The Sandy Bottom Orchestra

Rating:
Summary: It's the best!
Review: As an adult reading a "juvenile" book, I was happy to see a lot of vintage Keillor in the story: It is a humorous portrayal of frustration and impotence as one's life seems slowly to slide downhill, only to be saved by clinging to some form of normalcy and by being loyal to one's primal values (shades of "Wobegon Boy," perhaps?). But I began to wonder WHO Keillor and Nilsson were writing FOR. Kids who have parents who are more "interesting" (read weird) than those kids would like them to be? Kids in small towns who have aspirations for something more? Point is, I don't think a lot of kids are going to get much out of this book. And the precocious kids who might are going to be reading Evelyn Waugh or something. Most musicians who read it will see the book's weaknesses immediately, which also hurts the book's cause. Bottom line for "Sandy Bottom," if you're buying this book as a gift for a kid, fine, but just page through it at the library first and make sure it's right for its intended receiver.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favourite books!
Review: I first read this book about four or five years ago, when I was around eleven, and it's become one of those books that I can just go back to and re-read as many times as I want and never get tired of. OK, so it's not one of the deepest books ever written, but the style is easy, the plot simple and entertaining, and yet somehow it manages not to slip into cliche or become overly shallow.

The books follows exclusively the character of Rachel Green, an early teen whose one solace from life and parents is classical music. Perhaps the reason that I found this book so enjoyable is that I am a big fan of this type of music myself (as you can see from my name!). The girl displays all the characteristics typical in an early teenager - paranoia about her appearance, desire for acceptance, the feeling that her parents are unbearable, etc. However, in the last case, she might well have a point.

Her mother is a crusader for better education and artistic facilities in the town of Sandy Bottom, and forbids a TV in the house; instead there is a grand piano. Her father meanwhile conducts imaginary symphony orchestras in the den, and cries over recordings of classical music.

As you can see, the characters in this book are, shall we say, unique, and even those characters which could be called "transitory" are invested with larger-than-life personality traits. (The foremost among these being Drew and his mother.)

Mainly due to these characters there is a good deal of humour in the book. However, there are a lot of wry observations made by the authors on some aspects of life and love. Speaking of which, there is a touching romance between Rachel and a cellist thrown into the book, further making the character of Rachel even more real and vivid.

The book's overlying theme is obviously music, which makes it a joy to read for someone who is interested in this, but you definitely do not have to be a music-lover to get a great deal of enjoyment out of this book.

All in all, for something which appears on the face of it to be merely a "children's book" it is a very enjoyable and easy read for people of pretty nearly every age.

Rating:
Summary: Just One Great Read for All Ages!
Review: Simply could not resist trying the book after seeing the video. The reviewers are right---the book is even better than the excellent film.

Some things are different --- the book has a Methodist church not Lutheran, and the book has a date with the two string players at a drive-in.

What a wholesome book for youth and adults.

Rating:
Summary: Just One Great Read for All Ages!
Review: Simply could not resist trying the book after seeing the video. The reviewers are right---the book is even better than the excellent film.

Some things are different --- the book has a Methodist church not Lutheran, and the book has a date with the two string players at a drive-in.

What a wholesome book for youth and adults.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This is a histerical book! I loved it. I have read it many times but each time I read it I laugh some more. Its about a girl named Rachel who has a fear of turning out like her parents. Her dad loves classical music and is always sitting in the den listening to it and waving around his pencil baton. Her mom is always blasting out writing letters to the newspaper about different causes. Rachel herself is a 14 year old who lives in a small town called Sandy Bottom and plays the violin. Rachel is worried because ehr best friend Carol isn't paying very much attention to her. This is a GREAT book!