot by just great writing, and the author did a suprisingly good job of keeping her characters in their own voices. There was never a real stray where you thought -- dude, you're way off track. I only noticed this because most other authors do a spectacularly bad job of it. My only problem is that the author was too one-sided -- give me someone else's view on these events. But that's kinda like complaining about the quality of the cherry on top. What's important -- the writing -- makes for an above average malt.
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Summary: A Pleasing Read
Review: Yes, I too read this book because of Oprah's pick. In this story, Jo, the happy housewife & acclompished Veterinarian has her secretive past life of living in a commune come back to haunt her. I did enjoy parts of this book by Ms. Miller. Especially the frenzied middle that made my eyes open wide! I commend her for always showing rights & wrongs & heroic measures sometimes needed in being a woman.
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Summary: Good summer read
Review: Oprah's May pick surprised and pleased me. Though the storyline is not as complex as a lot of her other selections, I thought it was a good change of pace and appropriate to start the summer with.
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Summary: Jo Was Gone, Alright!
Review: This was a really good book - except it was one of the few books I've read where I didn't like the main character. Jo has everything - a great husband, good sex, nice kids, beautiful home, great job. But she is selfish. When she was much younger, she ran away from her first husband and her mother and didn't tell them where she was - just that she was okay. Then, in her usual selfish way, she decides to have an affair with a man from her past who has really given her very little encouragement. I wanted to throttle her. But, yet the book really drew me - probably because I could completely relate to her "hippie" experiences. A book that stays with you long after you're done reading it.
Rating:
Summary: good not great
Review: I read this book last year, and was really surprised when Oprah selected it for her book club. I enjoyed reading this book, it was entertaining, but it was missing something. Like a good movie or tv show, I enjoyed it but I guess I read for different reasons. I expect more from books than entertainment. This book didn't touch me. I didn't have any of those "aha!" moments with it, didn't feel the need to note any spectacular lines or passages, didn't feel the need to call up friends and tell them, "read this book now!", didn't spend too much time thinking about it once I'd finished reading.
Rating:
Summary: Decent, but not great.....
Review: When I first started reading this book, it was interesting. The main character, Jo, was very real, and well developed. Her family was described as a typical family as well. They each had their own problems, etc. However, after the mini-climax in the middle of the book, it sort of goes downhill from there. There is pretty good material, but it's a little drawn out at times. If you're looking for a decent book to read, it wouldn't be a bad one to pick. If you're looking for a page turner.. I would probably go for a different one.
Rating:
Summary: Well it was okay........but not great.
Review: I enjoyed the moral issues raised in this book. As Oprah asked, "When is cheating, cheating?" Sue Miller handled that issue in a compelling way...in fact, I believe she left it up to the reader to decide. My only fault is that the plot wasn't riveting. Even the "shocker" at the end seemed anti-climatic and contrived to cleanse Jo of her actions rather than truly deal with the crisis.
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Summary: An excellent, hard-to-put-down book
Review: I had trouble putting down this book, and stayed up late reading. As stated on the book, Miller interweaves the past and present very well, and both are thought provoking. The interview and questions for reading groups at the end are very interesting as well. The characters, especially Jo's, are well developed. There is a certain amount of mystery that Miller develops, as well as interesting (and understandable) miscommunications. A great read that draws you in.
Rating:
Summary: A WORTHWHILE READ -- A GOOD OPRAH PICK
Review: When Oprah announced this as her latest pick, I was happy because this book has been sitting in my bookcase for over a year waiting for me to read it. I finished it in two days and was happy I finally had the impetus to read a Sue Miller offering. She is a gifted and talented writer but in this book she gives you a main character, Jo Becker, who you love at times and want to strangle at others. It's terrible to say but during the book I kept saying to myself, "what a jerk she is." I know that's not a great descriptive word but it fits. This is a character who always thinks there is something better around the corner and although she's been married for 25 years, wanderlust is lurking around every corner. While devoted at times (to animals), I found her shallow both in the way she treated her husband's profession as well as her daughters. Over the years, Jo had lived a kind of quirky lifestyle and 25 years later, an old friend comes back into her life and wreaks havoc. The unfortunate thing is that it didn't have to be this way but wonderful Jo allowed it to be. For anyone who has lived through the 60's or even thought about free, communal living and is now living in just the opposite lifestyle, you will probably find this book as page-turning as I did. I felt that I was rushing the book because I wanted to see how it would end. This is not your typical Oprah dysfunctional family book set in the South -- rather it is set in the North but a bit dysfunctional all the same. Definitely worth the read.
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