Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: What a tedious read. The only way to describe this book is BORING!
Rating: 
Summary: truth on paper
Review: This book touched me like few others have, mostly thru personal experience. How this author could have created fictional characters I could identify with so closely is uncanny - I am closely related to a paranoid schizophrenic who could be Thomas - even to the portions of his childhood which I could remember in which he was teased mercillessly, one wonders how much this treatment along with a very sensitive and kind nature could have contributed to the development of his illness. I also related so strongly to the feeling of burden one feels when becoming his brothers keeper due the circumstances of life and the conscience we feel as loving human beings, however there are times when love alone is not enough. I agree with other reviews which felt this beautifully written novel ended far too cleanly, it tied everything up far too neatly in a way which rarely happens in reality.
Rating:
Summary: I Know This Much Is True.
Review: Without wishing to sound corny, no book has ever moved me the way this one has. It seems that Mr Lamb understands what it is like to be responsible for another person, his writing conveys the anguish and pain that caring for another involves, as we see brother Dominic fight for his schizophrenic brother Thomas, whose actions land him in a high security hospital for the mentally ill. The message of love and forgiveness is so well presented, no saccharine but lots of passion. This book is hard to put down and one wishes that it would continue after the last page has been read. The characters are so convincingly rounded that one can't help but feel that they are alive on this earth somewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Chock-full of nuisance
Review: Though well-written, I found none of the characters in this novel to be particularly likeable. The narrator, Dominick, was irritating, insensitive, and selfish, which made it hard for me to sympathize with his plight, especially his love problems. Nothing that happened (with exception to the first mutilation scene) elicited little more than a "ho-hum" from me. With an opening like that, it outweighed any climax this novel could have had. Where was the climax anyway? I expected the ending to be better, but it was highly unrealistic and (dare I say it) cheezy. I don't recommend this book, but I know that I'm in the minority.
Rating: 
Summary: I wanted to like this book, but in the end I didn't care
Review: After reading the countless customer reviews raving about this book, I really "wanted" to like this book. A friend of mine advised me to just get past the first bloody part and then I would be hooked. Sadly, I never got hooked. I did plod through 200 pages and decided if I still wasn't hooked, it was time to move on to something else. I felt the story was too bleak and depressing to continue on for hundreds and hundreds of pages. I read Angela's Ashes which was also bleak and depressing, but for some reason I really cared about the characters. I never really cared about the characters in this book.
Rating:
Summary: i KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE-"What took you so long?
Review: Perhaps I failed to establish a relationship with the protagonitst because he is a male. What female wants to hear more whinings of a 40 year old male? "Poor me, poor me" the plot runs on as the teller of the tale, Dominick Birdsey, relates to the reader all the horrors of his childhood. The abusive stepfather, the wimpy mother, the embarassement of a nerdy twin. Unlike other people from crazy families, Dominic succeeds early in life. By the time he enters college, he has chosen a career as a teacher, his stepfather is paying for his college, he is in love with a good-looking smart girl with a rich father. After making such good choices, I find it unlikely that he untracks as he does in the middle of the story over one tragedy in his life, shuts out his wife, and begins a pattern of self-destruction. The highlight of the novel are the translated ravings of the domineering grandfather, running roughshod over all who cross him. Dominick finally gets to reading this translation of his grandfather's life late in the novel. Character descriptions here are much more realistic, I could picture Prosepine in my mind much more than the adored Dessa, who never really comes alive in the novel, despite all Dominick's pinings. Big book, lacks any imaginative similies or metaphors. Long and wordy, Are all Men really so lacking in introspection as Dominick?
Rating:
Summary: This book makes me cherish life more.
Review: I held reading I Know This Much Is True for six months last year. I drag that book through half of my Senior year before I graduate High School. I must say that it was worth it. I Know This Much Is True makes me value life even more. Dominick Birdsey? You may think he's a pain-in-the-a**, but he's your normal typical 40 year old guy that wants a life. Thomas Birdsey? Dominick's identical twin who give anything to have normal life, but he cannot and that's a tragedy. Dominick goes through a lot of things. I won't tell you that because you should read the book. Yes, Dominick is he's brother life keeper. And when you get into the book, you'll get tired of Dominick complaining about his brother being chained to him. Then, some of you will feel that you feel sorry for Dominick. We have two men that are in pain. But yet, one will trimpuh and be that ultimate human being and the man he wants to be, and the man that we want him to be. I Know This Much Is True will make you cry, laugh, be thankful for what you have and what you got. Because in a way are like the Dominick and Thomas Birdsey. We want to grab hold of life and hang on it, too.
Rating: 
Summary: Glued for a week
Review: The clerk in the bookstore recommended this to me and being in Ireland at the time I had never heard of the author. I have to say I was a bit daunted by the size of the book at first but once I got maybe ten pages into it my doubts totally disappeared. I read this book in a Week! I couldn't put it down...the characters were so amazing and I found myself trying to solve the story with little clues at each turning point in the book - only to find out that I'd been completely wrong and the novel was taking a different direction. My only criticism was the ending, it was like I'd spent all this time going through Dominicks life at every pitfall, ony to have it all wrapped up neatly and quickly at the end. Almost like sitting listening to someone tell an extremely juicy story and then have them called away and have to wrap it up in a few seconds. It didn't deter from the over all story but I don't think I would have minded another 100 pages, if it had meant the story was completed in the same detailed style the novel carried throughout
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books that I've ever read
Review: This book was one of the most touching books that I have ever read. I usually try to stay away from Oprah books but this one came very highly recommended. By the end of the book you get to know Thomas and Dominick Birdsley like they were part of your onw family. I thought that they were real people and I think that is what I enjoyed most about the book.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, realistic, novel!
Review: Wally Lamb did such a wonderful job with I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE. Unlike some novels, it shows that not everybody has a 'fairy tale' life, and fantasy evils don't always bring us pain. Domonique was a really great protagonist, even though he suffers through plenty of hardships. From death, to illness, this novel will move and compell you. Although it is over nine hundred pages, don't let that intimidate you, you'll be through with I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE before you know it. I will be sure to read SHE'S COME UNDONE soon, and I hope Wally Lamb writes more great novels :)
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