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Summary: my new favorite book
Review: This book replaced A Prayer for Owen Meany as my favorite book. The depth of each character and the background information on each is startling. Don't let its 900 pages scare you. I have passed this book on to at least 5 people, all finished it within two weeks. The entire story of one twins anguish over the others mental illness is filled with a range of honest emotions. I am eagerly awaiting Wally Lamb's next novel.
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Summary: To all you freightened by the 900 page-length!
Review: Don't let the length of this tome scare you. The story is so engaging that you will want to take the week off from work and just read it in one marathon sitting.The protagonist is a neoclassical hero who not only needs to protect his brother but also needs to look inside himself and discover how to trust, how to forgive and how to love. In the act of destroying his mind set he saves the most imporatant person in his life (read to find out who). So, call your boss, brew a pot of coffee, and settle down to a great book.
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Summary: I Know this much is true
Review: Amazing. This book keeps you guessing. Wally Lamb is a great writer. I was apprehensive at first when I saw the size of the book but grew to love the fact that it would not be over real soon. I highly recommend it to anyone who just wants to escape into someone elses life.
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Summary: Wally Lamb is a truly gifted writer.
Review: I was drawn into this book from the first page and, although it is a long book, it goes pretty quickly because it's impossible to put down. I was amazed at how Domenico (the grandfather) had a voice so different from Dominick's I could even hear his Italian accent! I can only hope Mr. Lamb writes another book soon because after this book and SHE'S COME UNDONE I am a devoted fan forever.
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Summary: Is this a book or a Soap Opera pilot?
Review: It is hard to say who should be more offended by this book, the reader, or the multitude of groups stereotypically presented by Wally Lamb. schizoprenics,gay women, Native Americans, Indian nationals,mental health workers, Italian-Americans,AIDS patients, Men...you name it Lamb has reduced their experience to a cliched, poorly written shadow of reality. Frankly, there are Soaps that contain more believeable plot lines. I found it hard to take, that with each plot turn, the reader was forced to swallow yet one more overly dramatic diaster, drawn directly from the canon of twentieth century, Baby boomer woes. Was there any psycological trauma Dommick did not endure and analize ad nauseum? If Lamb could have conjured a way to have him go through menopause I'm sure he would have included it. The implausible woes, and adolescent dissection of each one that befell Domminick, became so predictable that by the time he reached his AIDS scare I was almost convulsed with laughter, at it's almost inevitable inclusion. The end of this book is so predictable and trite, that Lamb must be blushing. Surely our reading public is in a sad state when a book this poor recieves so many four star ratings. I can only blame a society whose preoccupation with Soap Operas, allows books like this to become best sellers. Don't bother to wade through this tripe.
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Summary: Enough already!
Review: While I think this book has redeeming qualities (interesting characters, a plot that moves along quickly, quality writing), Wally Lamb really overdoes it. Dominic Birdsey suffers or is surrounded by just about every terrible thing that can happen to a person -- child abuse, mental illness, depression, self-mutilation, rape, the death of a child, murder, wife abuse, racism, suicide, adultery, AIDs -- for goodness sake, even voyeurism! Enough already! Then it all gets wrapped up in a neat bow in about 5 pages. This book needs to be about 1/2 as long and 1/2 as dramatic. Really overdone.
Rating: 
Summary: very good
Review: I also found this book hard to put down. The pages fly by. Lamb is obvisiously a very talented writer. The only complaint I have is the sections with his grandfather's diary could have been abridged a little bit and those sections don't really seem to fit with the rest of the book
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Summary: He's done it again
Review: Last year, my junior year in high school, I read 'She's Come Undone' and was absolutly captivated by that book and by Wally Lamb's writing. There have been books I could not put down, but with this one, the only thing that stopped me was if my body demanded sleep. I saw 'I Know This Much Is True' in an airport book store and didn't dive into it until almost 2 months after I had purchased it. Needless to say I finished in about a week, and am thirsty for more. I can even put my finger on it, but there is something about that book...I find myself going over parts of it, thinking about the characters, etc. Maybe I am only 17, but that book was good.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: Like many others, I read this book after hearing that it wasendorsed by Oprah. I had already read and enjoyed Lamb's "She'sCome Undone", but was doubly impressed by this, his second novel. The story is intricate and well-told, the characters are developed and interesting, and the ending leaves the reader satisfied and touched. An excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: almost a great book
Review: Like a lot of other people, I couldn't put this book down--once I got through the first two hundred pages. It was a pop culture version of the hero myth. A regular guy who is called to a life outsie the mainstream. Dominick was burdened with his sick brother but it was this experience that gave him his access to wisdom through forgiveness and sacrifice. Before I read this book I had heard people say that Lamb's portrayal of the woman in She's Come Undone was nothing less than an amazing feat for a male writer. I was blown away by his understanding of Italian culture and Italian- American experience in I Know This Much Is True. The experience he wrote of is very dark--much different than the story of my own family--but the essence of it was so on target I am still stunned. I thought the ending was weak. Dominick could have found happiness without everything working out with typical American perfection. It was dissapointing to me but I still loved the book and highly recommend it to anyone who wants to enjoy a book that is funny, tragic, educational and thought provoking. This book taps into something in us--thats why nobody I know who has read it was able to put it down.
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