Rating: Summary: Best book I've read in a long time Review: I loved reading this book. Fischer takes you into an emotionally sensitive world that will steal your heart and make you laugh and cry all at the same time. This quickly became my favorite bedtime reading -- something I looked forward to after a long, grueling day at work. Kinda helps you keep it all in perspective. Go buy this book. It is an incredible value and it will not let you down!
Rating: Summary: Cathartic and compelling Review: I loved this book. Having grown up in the Bay Area, at the time of the main character, with a mother who was depressive, I can say without hesitation that the author - "hit the mark". And, at the same time, made a fun, easy to read, entertaining novel. Very interesting how the author used the teenager's voice throughout. I picked it up because of the odd title, and after the first couple of pages was hooked.
Rating: Summary: AMAZING! Review: I was blown away by Fischer's compelling writing style. It's terse, it's raw, it's a punch in the belly. Once you get started, Egg on Three Sticks is impossible to put down. The metaphoric language is impeccable. It's much more than Abby's coming of age story. Egg is all about relationships -- whether it's between teen friends (when one seems to have a 'perfect' life with a 'perfect' mom), between sisters, or between mothers and daughters. You ache for Abby, you root for Abby, you may even find yourself in Abby.
Rating: Summary: WEIRDAMUNDO!!!! Review: I'll give you this, the storyline was fantastic, and the narrative of a 13-year old was superb. However, if I hear the word "weirdamundo" one more time, I think I will be sick. Using the slang of the teen was appropriate and did add much to the narration, but I think it was a little over-done. Enough of a good thing, already! "Weirdamundo" was used at least once, sometimes more, in every chapter. I get the point!! The over-usage of the word made me feel as if the author was trying a little too hard to convince the reader that a teenager was telling the story. I think I wasted my money! All of the reviews I had read were all in praise of this book. I was "fooledamundo".
Rating: Summary: Great voice! Review: Jackie Moyer Fischer really captures the essence of a teenage girl in this compelling story of a family collapsing. Told in first person, as seen through main character Abby's eyes, this book seems completely true and is thoroughly satisfying.
Rating: Summary: Unique voice Review: Loved it! Read Abby's story and learn about life (again) from a teenager's perspective. She is fiery, smart and innocent all at the same time. And all she wants is to have her mother available - if even to say, "no, you can't wear that miniskirt!" The author has created a fresh voice and you won't want to stop reading. I highly recommend this for women aged 16-late 40s. Enjoy!
Rating: Summary: tormented teen confronts depressed mother's mental illness Review: Meet Abby Goodman. She lives in a comfortable suburban San Jose, California, home in the early 1970s with her staid, predictable father, her precociously bright younger sister and her mother, Shirley. It is Shirley's descent into suicidal mental illness that sets Abby's internal compass spinning out of control in Jackie Moyer Fischer's redemptive debut novel, "An Egg on Three Sticks." Abby is absolutely believable; she is at once self-absorbed and powerfully affected by her mother's erratic, self-destructive behaviors. Abby comes-of-age during a time of extreme family disintegration, and lacking the anchor of a stable mother, her otherwise understandable thirteen-year-old behaviors take on a distorted, desperate cast. In truth, Abby becomes unmoored by her mother's attempted suicide, and her responses, which range from anger to guilt to indifference, reflect themselves in the author's commitment to write from Abby's voice. This voice reflects a growing sexual awakening, a consciousness of self and a constantly reforming opinion of the very meaning of motherhood. This skewed sensibility influences every decision Abby makes, every action she selects voice her hurt, confusion and outrage. She knows her home is different from all the others in her neighborhood, not only in its exterior, but its internal workings as well. To Abby, her home is "stuffed with cotton, stuffed with daughters who aren't daughters anymore, sisters who aren't sisters." Even worse is her understanding that her father is experiencing an even greater loss. This gentle high-school typing teacher whose idea of a good time is spending time burning trash in his backyard incinerator transforms himself into a sad, preoccupied and furrow-faced man. He is a "dad who isn't a dad, a husband who isn't a husband." By all external evidence, Shirley has fallen apart. She goes swimming naked at midnight in a neighbor's pool; she disintegrates at the misplacement of a special dress. In a pique, she hurls Abby's galoshes into the fireplace and throws a Christmas-present crock pot against the wall. Against this backdrop, Abby seeks solace from her oh-so-cool friend Poppy, whose divorced mother's lifestyle seems alluring and rebellious to the bereft Abby. Abby engages in here own private acts of rebellion as well. She disobeys the numerous restrictive rules placed on her by her parents; she shoplifts, and she involves herself with a Mexican boyfriend. None of these acts restores Shirley, but all of them help Abby discover her inner self. Unfortunately, "An Egg on Three Sticks" is not without its flaws. The novel must have set a new record for number of one-sentence paragraphs. And fragments too. Abby's voice veers dangerously toward terminal insipidness. Why, for instance, does Fischer insist on using invented terms like "dorkamundo?" Which everyone knows is not how 70s teens would ever talk anyway. Which is kinda beside the point, anyway. These irritants, however, do not interfere with Abby's journey. Jackie Moyer has written a book of rare integrity and authentic compassion. "An Egg on Three Sticks" not only instructs us on the pain of mental illness, it educates us as to how a broken heart can mend itself.
Rating: Summary: "Sticks" and Stones, Subtly Review: Out of all of the books I have recently read, I would recommend An Egg on Three Sticks by Jackie Fischer the most. I tore through this book during my work breaks, always wondering what would happen next in this fast-paced read. An Egg on Three Sticks is a both a family story and a coming-of-age story. Set in the 1970s, the breakdown of a mother and the subsequent changes within a nuclear family are related to the reader in young Abby's unique voice. Her thoughts are what keep the book flowing so easily, using slang of the time period as well as the vocabulary and ideas of a young woman struggling to understand what is going on in her house. No matter what era you grew up in, your heart will go out to Abby and her younger sister Lisa. Pick this book up and remember your own shaky transition from childhood to adulthood.
Rating: Summary: Funny, Sad and Wonderful! Review: Surreally familiar. Reading this book sent me back to Junior High, where Donny Osmond, mini skirts, make-up, and boys, (of course), were the staple topics of everyday conversation, and sad family secrets were not.
This book is funny, sad, and wonderful. Jackie Moyer Fischer draws us a wonderfully real picture of life in the 70s in this sweet, sad story of a young girl who's mother is more than just a little wacky.
A fast, wonderful read. Didn't want this book to end. Can't wait for Ms. Fischer's next book.
Rating: Summary: Brilliant. Review: The story of a young teenager and how she deals with life after her mother's suicide attempt and hospitalisation. Abby's voice is spot-on. It's a compelling read.
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