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Summary: An exceptional book
Review: Funny, but also full of insight; I highly recommend this one.
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Summary: A great travel through the world of junk!
Review: GREAT BOOK! As a lifetime "junker",I saw myself in alot of these same situations.As a lifelong resident of the Detroit area,I have been in many of the places mentioned in this book.If you have every crept through a dirty dusty shop or barn,looking for a "treasure",this book is for you!
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Summary: FUNNY and MOVING STORY
Review: Highly recommend this to readers who enjoy well-written "small stories" that explore the emotional life of quirky characters in an interesting milieu.The milieu is a second-hand store in Detriot, owned by Richard, and the story follows him on outings to estate sales as well as visits to his mother's hospital bedside. Even before his mother dies, Richard and his sister engage in a tug-o-war over her belongings. He deeply cares about the "junk" he accumulates in his store, but at times it seems he cares more about junk than the people in his life. The second-hand store acts as a metaphor for Richard's "junked-up" emotional life, and I liked that. One day, Theresa crosses the threshold of Richard's store. She's an eccentric young woman with a horrible job of euthanizing animals at the local shelter. Richard and Theresa begin their dance of intimacy by taking steps to get closer to each other, then pulling away. Each hides in a private "junk store" of emotional pain and vulnerability. The story concludes with their going to Mexico to participate in the Day of the Dead rituals. For each, its an Act of Contrition, that finally brings them together. The novel keeps building in an interesting and emotional way that brought tears to my eyes at the end.
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Summary: A Fabulous Treasure!
Review: I discovered this book at a small corner bookshop and the cover itself was intriguing enough to catch my eye. What a great book! It's a great story with a good ending, and I did not feel cheated out of my money at any time. I very much recommend this book to anyone looking for something "different" to read!
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Summary: Wonderful
Review: I read this book for a local discussion group, I belong to. I had never heard of it before that, and I wish I knew why. This is a fascinating and wonderfully written book. Buy it. You'll like it. I wish Micahel Zadoorian would write a sequel.
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Summary: Worth your time!
Review: I really enjoyed this first novel by Michael Zadoorian. What at first blush seemed a basic "boy-meets-girl at the thrift store" story developed into something much deeper. Set in Detroit, the author captures perfectly the setting for this story - I found myself saying "I know that street, I know that restaurant!" The tangled and tempestous relationship between "Junk" and Theresa is one that anyone who hasn't lived a fairy-tale life can appreciate. An exception to so many other novels with flat, uninspiring supporting characters, Richard's family is explored with a depth that reminds us that we don't often fully know those who are closest to us. I have recommended this book to several friends and look forward to more!
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Summary: This book definitely is not junk!
Review: I really love this book. It is clever, endearing, and wonderfully descriptive, and the characters are likeable though realistically flawed. The book manages to "tug the heartstrings" (i hate that term but it's appropriate) without coming off as cheesy or trying too hard. The story is simple but engaging: Richard (aka Junker, Junk and J) owns a second-hand shop, the kind I wish was in my neighborhood. He feels fairly inadequate and sort of unsure of his life until he meets up with Teresa, a fellow junk lover with a troubling job: she's an animal shelter employee, and as such, among other duties has to euthanize lots of stray animals. This unlikely pairing works well, and the reader gets to enjoy witnessing the unfolding of their slightly awkward but sweet relationship, which is punctuated with many great moments but is also pocked with some potholes. The descriptions of Junk's garage sale finds are fabulous, and the encounters with his family will probably sound familiar to many "grown kids". Also, the voice of Junk (through the first person narration) is wry and smart; at times it turns somewhat melancholy but never falls into the trap of being overly gooshy. Also, the book is set in the Detroit area, which is where my family is from and I lived in my early years, so for me (and presumably other Detroit natives or transplants) it's fun to spot the references to different towns, landmarks etc. This book is an unusual find: an enjoyable little tale that doesn't try too hard or take itself overly seriously. The descriptions make you want to read on quickly to gobble up more information about the characters (and the estate sale finds), but it's one you'll come back to, in my case dozens of times (literally). If your heart stops beating for a second when you encounter a weird little store like Satori Junk in a town you've never been in, or you get excited at a garage sale when you're digging through stuff and find a magnet exactly like the one that was on your grandma's fridge for 30 years, this book is definitely for you. As for others (unless you're the "beige plaid couch" type), you should still enjoy a peek into Richard's fabulous world of discarded goodies.
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Summary: a gem of a book
Review: quirky, fresh, sweet, insightful, modern, true.
Rating:
Summary: A treasure!
Review: This book is such a delight! Although I'm just a casual fan of junk stores and thrift shopping, I absolutely loved "Second Hand." It's a funny, human, warm story about two "different" people (J., who's eccentric; Theresa, who's downright dysfunctional, though for very good reasons) who fall in love; there's an emotional core to this book that really makes you *care* about these characters, and at the end, I found myself wishing very much that I could find out what was next for them. Not many books capture "real life" in all its messy, confused, complicated glory the way this one does. I doubt many copies of "Second Hand" will be showing up in secondhand stores -- this book is definitely a keeper.
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Summary: A Rare Gem
Review: This book reminds me of Anne Tyler's books, transplanted from Baltimore to Detroit: we're invited into the life of an ordinary person who has to work things out before he can have a satisfactory relationship. The book pays off in many ways. The prose is highly polished, so you can enjoy it simply as an piece of great writing. The descriptions of junk items are terrific -- these alone are worth the price of the book. The author makes great use of humor. Best of all, the book resolves in a beautiful and satisfying way. I can't wait for Zadoorian's next novel.
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