Rating:  Summary: Laughs, sex, misery and a hopeful ending Review: Besides being hilarious and lewd (a very good start), the novel is quite touching. We all do want to do the right thing, don't we, to believe that the things we do benefit the people around us, not just Number One? And don't we all screw it up royally lots of the time? Sam and most of the other characters in the book (exceptions: Gilia, Hank, a couple of others) seem like they were issued fun house glasses as children and haven't been able to see anything straight since then. Nobody, most of all Sam, knows the right way to be a good person and all his good intentions can't prevent him from walking into trees and holes. He learns a lot about himself by the end of the book; maybe he finds a way to see clearly. All-in-all, very entertaining with a humane message softly delivered.
Rating:  Summary: Laughs, sex, misery and a hopeful ending Review: Besides being hilarious and lewd (a very good start), the novel is quite touching. We all do want to do the right thing, don't we, to believe that the things we do benefit the people around us, not just Number One? And don't we all screw it up royally lots of the time? Sam and most of the other characters in the book (exceptions: Gilia, Hank, a couple of others) seem like they were issued fun house glasses as children and haven't been able to see anything straight since then. Nobody, most of all Sam, knows the right way to be a good person and all his good intentions can't prevent him from walking into trees and holes. He learns a lot about himself by the end of the book; maybe he finds a way to see clearly. All-in-all, very entertaining with a humane message softly delivered.
Rating:  Summary: A disappointing ending to the trilogy Review: Huh? I can't believe that mostly everyone gave this book at least four stars. To be blunt, I thought it sucked. Whereas I tore through the Sorrow Floats and Skipped Parts and loved them, I couldn't even finish Social Blunders. It doesn't embody the originality or freshness of the other books at all. The characters aren't even close to believable--they're completely one-dimensional. They don't at all resemble their former selves from the previous two books. They react to their given situations according to a predictable formula, which makes for some really boring reading. As for the plot, I found it overly contrived to make up for the lack of character development. Of course, I don't really know much about the plot since I couldn't even get through the entire book. Conclusion: read Sorrow Floats and Skipped Parts, and forget about this one. Don't spoil a good thing.
Rating:  Summary: The humor that I look for in a book! Review: I picked this one out of the blue one day at a bookstore and it sat on my shelf for about a month till I found the time to read it which was on a plane ride to Gothenburg, Sweden. I sat up all night reading it and basically laughed so hard that I fell out of my seat! I read it again that same summer on a beach in Greece. I ended up reading it mostly aloud to my finace on the beach. He recommends the book also. Gotta love family dysfunction
Rating:  Summary: funny, very good, BUT... Review: I picked this up by chance at the bookstore. I actually was trying to buy either Hubert Selby Jr's Last Exit to Brooklyn and Philip Roth's Operation Shylock, but noooo, I never get what I head to the bookstore for. I ended up with American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis and, of course, Social Blunders by Tim Sandlin. I have a continually growing list (at 100+ authors by now) of authors to read. This has nothing to do with this book. The things the protagonist Sam Callahan does in this book are, sometimes, funny. The storyline kept me reading, it was interesting, after reading it I went out and got the others in the series (which I hadn't known about until about halfway through this book)... but some of the situations Sam finds himself in are sometimes TOO far out. Nothing he does seems to have consequence (or, at least, a believeable one). I reccomend reading it, just be prepared.
Rating:  Summary: Social Blunders Review: I picked up Social Blunders By chance. Hands down one of the best books I have read. I have pushed this book on all my friends and they loved it! Warning once you read one you will want to read all of his books.
Rating:  Summary: A quick, entertaining read. Review: Sandlin's narrative voice combines the absurdity of Tom Robbins, the pithy social observation of Douglas Coupland, the male sexual wanderlust of Phillip Roth. While the novel might have some unrealistic situations - Callahan's exploits involve a lot of "outrageous comedic exploits" and the dialogue is often more concerned with wry social commentary than an accurate reflection of the way people actually talk (see Doug Coupland) - I feel these touches are allowed in the fictions of Sandlin, Robbins, and Coupland because in all three writers' works, such devices labor in the service of an amusing, socially aware and often touching story. Sandlin - and Callahan - are not trying to transcend anything here or shake the foundations of contemprary American fiction. They're just trying to be nice guys with amusing stories to tell, and in this, Sandlin and his beleaguered protagonist succeed.
Rating:  Summary: Slightly less wonderful than Skipped Parts and Sorrow Floats Review: Social Blunders doesn't tear along as captivatingly as Skipped Parts and Sorrow Floats. Still, it is difficult to find a novel that is this well written, generates this many laughs, and has as powerful a message as any of the three parts of the trilogy. So, maybe Social Blunders deserves only four and a half stars.
Rating:  Summary: BIZARE Review: Social Blunders is a story about a man who is LOST. Sam (the main character) never knew his father and his mother is a crazy feminist. He inherited a ton of money and just tries to find ways to fill the days. I found this book hard to get into - but once I hit the half way mark, I was intrigued and excited to see what was going to happen next. The author keeps you guessing and wondering when all the madness is going to end. WONDERFUL story!
Rating:  Summary: irreverant and original! Review: Social Blunders was the first Sandlin book I read and it was a great introduction to this talented author. Though the plot and characters are a bit far from reality, Sandlin's character Sam Callahan's honest appraisals of life and himself, as well as his pathetic yet real sense of self pity allow you to laugh with him even in his lowest moments.
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