Rating:  Summary: A Wonderful Read! Review: Wally Lamb has done it again! I loved "She's Come Undone" and was amazed at how a man wrote the book since it was totally about a woman coming undone. Now, in "I Know This Much Is True", Mr. Lamb has amazed me again. I read the book in less than 2 weeks and hated finishing it. I enjoyed the Italian excerpt as much as I enjoyed the story of the twins. I never got bored. Bring on another one Mr. Lamb! I am a collector!
Rating:  Summary: American male from immigrant to psychotic Review: Although I found the shere number of setbacks that Dominic had to cope with difficult to swallow, I loved the way they were written, and the believability of his reactions, I also stayed with him through his often hidious mistakes becase of his thoughtful and well intentioned reactions to them. Lamb's different voices, as he spoke as Dominic's earlier self in flashbacks, and the awful chauvenist imigrant grandfather in the memoir were very impressive. (Although the way the memoir started with footnotes and italian words left in for scholarly reasons, and then just lost them annoyed me.) The use of the other Male characters as mirrors in which Dominic could see his own flaws seemed, speaking as a woman very plausible, I look forward to discussing the book with males, and to reading "she's come undone" which I presume is through to the other side of the looking glass. Can he be this convincing on women?
Rating:  Summary: I Am A Twin Review: This book spoke to me. How did Wally Lamb know that I Protected my twin from teasing when I could. How did He know that I feel that I'm the sane one even though after reading this book I'm not sure that I'm right about that particular point. There were so many parts of this book that I related to on a personal level that I think the author has been secretly following my progress from elementary school. Am I being paranoid? ? ?" No, that's My Twin!!
Rating:  Summary: An incredible read Review: To pick up this book, one may be intimadated....don't be! As an avid reader, I have found this book to be one of the most incredible I have ever had the pleasure to read. Not once was I not totally involved in every aspect of this book. Even though the main character moved from past to present all through the book, I never felt lost. I have recommended this book to everyone I have talked to as the best book I've ever read. Thanks Wally Lamb for sharing this wonderful book with us.
Rating:  Summary: Loved "She's Come Undone" but skipped chapters in this one. Review: I was so stoked when this book came out because I loved "She's Come Undone" and recommended it to everyone I know. When I started this book I was intrigued by the first chapters - Thomas cutting off his hand and learning about the history of the Birdsey's. But, nothing about this book ever drew me in. I liked Dominick but this book was like a bad joke where one bad thing after another happens. There was no real substance to this and after a while it was so predictable that I could have written chapters myself. Also, I thought the grandfather's story did nothing for the book and could have cut down the size considerably.
Rating:  Summary: Truth is, its brutal. Review: Violent, oppressive, and perverse. Woven into its lunatic fabric are at least four murders, a like number of suicides, and dozens of other ugly crimes against humanity. An encyclopedic variety of aberrant sexual behavior is featured throughout. Most characters are disturbed, unstable, or abusive. Death seems the best solution to many problems.Well crafted descriptions of turn of the century Italian customs, immigration, and living conditions are welcome relief, so is nostalgia from 50's and 60's. Discussion of the unique psychological makeup of identical twins is interesting. On balance, dark and ugly. An easy pick for Oprah because it is chock full of talk show loser types to whom her industry owes its existence.
Rating:  Summary: Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah! Review: I wont need 1,000 words to review this loooooong book. It was time consuming, to say the least and to think that Wally Lamb asks us to give him so much attention for such dribble makes me wonder about reading any more of his novels.
Rating:  Summary: Worth the effort!! Review: This is the first book of Wally's that I have read - and now I'll go back to "She's Come Undone". As I am currently living in New Zealand, there are a great deal of American Writers that we do not have access to - Amazon.com has changed that for me, I am very glad to say - PLUS, of course, Oprah's recommendations. This book was an effort - mainly because 'life' did not allow me time to spend endless hours lapping up the wonderful and inspiration words. It has really made me take a look at my life - and appreciate the joy and beauty that I am surrounded with on a daily basis. They say that you don't appreciate what is around you - but I must say that Wally's truly fabulous book has made me appreciate how blessed I am - and not to take anything for granted anymore. THANK YOU!!
Rating:  Summary: Fatally flawed Review: I wanted to like this book......I tried to like this book......I really liked large chunks of this book....The subject is interesting, I liked the main character, Dominick, and his brother Thomas, and all of their bizzare friends, family and situations. I don't have trouble with lengthy books. I was buying the whole thing.....until the "text-in-text;" it didn't work. I know lots of Italians and none of them are obsessed with monkeys. I was really disappointed. I cried at the end...it was touching, but mostly I was discouraged. I thought Lamb had potential as a writer but I'm starting to think maybe not. If you want to read a really well-written "text-in-text" with plenty of dysfunction to go around, try Posession by A.S. Byatt.
Rating:  Summary: OUTSTANDING! Review: I thought this book would take me a month to get through but I finished it in less than two weeks. I couldn't get enough! Wally Lamb keeps you guessing. The characters are so vivid! Dominick's inner struggle for peace in his tragic life is compelling. Again, Lamb doesn't use rosy words with the characters. They are real! Dominick's lifelong struggle with his brother and his feelings of having to fight for his mother's love are honest. The life-story of his Grandfather gets more and more shocking as you go! Lamb has outdone himself!
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