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Summary: Great Time Span Writing!
Review: All my friends are talking about Elizabeth Berg books. I picked this one up, despite the fact they told me to start with others. In this book I found a warm, real character who deals with her tragedy and her life in a realistic way. I was most impressed with the way Berg covers time span. The story could have drug on and on to cover the time spent in a coma, but she handled it so well! Time gaps were well explained, 24 hours felt real... she is an excellent story teller and time keeper!
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Summary: "Range of e-motion"
Review: Elizabeth Berg has a wonderful way with words that women can easily relate to. She seems to know each of us intimately. Our secrets, our longings, our personal and private pain. While not all of us will be called to experience the heartache of caring for a comatose loved one, in Range of Motion, Elizabeth helps us to realize that life does not always give what we expect, but the friendship of women can serve as a strong shield against the cruelties that life hurls our way. Elizabeth is a master at meeting us where we are in life. You will laugh, you will cry, you will feel anger and fear as you immerse yourself in Range of Motion, and if you are like me, you will find it difficult to put the book down until you have absorbed the very last word.
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Summary: Another wonderful book from Berg - although not her best
Review: I don't know how many wonderful books I've read by ElizabethBerg, and Range of Motion keeps the same great standard. It is full ofbeautiful prose, moving emotional scenes, and realistic dialogue. Itis the story of a woman whose husband is in a coma. Thoughout thenovel she must deal with the pain it is brining her to see her husbandso far away, and she also must help her two young daughters face the same feelings. The book backtracts to discuss the relationship between the woman and her husband before his accident, and the reader can see it is a rare story of true love. That makes his condition all the more sad, because for the first time in her life since she met him, she must deal with the absence of the love of her life.An interesting subplot in the novel was that of the main character's best friend and her failing marriage. This relationship was painted in such a way that it drew much sympathy from me, and I felt that the best friend really came to life in the book. A weird quirk in this novel was the character of a ghost, an old lady who used to own the main character's house. I realize that the ghost helped the woman cope in her lonliness, but I felt it was unrealistic. I guess the main character temporarily went crazy, and this led to hallucinations and talking to the ghost. This part was supposed to be touching, but to me it was fake. And although most of the imagery was fantastic, there were some points at which I felt it was a bit forced. I felt that the images in Berg's other novels were much more natural. These were the only problems I had with the novel, and I loved the plot and the characters. For those who have never read a Berg novel, I recommend starting with one of her other ones, such as Durable Goods, Joy School, or What We Keep. But for those who are already familiar with Berg, Range of Motion, although in my opinion not her best, will not let you down, for everything she writes is great. **NOTE: I am only giving this book 4 stars because I am comparing it to other Berg books. However, compared to all books in general I would give it 5 stars. :) END
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Summary: Berg always has Range!
Review: I've read every book by Berg except this one, "Range of Motion."
And every single time Berg manages to move my insides around a bit, tug at my heart, and continually make me laugh, even in the midst of tragedy...
She's that kind of writer.
What I love about Berg the most is her observations about life. It's like, "Yea, man. I know just what you're talking about. I've been there. I've thought the same thing."
This is her greatest strength---Identifying with other women. "Range of Motion" is about a marriage. It's about Lainey who is so in love with her husband that she is willing to wait for him,love him right out of a coma.
It's about believing in something so despartely that one can make impossible things happen.
And of course Berg adds characters like Alice, the next door neighbor, because she adores and knows we all adore having girlfriends to lean on,confide in, love. Berg is a writer who does not let the reader down...but gives them a safe place to go, even if that place is falling apart at the seams, a light flickers in the distance as a kind of hand for us to hang on to.
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Summary: Devotion
Review: Lainey Berman's husband Jay is in a coma due to a chunk of ice falling from a building onto him. Lainey is raising two young daughters and trying to help them understand the situation while her friend and neighbor Alice helps her by babysitting. Berg in the book Range of Motion deftly examines the range of love and devotion necessary to ensure success of a marriage. Her language is beautiful and poetic. Berg endows her characters with strength and depth rare in fiction today. We feel for Lainey as she tries to cope with the difficulties of her situation. You root for Lainey's positive outlook and her denial that her husband Jay will die or continue in a coma. This is a very well written book and stirring story. It may not go over with people who are opposed to somewhat sentimental fiction.
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Summary: Range of Motion by Elizabeth Berg
Review: Range of Motion is the story of Lainey Berman & how she copes with the freak accident of her husband Jay. Now in a coma for 3 months, Lainey faces her darkest fears: what if Jay never wakes up? In the course of trying to deal with this, Lainey also struggles with her 2 daughters, the oldest of whom is pulling herself away from Lainey and shutting herself off. One of the factors that helps Lainey cope is the dear friendship of her next door neighbor Alice. While Lainey is dealing with the pain of losing her husband to the coma and wondering if he will ever come out of it, Alice suspects that her husband is having an
affair. Depsite the fact that Lainey's plate is full of her own troubles, she is able to pull through and return friendship
to Alice as well. Berg's writing is simple yet wonderful, as she has you feeling that deep, sinking feeling, that Lainey must be experiencing. Range of Motion is a great story about friendship, love and the human spirit.
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Summary: Berg at her best
Review: Range of Motion was my third Elizabeth Berg novel (Talk Before Sleep and Until the Real Thing Comes Along being the other two) and I must say this is by far my favorite. I loved this book from the opening line to the finishing sentence. Berg portrayed her title character, Lainey, with great sympathy and passion for what she loved. I loved Lainey all the way through the book and she remains my favorite fiction character. Throughout the novel Lainey is dealing with her husband being in a coma after a freak accident along with taking care of her two daughters and helping her neighbor cope with a failing marriage. I cried along with Lainey and smiled at her happy moments the entire time keeping the faith that Lainey's husband would one day wake up along with her. For any fan of Berg or any reader interested in a truly great book, I highly recommend Range of Motion.
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Summary: Wonderful
Review: This being the first Elizabeth Berg that I have read, I had some pretty high expectations. My mom got me this book for Christmas last year and I only got around to reading it last week. I have to say that it is one of the most engaging books I have read in a really long time. Jay Bermann is walking to work one winter day when a huge block of ice falls off a roof and knocks him into a coma. His wife Lainey, the only one who believes that he will recover, tries in every way to revive him with his favorite shirts, spices, etc. Her enormous persistance to get him to recover is aided by the help of two extraordinary women. The wondeful style of this book makes it romantic without being romantic. The reader is in a rush to figure the outcome of the story, while at the same time they are reluctant to see it end. I look foreward to reading other books by Elizabeth Berg.
Rating: 
Summary: Very honest!
Review: This book is about a woman whose husband is in a coma and she doesnt know if he will be able to recover. It is honest and addresses some of the questions we probably all would ask ourselves but would be ashamed to admit - what if he doesn't get better? What about me? Should I date again? The only problem I have with the book is that the characters are slightly underdeveloped, a common complaint I have about all Elizabeth Berg books. But a good read!
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Summary: Fantastic and moving
Review: This is one of the few books that have brought me to tears... tears rolling down my face, dripping across my nose and onto my pillow. Elizabeth Berg never handles a situation like you'd think it would (or probably should) be; she handles it in the way in which it would truly happen. What would I really think if my husband were in a coma? No really, what would I be THINKING? It's an incredibly complicated concept, even more heart-wrenching than other books about actual death that I've read. She has a wonderful, intimate way of bringing the same hurt, confusion and intensity of emotions her characters experience into the mind and heart of her readers. It's a very genuine thing that keeps me reading her stories with open ears.
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