Crooked Little Heart : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: I inhaled this book last Saturday while lying on my couch all day. It made me giggle, it made me laugh, it made me read key passages to my kids and friends. Anne Lamott has the ability to capture the essence of the pain and struggle of the adolescent and the neurotic nature of many adults. Although no revelation at the end, the entire journey is a pleasure. I want to read everything Lamott's written.

Rating:
Summary: A very engaging, home-hitting work of art
Review: I was hooked on Crooked Little Heart as soon as I met thirteen-year-old Rosie. I recognized the glazed over eyes and wall around her heart as the ones I encounter daily with my fourteen year old daughter. With this novel, I felt right at home. Lamott's exploration of the darkness and the light in Rosie, her mother Elizabeth, her friend Simone, stepfather James and the family's close friends also reflected back at me. I felt validated in my triumphs and troubles. The solitary act of reading gave me the companionship of many. I enjoyed Lamott's insights into the world of junior tennis tournaments, the solace of nature and the ways grief can hang around and hold us down. Crooked Little Heart put me in touch with myself. For that I'm grateful.

Rating:
Summary: Snap out of it!
Review: I read "Crooked Little Heart" as part of my local bookclub selection. Although I found parts of it abruptly reminding me of my own tortured adolescence - I was shocked at the teenagers being described as sexy and somehow wise beyond their years. I know that some people are born with an innate "carnal knowledge" - but come on!! I found myself waiting for something horrible to happen, but the only thing that did was the adults tuning into their own teenage angst. This book could have had a better editor and been a nice slice of life genre, but I found that I was growing bored with the entire family and especially Elizabeth's fixation on herself. Lamott had several nice turn of phrases, some wonderful word pictures, but for me - it was an average read.

Rating:
Summary: crooked little heart is wonderful
Review: I didn't have an easy time falling in love with this book. It was a slow and the way real love needs to be. I am hooked. If anyone is a single mom, with a adolescent daughter, divorced, being somewhat dysfuctional and having just a tiny smidgeon of any sort of addictive behavior, Crooked Little Heart is for You. I called every single-mother I knew and said read this book. Teen girls need to read this book, too. Crooked Little Heart should be read in every freshman english class in america. thank you. Annie Lamott.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific and precise
Review: I knew I was going to read other Lamott books after I read the wonderful vignette in which Elizabeth is slowly reduced to a "smouldering log" upon watching her spouse NOT change the kitchen light bulb all day. As a stepmom of a teenage girl, the writing resounded in many places in the book. I also loved the character of Rae, a woman whose spiritual life is rendered realistically, with humor and understanding

Rating:
Summary: This was a BIG disappointment!
Review: I haven't felt this way about a book in more than 20 years -- it was a real stinker. This book needed an editor so badly; I felt like I was reading Lamott's first draft. Non-sequiturs abound and puzzling phrases left my face with a permanently perplexed look. I found myself saying "come on" out loud on more than a few occasions. For example, one chapter begins, "One day at the beginning of June, when it was so hot that the only things moving outside were the crickets and the anorexics..." Come on! Is that supposed to be funny? This book was not nearly as funny and charming as "Rosie" -- even though Elizabeth's lethargy often left me aggravated in that book. I felt I owed it to the characters in "Rosie" to find out what happens in "Crooked Little Heart." Well, that will be the end of that allegiance

Rating:
Summary: A view of Rosie as adolescent and the world of tennis.
Review: The sequel to Lamott's Rosie, this takes the young child Rosie into puberty. Wrapped in the world of developing tennis pros, Lamott's great work in the story is the front seat view of the inner workings of the early teen-aged girls mind. The fears, hopes, worries, and loyalty to friendships that are the life of the teenager. Dealing with teen pregnancy, social stratas of the haves and have nots,and not incidently, seeing her mother finally put her dead father to rest,emotionally. This book will inspire you to get your hands on everything Lamott has written, of especial interest to you may be Bird by Bird, Lamott's writing tutorial. Very funny

Rating:
Summary: A disappointing book by a normally very funny author
Review: I read Bird by Bird by Lamott and loved it! I was so looking forward to reading this book and had read several good reviews. I was very disappointed and really didn't care what happened to any of the characters. And not much happens to any of them! I would skip this book and read Operating Instructions instead -- another great book by Lamott

Rating:
Summary: The story of a blended family of the 90's
Review: Lamott's latest novel, Crooked Little Heart, is the story of a family of the 90's confronting both the new questions of a blended family and age-old issues of human relationships. Respectively, Elizabeth, the mother; Rosie, her teenage daughter; and James, the step-father; face their own questions of unresolved grief, coming of age in the 90's, and the struggles of an aspiring writer. With varying degrees of success, Lamott combines her characteristic style of irreverentwit, hilarity, and candor to unveil very real and human characters to the reader. The two women characters are the most well-developed. As Rosie negotiates the competitive tennis tournament circuit, the pain and perils of an adolescent girl growing toward womanhood are skillfully explored. With Lamott's background as a writer, the reader might expect more character development of the stepfather-writer. (P)However, I find that Lamott's book is well written. Her metaphors for human feelings and relationships are sensitive, humorous, and thought-provoking. Throughout the story, the presence of a transient man in the bleachers at tennis matches lends suspense to the novel. As the story unfolds, the reader is treated to a family that perseveres despite individual and family secrets. Together these characters struggle in a very human way and with "crooked little hears" to become a family and make sense of the human condition

Rating:
Summary: Rosie is a great character
Review: Rosie is an unforgettable character and Lamott hits the teenage daughter/mother relationship on the head. A fun read