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

Rating:
Summary: Depressing but admirable
Review: The author of this book worked on a Hollywood project with Robin Williams (which never made it to the silver screen) and her sister had cancer. Therefore, I suspect the book is largely autobiographical.

I admire and respect the author for writing about this difficult, heart-wrenching experience in an epistolary format, which makes for an interesting read. The narrator (and letter-writer), Olivia, is a fiery crusader on behalf of her sister, who has cancer. Olivia never gives up hope that her sister will get better, despite her sister's dark prognosis. She is truly a fighter, as is her sister.

The book is loaded with details that give it a very authentic feel. For example, Olivia mentions that even though her sister is down to a size 2 from her normal size 10, she still has some padding of fat beneath her belly button. This is the only spot where she can get injections in the hospital.

The book is a little heavy-handed in its comparison of the sister's plight to Don Quixote, who failed in his quest but kept on chasing his dreams. I like the analogy but it could have been done more subtly.

Also, the cover is misleading. The pastel sky and little girl playfully raising a sword suggest that this is a light-hearted, fun read, which it definitely is not. Read it only if you are ready for a tearjerker.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and unique!
Review: This is a wonderful book of two sisters and life's adventures. Grab a box of kleenex because it will make you laugh and cry! I loved the writing style, made the book just fly by.

Olivia and Maddie are two sisters, drawn together by leukemia and it is all Olivia's faxes and letters to important people in her life or various people she is venting to that we read and get our story from. A beautiful book with depth, although I felt like there was a curtain that some of the characters were hiding behind at times.

You won't be sorry to pick up this book and won't be able to put it down! This is an author to keep your eye on!!!

Rating:
Summary: A Cherished Read
Review: A truly cherished story of sisters and the love and life they share. The story is told through letters that Olivia writes in airplanes, on movie sets or in the hospital visiting her sister. I laughed in places and cried in places. Who could have believed that writing via letters you would get to know the characters. Elizabeth Robinson has produced a great read and a memorable one at that. I recommend this book highly.

Rating:
Summary: crosstitchmary
Review: This book is nothing but a collection of really bad letters. It was like reliving my Dad's cancer all over again. There was no enjoyment in reading this at all. Why Amazon.com recommended this for me is beyond my comprehension. I wouldn't recommend this book to my worst enemy. The only reason I read the entire book was because I was away from home and it was the only one I'd taken with me.

Rating:
Summary: The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters
Review: What an amazing reading adventure. It's hard to believe with the number of books out there that an author could come up with such an original touching tale of two sisters. I laughed until I cried. Hurray for Elisabeth Robinson for capturing all of the incredible feelings; good, bad and everything else, between siblings. I put this book right up next to I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb. For those of us with siblings, we know that only real life is more amazing than these stories.

Rating:
Summary: 3.5 would be a better score...
Review: This is a touching novel, and I did have trouble putting it down, but at times the letter format gets old. I found myself longing for deeper character development. It's hard to glean that from this series of letters no matter how well-written and humourous they are.


Rating:
Summary: Juat plain bad....it obviously pays to have famous friends..
Review: I had very high hopes for this book, especially with all the great reviews it has received. It began with promise, but quickly plummeted into a book so dull, that I found myself skimming through paragraphs just to get through the page. It just seems that this book may not have even been published had it not been for the author's connections. Save yourselves some money and read something more fulfilling....like your phonebook.

Rating:
Summary: Encore Encore..... Bravo Elisabeth Robinson
Review: From the minute I started reading page one of The True And Outstanding Adventures Of The Hunt Sisters till I finished the book I was moved by the relationships and the great love between the sisters. It was heart renching to read and yet moving at the same time. Maddie and Olivia forge a relationship which is thrown off balance at time by Maddie's illness and Olivia's since of dispair at not being able to help. Maddies illness forces them closer together. Also added to the mix is Michael Olivia's ex. I would highly reccomend this book and and waiting for Ms. Robinson to write her next novel. The Book takes twists and turns yet in the end Ms. Robinson proves ' SISTERS ARE SISTERS FOR LIFE.'

Rating:
Summary: Her Sisters Letters Are Under Her Bed and What A Story!
Review: 4.5 stars is my rating.

Elizabeth Robinson worked in the movie business for ten years as a studio executive and producer. Her sister became ill, and she realized that she had always wanted to write, and if she was careful she could take a year off and write her story. That she did and "The True and Outstanding Story of the Hunt Sisters" came alive.

Olivia Hunt is a somewhat successful studio executive trying to get her screenplay "Don Quixote" onto the screen. She has had several near hits and misses. She has come to the place in her life where she has a good life. She flies from one country to the next and from one screen star to the next and from one wonderful restaurant to the next. Life is almost wonderful... And then the call from her sister came. .

Her sister, Maddie, has leukemia. Her beloved sister who lives back in Ohio. This is not a great time to leave Los Angeles, She is in the middle of negotiating the script and stars for her film. She can leave this for Johnny, her co-partner, but he is such an a**hole that she fears everything will fall apart. But, she must leave and she flies back to Ohio. Here she follows her sister through her first chemo, not too bad, but she must remain in the hospital. The plan is that she will have a bone marrow transplant. So, Olivia flies in-between LA and her hometown in Ohio. All the while Olivia writes letters. Letters to her best friend Tina who is trying to get pregnant. All of the players in Hollywood; she either emails them or writes letters. She emails a doctor who says he is expert on leukemia, but never answers her emails until she tells him he is the biggest s*** she has ever heard of, When he does respond he tells her to trust the doctors! And she writes to her lover, Michael. They have broken up, but she needs to be able to talk and writing letters is soothing. During this time, her sister, Maddie develops an infection and she ends up in the ICU for 29 days. Olivia stays with her and comforts her and takes the night shift. Her family around her on shifts. Her lover, Michael comes to find her and offers her support and maybe something more, Her movie deal falls apart and then another deal is made. . The family comes apart and back together again.

The misery and the love and the highs and the lows. The letters become a part of Olivia- she is able to reach out to her friends and loved ones and is comforted and loved in return. This is her life for almost a year. A book written from letters that tells a story. A sad story that leaves us bereft at times and laughing at others. This is a life and story that will touch each of us, Highly recommended. prisrob


Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, touching, lyrical
Review: Too often, glowing reviews turn out to be deceptive, leading a reader to be disappointed in the book at issue. In the case of THE TRUE AND OUTSTANDING ADVENTURES OF THE HUNT SISTERS, the reviews were not complimentary enough.

Author Elisabeth Robinson tells a complicated and moving story in the form of letters written by Olivia, her heroine, to the people in Olivia's life.

Olivia is commuting to Ohio, where her younger sister is dying of leukemia, from Los Angeles, where she is in the process of producing (as the expression goes) a "major motion picture."

In her letters, Olivia explores the incomprehensible suffering inflicted by the conventional treatments of cancer that her sister courageously endures while she herself attempts to hold her own in the competitive Hollywood studio system.

At many points, Robinson's prose is absolutely lyrical. Her insights are piercing and her powers of observation are breathtaking.

The reader will come away with a much more thorough insight into the suffering of a leukemia patient, as well as a peek at how the entertainment industry actually operates. In their own fashions, these two stories examine activities almost equal in their cruelties.

This is a lyrical, touching novel, and it is not overstating to call it "brilliant."