Rating: 
Summary: One wife short of a four star book
Review: John Casey had a knack for capturing emotions through dialog or action. This is good for most of his characters. However, its bothersome for the wife/mother, Joss.Joss (a film-maker) is married to Mike (a lawyer) and they have two daughters, and live in Charlottesville with many odd charcaters hanging around. Their life is turned updside down when Joss falls for a girl named Bonnie and Mike copes with the new arrangement by running for Congress and sleeping with his campaign aides. There are plenty twists and turns in the plot and the characters are fun and interesting. However I could not find one reason to want Joss to ever appear on any page. She's as pleasant as poison ivy and just as much an itch. She lives to argue and argues to live. Her films are seen by very few and understood by even fewer. She seems to believe that Mike is just as much at fault for her relationship with Bonnie. Yeah, right. I do think the book is enjoyable and recommend it. I just wish I could have offered four stars. Oh, Joss.
Rating: 
Summary: A wise and extraordinary look at love, loss and family.
Review: John Casey's "The Half-life of Happiness" was a wonderful read. I'd been waiting patiently for the next book since "Spartina" and was glad that it was a big, richly detailed examination of family, and the nature of love in all its good and bad ways. I particularly enjoyed the choice of utilizing the children's voices as sort of a Greek chorus commenting upon the action and people who fill the story. Of course, the ending was particularly insightful and extremely emotional after coming through these people's travails so richly because of the quality of Mr. Casey's writing.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoying Casey's wonderful texture again-great reading.
Review: We've waited patiently for another Casey after loving SPARTINA -- and, while his latest is different in many ways -- we're not disappointed. If you like reading books aloud, the richness of this one will particularly please you.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful, wise, funny, and very real
Review: What a brilliant book! I sat with a highlighter to capture all of Casey's wonderful insights and wisdom about men, women, family, and human interaction. The characters really come alive, and the reader is immediately drawn into this interesting, completely believable world. Casey writes with great sensitivity about people's complex emotions regarding their spouses, friends, family ... even their pets! And despite it being more than 500 pages, I dreaded seeing this book end. I just hope John Casey is hard at work on his next masterpiece.
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