Rating:  Summary: Surprisingly upbeat 90's entertainment! Review: The characters were so distinctly different that there was a separate story to each one of them. The way the storyline moved allowed us to see the tragedy in AIDS, murder and child abuse, while also allowing us to see what hard work and love for one another can do to somewhat lessen the pain. A very good story by a superb storyteller!
Rating:  Summary: memorable....She tells it like it is about real life issues. Review: The charactors become like people you know. I liked the honesty and the search of their lifes purpose. How they found spirituality, and acceptance, and found how important love is and going home....
Rating:  Summary: Worth reading and then reading again. Review: What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day covers topics that are less than enjoyable to read about, but the way these topics were presented and the characters portrayed gives testimony to a true work of art. I am not a fast reader on a good day, but I completed this book in record time and what was more amazing wanted to read it one more time. The characters are real and believable for the most part. The rhythm is fluently conversational; when I finished the first reading I felt as though I was saying good-bye to a close friend.
Rating:  Summary: Great novel by a great writer. Review: I read this novel at the beginning of the summer. While I found it a little short and lacking in some places, it's still a great read, especially if you're a Pearl Cleage fan. It had just enough plot twists and turns to make it believable, but not confusing.
Rating:  Summary: I didn't want the book to end. Review: I really got into the two main characters, Ava and Eddie. They were painted so real, that I truly felt like I knew them. Cleage deals so easily with some tough subjects, like sexual abuse, drug addiction and finding love and being HIV+ at the same time. The pace was fast, and the language was real. Great read.
Rating:  Summary: Great Book! Review: I read this book about six months ago and it's one of those that I would go back and read again. The characters are very real. The bond between the two sisters is something that alot of women share today and can relate to.
Rating:  Summary: A great quick read that deals with some tough subjects. Review: Our book club will be discussing this book this month and Ican't wait. Cleage so delicately deals with complex subjects ofdysfunctional families, AIDS, deteriorating cities, drugs, crime and love. Her character development was superb. Right away you connect with and feel for Ava, you admire her sister Joyce, you respect the Eddie, and you despise Gerry the minister's wife. A wonderfully funny, sad, complex and sometimes gritty story that leaves you wanting more.
Rating:  Summary: Easy to follow; great summer reading Review: This book was a pleasure to read. It kept my attention always. The writing was so direct I could picture each situation clearly from the author's discription.
Rating:  Summary: An exciting ride by a very capable storyteller. Review: "What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day" by Pearl Cleage. Avon Books. New York.Review by Ja A. Jahannes Pearl Cleage has been kicking around for a long time inspiring writers and readers with her forays into issues as small and as large as race, love, gender, independence, consciousness and friendships. She is been a moving force in contemporary American literature. As editor and publisher of Catalyst Magazine, a nationally regarded literary magazine, she has introduced hundreds of emerging writers and re-acquainted some of America's best writers with their audiences. As a teacher at Spelman College in Atlanta, as a columnist for the Atlanta Tribune, and as an contributor to magazines such as Essence, MS. And Ebony, she has been a model of the writer-thinker-activist. As a playwright with success in Atlanta and New York, and increasingly in little theaters across the country, she has been an example of the renaissance writer who will to tackle almost all genres. It was inevitable that Cleage write a novel. Those of us who are a part of Cleage's following wished her success with the publication of "What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day." I bought a copy, and settled in to read where Cleage's head is now, and what we can learn from her of life and the craft of writing. I put my copy of the new novel down after the first two pages. The book about a love affair between a woman who discovers she is HIV positive and a convicted murderer started in a way that let me know right off it was a non-stop reading. I put it down until later in the day. Then, I read it from cover to cover, only stopping for a nap, dinner and the toilet - all breaks where an urgency still propelled me back to the book. Knowing that Cleage was coming to a book store near me for a book signing and reading I went by to ask her some questions. It took Cleage about a year to write and hone this novel. She says of the novel as a form "You have to have control of everything as opposed to playwriting where the actors and director brings their own talents to the work.." On her recent influences she says "One of the writers that has been a contemporary influence on me has been Alice Walker because she is brave enough to write about anything - fearless. When I have my reservations about writing about something, I ask myself 'What would Alice do?' and then I proceed to write." "What looks like Crazy On An Ordinary Day" is in its fourth printing already. It deserves to be ready. It is a fast moving novel, with realistic characters, chocked full of insights into life. Its story is engaging. It is the story of a man and a woman who try to free themselves of the limiting circumstances of their lives so that they can love. It is a story set in the midst of the all too familiar chaos of contemporary urban life. The main characters, Ava and Eddie, both deal with death energy as all questions about life ultimately are questions about death. Ava is HIV positive; Eddie is an ex-con, convicted of murder. It is a novel of violence, disillusionment, desperation - and a novel of hope. I highly recommend "What Looks like Crazy on An Ordinary Day." And though I am leary of good books being turned into movies, this book is so tightly written and so interesting that a movie from it seems like a rewarding possibility.
Rating:  Summary: A great first! Review: What Looks Like Crazy... first caught my attention primarily because of the cover. But once I started reading it, I stayed with it. I thought it was wonderfully written (notwithstanding the use of profanity) and I found myself wanting the CDC to find a cure for AIDS, rush it to Ava in the mountains of Idlewood, and she'd be cured for life! The characters were ones I felt a need for...Overall, I thought it was a great first novel. Pearl, fabulous job. I look forward to more great fiction from you. Say, maybe a follow-up novel...Anyway thanks for an interesting read.
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