gjpeace's review against another edition
3.0
Add this to the list of recent books that just didn't do much for me.
tossied's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
margaret_adams's review against another edition
Found this novel via Jane Alison's Meander, Spiral, Explode, which cited Why Did I Ever as an example of a radially-structured narrative. I loved this, loved the fragment form, and found it totally propulsive despite (because of?) the non-traditional structure.
lisadeluc's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape
bjr2022's review against another edition
4.0
This wild ride of a woman with a scrambled brain, a wacky career doctoring film scripts, and two grown children in terrible trouble reads like a series of Booth cartoon captions, if Booth were a woman who worked in Hollywood. Or it might also be written like a series of disconnected numbered scenes in a Hollywood shooting script. Or, or, or . . . who knows? I don't. It is funny and sad and completely unhinged. I enjoyed it.
sed's review against another edition
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cwalsh's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoy when a book goes from "Aw, this is a fuckin' gingersnap" to "Touch me again and I'll cut you" in a matter of a few lines. I think what I liked most about this book was the fact that it was so dedicated to the banalities of every day life.
491
Maybe it's me.
491
Maybe it's me.
donfoolery's review against another edition
4.0
This was novel, what, #6 for 2007? That's quite a record for me, and luckily I've yet to be disappointed. For a work that was decidedly not linear, I never found myself lost. It was like the 500+ sections were puzzle pieces, detailed enough so that you could see the whole picture without having to put those pieces together.
litsirk's review against another edition
5.0
It took me a really long time to read this book, and then today I picked it up and started over from the first page, and finished it a couple hours later, and now cannot understand how I ever had a hard time reading it. Go figure.
readingqueues's review against another edition
5.0
So, it’s like this: Mary Robison took a jackhammer to the English language. She cleared it of all the tired and old debris of overused everything in order to throw down asphalt for a new, beautiful, literary road of her own making. Had I ever read anything before this book? I can’t remember. This book made reading new again and has,quite possibly, ruined me for all other works of fiction. Read it. Read it. Read it. And then, read it again.