Rating: 
Summary: Most depressing book I've ever read
Review: This book is well-written, but it contains the most difficult, depressing subject matter I have ever encountered in a fiction work (and I've read a few). By the time I got finished reading it, I actually felt like I'd lived in some story that would be on the news. I haven't read any of Oprah's book recommendations since. (Sorry Oprah.)
Rating:
Summary: Horrible.
Review: This book is not a nice, relaxing read. It is not uplifting. I read the book after the Oprah review aired and now I wish I could see it again to find out what it was people liked about it. I am so relieved to read reviews on this page that agree with me. Not all, but some. How about a "0 stars" option? I have learned that Oprah and I do NOT have the same taste in books!
Rating: 
Summary: Good writing, unbelievable characters
Review: Jane Hamilton is a gifted writer. I'd like to see what she could do with creative nonfiction. I guess this book suffers from my having read it soon after All Over but the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg, a wonderful true account of struggle and hardship in a less privileged corner of the world. I simply could not believe in Ruth. Usually it takes a bit of education and a wider view of the world to arrive at her secular humanist insights.
Rating: 
Summary: It was too violent and full of hatred.
Review: This book was very disturbing! The language was quite harsh, as was the emotional and physical abuse. In one particular case, the violence came to a head and was so full of evil and hatred that it was hard for me to forget. If you are of a sensitive nature, do not read. If not, then you have been desensitized to harsh brutality.
Rating:
Summary: PLEASE GIVE ME MORE ADJECTIVES TO DESCRIBE MY FEELINGS
Review: This book was very well recommended to me by friends and, by it's title, made me look forward to reading it. Well, I have been misled by the book title and the recommendations I received. I consider myself very well read and found it very hard to read. Please don't purchase this book unless you have many, a lot, mucho, mass, gobs of time to read this neverending story.
Rating: 
Summary: Dysfunction is a life-style choice, not an inheritance
Review: In a beautifully executed, almost hilarious, but most definitely bittersweet novel, Ruth Hamilton has demonstrated that Dysfunction is learned. But more importantly, Dysfunction is a lifestyle choice, not an inheritance. Her style is a little reminscent of the Existential writers. When one is old enough, say 18, one is free to make his/her own choices, even a half-wit like Ruth. Ruth chose to be just like her mother -- a dreamer in denial, an angry perpetual victim. Ruth was likeable and so had several aides in life, particularly Aunt Sid who was always there to help, if only Ruth asked. Her brother also, to a lesser extent, Ruth had the option to be his best friend. She chose him as a sworn enemy, and was oblivious to any pain he might have felt being a savant in a dim-witted world. Perhaps he could have used a sibling's love, too. One could argue that Ruth, a victim in a heartless environment, made this Dysfunction choice unwittingly. But that would mean we are all powerless in our lives. Each of us has the power of choice, as did Ruth, and she acknowledged her power at the very end, a little too late.
Rating:
Summary: Enough to make you want to read more of Miss Hamilton
Review: I read this in one night so that has to say something. It was sad, eyeopening, moving and thought provoking but in the end I could not help but feel a little I don't know possibly repulsed. There was something just not quite right. Still it was enough to make me want to find and read Jane Hamilton's other books.
Rating:
Summary: Please, read this book
Review: This book, like other good books I've read, made me laugh hard. What it made me do that no other book has done is make me cry hard too. I am deeply grateful it has been written.
Rating:
Summary: Hated this book. Waste of time
Review: I can't believe I'm wasting any more time thinking about this horrible book. If you enjoy this book, you need to stop watching Oprah and get your own opinions besides hers. Its terrible.
Rating:
Summary: Hit like a Sledgehammer; instant pain then a dull ache
Review: I didn't see the attraction of this book. Perhaps because it was so highly recommended to me, I expected too much, or at least more. No offense to Jane Hamilton, but I felt only lackluster empathy for her dangerously benign characters, none of whom for which I had a modicum of repect or pity. With the Biblically-allusive title, I expected to discover some redeeming quality in the titled-character, but, instead, I found only a cavernous soul in a box-car of a life. The murder-by-decapitation twist was not only unexpected but resemblent of a poor, fictionalized Vincent Bugliosi novel. I have to say, I was tragically disappointed in this book.
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