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Summary: Glad Shannon Olson is on our Planet
Review: Shannon Olson,30 and single, between trips to Target to extend her already maxed-out credit cards, her loser ex-boyfriend, her shrink and her great mom, welcome to her life! You will fly through this book it is sooo enjoyable! I felt I was personally sharing in all the moments with her cast of family and friends. Is novel #2 out yet? Thanks Shannon Olson for a GREAT read.
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Summary: A companion in the search for self-understanding
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read but showed a complex person in a variety of relationships. Shannon's honesty and sincerity in her search for self-understanding is endearing. Plus she's funny. Even being in her late 20's she's still growing up. With a protagonist and the author sharing the same name, I wonder how much of the book is autobiographical. Even though it's a novel it plays on the idea that what we remember of our lives is fictionalized with time anyway. Looking forward to her next.
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Summary: A laugh every page
Review: What a great book! I couldn't put it down. The characters are so well visualized from Olson's writing. It is so real and could very well match the lives of 75% of women out there. I could picture everything so clearly. Very well written. It was light yet serious. The sarcastic humor is makes the book. She writes about real places and real people!
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Summary: Witty and utterly contemporary
Review: This is a fun book; it sort of reminds me of The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing. The book is about Shannon (I wonder if this book is an autobiography disguised as a novel), a neurotic young woman who has no idea what she wants in life. She attends graduate school --subconsciously postponing her life. She's also struggling with boyfriends, careers, and an identity. The heroine seems to have a rather unique relationship with her mother, Flo. The mother and daughter share a common desire: the need for true intimacy. Flo doesn't know if her husband truly loves her. Shannon, like her mother, doesn't know if the men in her life have loved her or used her. This is a great contemporary read, very funny and quite touching. A great piece of fiction. I highly recommend it.
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Summary: The Movie "Fargo" Meets "Sex in the City" -- A Great Read!
Review: I bought this because the Wall St. Journal recently recommendedit as this year's "The Girls' Guide to Hunting &Fishing", and it lives up to that billing. I read this book over the last two days, and I loved it. Now maybe it's partly because I was raised in Minnesota (which means I am also Lutheran and Norwegian) that this Midwestern coming of age tale rang true for me, but I think that any chic in her 20s/30s will relate to Shannon's story. Men, Moms, mood swings -- it's all here. Bottom line is I loved this book... It's a fun read, a lot more interesting than Bridget's Diet Diary and almost as good as Otherwise Engaged.
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Summary: "An NPR Mind in an MTV World..."
Review: When this book arrived in the mail I unpacked it and stood at the kitchen counter reading the first few paragraphs - I found myself quickly drawn into Shannon Olson's very intelligent, honest writing style. Her approach is refreshing and engaging without being pretentious. My weekend was quickly consumed - "I'll read just one more chapter, and one more, and one more..."During a time when there is a lot of "bubble-gum" literature out there, it is wonderful to have a piece of work that is full of so much substance. Shannon Olson truly has an NPR mind in an MTV world! I can't wait for her next work!
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Summary: good
Review: I found this book to be refreshingly entertaining and relatable. I laughed at this book a lot and especially at the relationship between Shannon and her mother "Flo". It was so nice to find a book that kept my interest and told a good beginning to a coming of age story. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read :)
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Summary: confusing ending
Review: I liked the book a lot. I read it twice, actually.
I did not understand the ending at all.
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Summary: Not for me
Review: I wanted to like this book, really. But I just could not get into the character, who just seemed so screwed up. I mean, everyone's a little screwy, but do we have to whine about it as if our problems are the most fascinating thing in the world? This may be a "coming of age" tale, but, frankly, I couldn't care less if she solved her problems.
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Summary: Deeply moving, hilarious, well written work of art!
Review: My name is Shannon. I'm 30-somthing, I'm from Minneapolis, I'm a middle child, I suffer from depression, and my mom calls me Shanny. The FIRST set of tears I shed reading this book came from the spooky recognition of my own life in these pages. The second came from a sharp aching feeling in my heart from missing my mom, a Flo-esque woman. Several sets of tears left my eyes at the chill over how well Shannon Olson captures depression. I've read some of the other criticisms of this book here and I've noticed people complaining about Shannon, not about the book. "How can she complain about her life" the critics ask "when there's nothing wrong with her life? What a whiner." Yep, that's depression. Nothing IS wrong, but everything is wrong. It DOES look ridiculous from the outside. I've never seen a book capture that aspect of depression as well as this one does. And she's got Minnesotans down just right. AND it's hilarious. I don't think a book has ever made me laugh out loud as much as this one did. Cliches abound in my review--I laughed, I cried. But I DID! Lots and lots. This is going on my all-time favorite list, and I can't wait to jump into Shannon Olson's next book.
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