Picked this up on a whim at a used book store and somehow didn't realize it was about cancer. I had just been told the day before that a friend's partner's cancer had returned. The book was spellbinding and heartbreaking. I am always a fan of stories that are not told linearly, although that migh...
This book was haunting, and the depiction of the final days of his wife's life felt raw and real. However, like some other reviewers I had little patience for the author/narrator, who was incredibly self-involved. I don't think he ever dealt with how thoroughly selfish and despicable it was to ha...
I read many reviews of this book while I was reading the actual book. This book, more than many I have read recently made me long for a book group to discuss it with. This book felt very REAL to me. It is clear that is did not meet the expectations of so many out there as many of the reviews stat...
This is a book that I am glad that I read, endured and finished, as the journey has a redemptive, although not perfect, ending. The subject matter and plot is not for the faint of heart, just as a long-lasting marriage/relationship is not either. I read somewhere that this "novel" is roughly au...
Only Children is a compassionate and knowing portrait of baby boomers obsessed about how to best raise their infants. The story follows two middle-class Manhattan couples from the deliveries of their first born until their fourth birthdays. What’s exposed about the new parents’s own childhoods ha...
I listened to the Audio version of The Game Player, which is a feel good story about two young boys whose friendship over about a dozen years develops into brotherly love as they grow up into young adults. Written by Rafael Yglesias in 1978, the story starts with middle-schooler Howard Cohen movi...
Keep in mind that this rating only applies to me - I don't recommend it to everyone. Now having mentioned the obvious disclaimer, I can say that this one of the few books I have earmarked for re-reading. If you are interested in psycho-analysis, then there's plenty of stuff here. The book has thr...
Fred thought furiously. He looked at the shadowed figure of Marion in the taxi. The seat made her look small, a fat little girl, her head barely reaching above the window. I’m gonna let her have it, he thought again, the excitement of his resolution pumping through him. She thinks I’ll take it qu...
It had all been arranged so there was no need for discussion. They seemed much like three clean-cut little boys: dressed in their pajamas, surrounded by Bill’s posters and records. Playboy magazines, schoolbooks, and two cots cluttered the room but added to the camp atmosphere. Each had taken a s...
He stopped a few feet into the room and readied himself to tell her. He hadn’t said hello. Nor did she. “I’m going to take a shower,” she said, as if it were a warning. “I took Carla Fransisca for a drive.” Debby smiled, a private look of amusement. “Again?” she said. “How’s she doing?” The edges...
He lifted the hook off Jeff’s lock, aiming it at the eye without letting go, as if figuring out how they worked together. “Don’t do that,” Brian said. With a mischievous smile, Klein let the hook dangle freely. He turned to give the boy his full att...