Rating: 
Summary: Too Unbelievable for me
Review: I Have read Alice Hoffman before and I truly enjoy her work but this story was too unrealistic and dissapointing. I was willing to give the author creative license with the story of Stephen the Wolfman but she left too many questions unanswered. Here are a few but there are more:Why was Robin able to walk right out of the hospital with Stephen and nobody ever questioned his whereabouts? Why did the guard unlock the handcuffs so quickly on just Robin's say so? Why did Robin want to bring him into her household while she was going through a messy divorce and money problems? How come Stephen learned to read, write and play chess so quickly? I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone but I do recommend reading "Local Girls" also by Ms. Hoffman. Its a better story and truly shows how much talent Ms. Hoffman has.
Rating: 
Summary: I absolutely loved this book!
Review: I may be biased, because I just love this author, but this was truly a great book. You begin reading it like it is a fairy tale, and soon forget the unlikeliness of the story line -it becomes utterly real to you. This was truly an excellent book - I don't know if I would have read it if I was unfamiliar with the author, but I am so glad I did. I recommend it to all of my friends.
Rating:
Summary: Hoffman's Best Book
Review: I read this years ago, but figured I should add to the positive reviews of this really wonderful novel. Maybe it's my romantic side, but I absolutely loved it. It is blamed for being unrealistic. OF COURSE it's unrealistic. Men, brought up by wolves do not turn civilized in the matter of weeks. But SN does not claim to be an anthropology textbook. It is a love story, and an extremely beautiful one at that. It is also the best that Hoffman has written (I think)--the atmosphere of a little town where time stands still is done masterfully, as is the atmosphere of that same town when something goes dreadfully wrong. The romance between the main characters is wonderful. I highly recommend it to all you romantics out there (but NOT to those seeking to read a true antrhopological account).
Rating: 
Summary: A modern day fairy tale...
Review: I simply loved this book! Of course, it was a highly unbelieveable story. I think that is the magic of the book. It draws you in so quickly that by the time you are finished reading the last page, you are breathless. I read the book in only two days because I wanted to know what would happen to the "wolf boy". Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the last few pages of the novel. I felt there was too much left to wonder. However, I would recommend this book to anyone who needs a sweet, simple jolt on what it means to be human and to love.
Rating:
Summary: implausible but enjoyable
Review: I suspect anthropologists and social scientists would read this novel and roll their eyes, but taken as fantasy, it is palatable. The writing is tight and expressive, beautiful without being garish, and the characters are believable - except, of course, for the man rescued by wolves when a baby and raised in the wild - his transition to civilization is a bit too smooth. Yet the tragedy that befalls the small town is believable - unfortunately getting more so in today's world, and Hoffman's descriptive powers have never been better.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Magic!
Review: I've read several of Ms. Hoffman's books and enjoyed them all. Second Nature, however, stole my heart. I loved it. Then I read the reviews and comments from some of the other readers and had to sit back and wonder why it moved me so much while other readers clearly found it unbelievable. I'm a published author myself, and as such, a very critical reader. So, yes, there were plot holes, things that couldn't possibly have happened. But Ms. Hoffman's weaves a spell of magic with her writing that forced me to suspend disbelief. Her books take me back to when I read for the pure pleasure of the story rather than how she plotted a scene or developed a character. Her writing is simple and beautiful, and I couldn't have cared less whether Robin could have actually walked out of that hospital with Stephen. Or whether a she-wolf would in reality take in a human child and raise her as her own. I wanted to believe, and for the space of this very special book, I did. To me, that's pure magic.
Rating:
Summary: Second Nature vs. First Nature
Review: Like the greatest American novelists (Hawthorne, Melville, Twain, even Poe), Alice Hoffman always deals with the greatest questions in human life--questions that are cosmic or theological. In this book, she deals with Nature vs. Civilization--and which is more "human." She revives the old myth of the man raised by wolves, who is then reintroduced to civilization. Her commentary on the self-absorption and falsity of civilization is wry and frank; her views of the attractions of nature are brutal and hypnotic. A classic novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Elementary
Review: Nothing spectacular about this read. Here on Earth and At Risk is by far this authors finest work. Second Nature is the story of a child raised by wolves and later captured by hunters (original isn't it?). The Wolfman is later indoctrinated to the ways of human beings while constantly longing to return to his family of wolves. After being rescued from a state asylum, the Wolfman is taken in by a mother, separated from her husband, who of course ends up falling in love with the Wolfman and being impregnated with his child. In the midst of this predictable drama are a series of murders of small animals and then of a child in the town (surprise, surprise!). This is a nice story for teenagers and the extreme daydreamer but no real literary value here, in my opinion. The writing is smooth, but everything else about he novel is simply elementary.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful love story, mystery, and thriller all in one book!
Review: Practical Magic used to be my favorite book but I like this one even better. I don't know how I missed this book when it first came out since I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and usually try to read everything which is even remotely connected to the area. This book really explores what it means to be "civilized" or "human". All of Hoffman's books contain the mystical, mythic, or magical storyline but that does not take away from the real issues developed in her books.
Rating:
Summary: What does it mean to be human?
Review: Reading over some of the other customer reviews, I notice that many people criticized this book for being too unrealistic. I think those people are missing the point. This is a modern fairy-tale, and fairy-tales are meant to be lessons about what it means to be human, and how we are supposed to live our lives. Using the "Wolfman", Stephen, as a metaphor, Hoffman manages to show how our modern world can cause us to forget our connection to the rest of nature. Using the events in the story, she shows how fragile and precious love is, and how grief and tragedy can cloud our vision and cause us to place blame on innocent people. This is the third novel by Hoffman I have read, and it is by far the most poignant and most philosophical. Hoffman is a magnificent writer, one whom I strive to emulate. If you are looking for a touch of magic, a story which might illuminate for you what it means to be human in the last part of the twentieth century, Hoffman is the author you should read. And this book would be a great place to start!
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