The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: My Highest Recommendation
Review: I was floored by "The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters". It read like fact instead of fiction. It did a wonderful job of humanizing Hollywood. With the exception of "My Fractured Life" and "Post Cards From the Edge" and its follow up "The Best Awful" very few books can be so real and humanizing especially in dealing with Hollywood. I give it my highest recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: I enjoyed this book, but not as much as I expected based on comparisons to favorites The Best Awful by Carrie Fisher and My Fractured Life by Rikki Lee Travolta. It deals in the same area: Hollywood. It also deals with the same dramatic element: tragedy. However the delivery while good doesn't quite match up with either Best Awful of Fractured Life. Still a good read though if you've already finished the other two.

Rating:
Summary: Not very engaging
Review: First of all the letters format was just ok but I really found it boring to always hear it from Olivia's point of view and it was never in real time. Everything was always being dictated to you after the fact. Second I never really connected with the characters. They were quite dull. Even having a younger sister myself did not give this plot more emotion. I was quite glad to get through with it and move on to something better. I was hoping it would be a book to recommend to girlfriends and my sister but I doubt they would like it. Basically it was not uplifting or depressing, sad or happy, just neutral.

Rating:
Summary: Hunt Sisters Review
Review: Olivia and Mattie Hunt are sisters who became best friends even before Madeleine was born. This book records the days before things were complicated and also includes Olivia's current state as a young, down-on-her luck movie producer. It depicts the events that occur during her sister's sudden contraction of leukemia. Madeleine is actually forced to give up her baby before it's born because it would risk, not only the child's life but also, Madeleine's life during birth. It's a very good thing she gives up her child because close to a month later, Madeleine falls into a coma and is in serious condition for at least 8 weeks. This becomes a tough time for the Hunt family, struggling to find all the medical help they can without spreading their family too thin. This book records Olivia's struggle with the loss of her sister to life support and her low profit job as a producer trying to make a big name for herself in Hollywood. Through letters to co-workers, family, friends, and an estranged lover, we can see the pain, rage, frustration, and a roller coaster of emotions that Olivia experiences in the face of the seemingly unthinkable. It also records her observation of family members, Madeleine's husband, her parents, her friends, even complete strangers and how they react to what is going on with the Hunt family. I actually found this book hard to get into. Although the topic is very tragic, I found that the language in the book seemed to be less appropriate for a person my age, I would recommend this book to a person of mature mind, who can understand the elements of success and failure, therefore helping them better understand what Olivia is actually going through.

Rating:
Summary: a strong and moving debut
Review: I enjoyed this novel, and would have given it 3.5 stars if I had the chance....Olivia, a marginal Hollywood producer, is trying to cope with her sister Maddie's cancer while attempting to produce a film of DON QUIXOTE starring John Cleese and Robin Williams.
The novel is told entirely through Olivia's letters, faxes, and emails to her sister and others. What ties everything together is the contrast between Olivia's life in Hollywood and the life of her sister, who is married and still lives in their hometown. Olivia has independence, but must constantly struggle for professional advancement while trying to convince her lover she won't give up her career for him. Olivia doesn't quite know where she fits anymore into her close knit Midwestern family and is troubled by wondering if she's been a good enough sister/daughter.
Olivia's story feels fresh and relevant, the parts of the book involving DON QUIXOTE didn't wotk as well for me. The choice of DON QUIXOTE felt a little heavy handed-- why couldn't it have been a remake of THE MALTESE FALCON or FULL METAL JACKET? There's nothing new in the inside Hollywood stuff-- did you know studio execs are self obsessed and worried about money?
Still, this is worth it and I look forward to seeing what this author does in the future.... recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Very different and worth every cent
Review: It sounds like a cliché to say "It made me laugh, it made me cry--two thumbs up!" but that's exactly the way I feel about this book. Funny, heart warming, true to form, and above all well written, this book is guaranteed to touch your heart. Reminiscent of other great reads out today (think "The Life of Pi" or McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood), this stellar accomplishment is guaranteed to keep your interest. You'll probably want to buy more than one copy, though, because you'll find that you've given yours away to a friend so that they too can enjoy this wonderful tale.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the money
Review: The reviews by people who really loved this book point out that they read it in one night, or in a short amount of time. It does read very fast-- but why would you want to spend your money on a book that's gone that fast? It's kind of fast food for a book, this one-- with the two main things that here that the author manipulates out of you are: Feel Sorry For ME and Feel Envious of ME. I am not sure that the author, who is clearly an egomaniac, could have written about anyone but Herself as a Main Character, and I'm not sure that she could have done it in any way than through letters. The point that reviewers make on amazon, that the letter writing format here is so very unique is so very not true. This has been done so many times before. It can very often also be an easy way to make an easy reading book, as there is so much blank space between the letters, and it spreads out a short story over many pages. Thus: "I read it in one night." And I guess that when we read something in one night we are very proud of ourselves, and when we are proud of ourselves we give credit to a book as well; assuming it must have been good. If anyone out there wants to write a book, a novel, here is a hint: Take something that happened to you that you think might garner pity : Then tell it thru a fictional character who is really you-- and through your writing letters to everyone else in the story. You will be amazed at how easy it is. The one thing that you can see about this author is that she is clearly a narcistic, and is way too show offy about the movie industry. By the way, it should be noted that associate producers on movies, and she worked on Braveheart as an associate only, are at the lower rung of the latter, with duties that in some films are on the level of Production Assistant only. Most of her credits are on awful films. So there''s some caution to be taking in reading her bio. But that is what I also found to be true for the book-- it's not a great book, really.

Rating:
Summary: Great for your book club
Review: I have read so many so so novels lately. This one is sooo good. Everyone in my book club loved it. So much to think about and discuss.

Rating:
Summary: depressing beginning
Review: I expected to like this, but couldn't get past the depressing beginning. Letters from a depressed person who is contemplating suicide, who then finds out her sister has leukemia, goes home to a family where no one will talk about anything,,,,,,,,,just didn't seem worth continuing. So many books, so little time, don't spend yours on this one.

Rating:
Summary: Not my cup of tea
Review: While the plot of this book may be great...I'm not one for "letter writing" novels. I had a hard time keeping track of who Olivia was writing to on each page. I think the book would have been better if we'd have heard from the other people Olivia wrote to. The characters were not developed very much and the whole "show-biz" letters part was too much drivel for my taste.