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Summary: This could be me!
Review: This book was recommended by a couple of ladies in my online reading group. I am not 50, but I am at the age (41) where I am questioning what am I going to do now? They praised this book so I bought it and immediately started reading it.I now know why they loved this book. Elizabeth Berg simply takes your feelings and puts them into the words you simply couldn't express. No, not all of us have the same fears as the main character in this book, Nan, but we have our fears about growing old as women in this society. Older women in this society are not revered or cherished. Nan, embarks on a journey basically to find out just who the heck she is after being wife and mother for over 25 years. She wants to drive, travel and take in the beauty of the countryside. Talk to plain, normal folk. Shell peas, meet strangers, sleep in the woods alone, deal her past, enjoy her present and make plans for her future. The book is in the form of letters to her husband and entries in her journal. Great reading for any woman of any age.
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Summary: The Pull of the Moon caught me...
Review: Always trying to grab a decent book before jumping on an airplane to the next trip, I was graced to grab this book from the shelves. Elizabeth Berg's book made my hectic world stop for 3 hours and I entered into her and Nan's world without looking back. Although only 33 myself, I identified with Nan's desire to leave behind her life and find out who she is. This book spoke to me softly and in a way a book hasn't in a long time. I heard Nan and I understood her need to find herself among the routine of her life. Sometimes you have to walk away from your routine to find yourself. I enjoyed Nan's journey and I'm glad she took me with her. Although sometimes a little too simplistic, I never felt while I was reading that I was being "suckered" into feeling for Nan. My emotions and responses that came forth as I read the book were genuine and didn't feel forced or coerced by manipulative writing. Nan's journey seemed genuine and therefore I felt genuine in relating to her magical journey. Would this same story happen if I took off from home right now? I don't know, but in many ways, I feel like a part of me went on that journey of self discovery with her.
Rating: 
Summary: another gem
Review: 50 year old Nan temporarily leaves her husband to begin to travel around the US in search of herself. Through diary entries and letters back home she exposes herself to her husband, voicing her fears and disappointments in a way that she can't be ignored. Elizabeth Berg masterly builds Nan into someone that we can understand, can empathise and smile with, looking for answers that we may need to look for in our own life.
Rating:
Summary: If Berg Wrote It.... Then read it!
Review: That's really all I know to say. I have read everything I could get my hands on the she has written and I'm still waiting for more. She is one of those authors who you buy the book and Then you look at the cover. Another of mine is Ann Tyler!
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Summary: Thought provoking and very realistic
Review: As with many of the reviews I have read about this book, it's true that if you're a woman around the same age and going through menapause, this is the book for you. So many of her thoughts zeroed in on questions in my life; will I get through it sanely, and come out a person who is ready for the second half of life? I'm still up in the air, but it was a pleasure knowing someone can put down into words all that swims around in my head. My only tiny gripe, is that sometimes she tends to go on just alittle bit long in descriptions of towns- I wanted her to stay focused on the feelings Nan was going through.All in all, a very good read- I enjoy Elizabeth Berg- read Talk Until Sleep, if you haven't-wonderful!
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Summary: painfully ordinary
Review: This book read like an old-fashioned magazine article; the title could have been "Ladies Home Journal Reader Has Mid-life Crisis". It was low on originality and the writing style too gushy for me.
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Summary: nice author, superficial work
Review: ... I attempted to read two or three of Elizabeth's books but couldn't get into any of them. They all seemed superficial and full of fluff. The characters are not fully drawn and it's hard to care for any of them, they are not "real". It's all whiny dialogue, as if the lines came from her journal entries. Ther's no metaphor, no prose, no stirring of emotions. To me it was the equivalent of eating junk food-it fills you up but doesn't nourish you. I like books that make you think and wonder and care about life, not just something you "read" and forget about as soon as you put the book down....
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Summary: Berg is tuned in to a perfect frequency....
Review: I have never read a book that was so exquisitely tuned into the mind and feelings of the human condition. The lead character is turning 50 years old and decides to take a road trip. Oh, she's not headed anywhere special on the map, but this trip couldn't be more important. As Nan meanders across the country on those back roads that only the towns people use, she is content to pull up and set for a spell on the porch of a woman that seems to know exactly why she came, though the two have never met. She sits down to meals in diners with complete strangers and finds she has more in common with them than she might expect. Along the way she writes letters to her husband, honestly pouring her heart out to him, letting him know how their comfortable day to day saunter through life may not always have been all that was expected. The trip is a revelation for both of them in the end. This is a coming of age book, it points out the wisdom that gradually permeates the mind and spirit as we ripen with time. I can't begin to tell you how revealing Berg's insights are, I got the feeling that she went through life taking notes on all of those little things that we experience and never give a thought to, little, insidious things that can impact our outlook on life in the most profoundest of manners. Read this book and I promise you won't be disappointed, you will find yourself in the midst of more than your share of "a-hah" moments and this book will make you realize just what a comforting thing that can be. 12/10/00
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Summary: This book is a little jewel
Review: You can read this book in an afternoon. This is the story of Nan, a woman turning 50, who suddenly "runs away from home" in order to take stock of her life, her love, what it means to grow older, and what it means to be herself- free of family obligations for the first time in many years. It is beautifully written, very poignant, and probably would not be a book anyone under 45 could appreciate. My immediate reaction was to want to take a "road trip" of my own because it's so easy to identify with Nan's life. That is, how much we women sometimes give up of ourselves- our own dreams- to create a warm and nurturing environment for our spouses and children. And- just how much we may lose of ourselves by playing a supporting role in helping our children and spouses to achieve their dreams. I thought this was an inspirational book and gave me a wonderful sense that 50 could be terrific.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ FOR WOMEN!
Review: I loved the main character Nan! What a marvelous gift Elizabeth Berg has given by writing this treasure chest filled with womens issues, identities, etc.. She gave a voice to the things you look back on in life that women as a group typically give away....their power. They give it to society, other people, their families, etc.. This was poetically written.
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