She is Me

Rating:
Summary: Just OK
Review: I bought this book because I really loved "The Love Letter." This one has some great characters, fun relationships, and some really good writing, but the death and dying and monotonous routine of day to day caretaking was a bummer. Been there, done that, don't want to read endless details about it thank you. I kept waiting (I think too long) for more interesting stuff to happen. I was actually ready for another fun read like "The Love Letter," so maybe I'm a little biased. Maybe this is also more of a "woman's" book. I thought the male characters, especially Brett, who I thought was pretty cool, didn't get enough treatment, but maybe that's the point ("She is Me" is the title isn't it?). I knew I took a risk with that title, and it did disappoint a bit.

Rating:
Summary: Schine finally shines again
Review: Rameau's Niece, an earlier work of this author, is one of those novels I press upon whoever will listen. I have dutifully worked my way through most of Schine's other books, but she has never hit Niece-like heights again for me, until now. I'm a sucker for the Jewish mother/daughter schtick. I consider myself a gourmand of the genre, consuming great quantities and often disappointed. In She is Me, Schine draws the issues of three generations with a superb comic hand. The grandmother's dialogue is a bit trite, but I suppose it's a rare Jewish grandmother that has anything original left to say. Ninety years of compulsive talking can wear you out.

I particularly liked the the way she handled the middle-aged onset of lesbianism. Those of us feminists who have watched female friend after friend joyfully embrace homosexuality for the past thirty years can't help but feel left behind. Heterosexuality starts feeling like an internal parasite you've picked up and can't shake. When I read the book, I knew only that the author's long term marriage had recently ended, but did not know the circumstances. But Geta and Daisy's suprising romance was so authentically written, that I figured it must have happened to Schine. And apparently it has. She has exploited this crisis with dignity (I don't know if her ex-husband agrees, but I hear he's gone even further with American Sucker). The male characters are thinly-drawn, but like the trite grandmother, art imitates life.

Rating:
Summary: So-So
Review: She is Me was a fairly quick read for me. I could picture the story as it went along. The storyline was very familiar, as I've
seen similar details occur personally. I know how the story goes
so it did nothing for me.

Greta is the mother of two grown adults, the wife of a doctor and the daughter of a cancer stricken woman,Lotte. Her responsibility is to care for cancer stricken Lotte. When Greta gets cancer herself, things get rough and others try to offer support. As death draws nearer, a self discovery occurs. The family
tries to go on with everyday life and somehow they mange it.

This was my first book by Cathleen Schine. I'll have to read her others and see if they're any better. Having read the book I ended up giving it a rating of 4.