SECOND CHANCES

Rating:
Summary: Bittersweet
Review: Alice Adams uses her trademark writing style to chronicle the aging process among a tightly knit, yet diverse group of friends. They are unalike, but their judgements toward each other are mild. They make comprimises because, when you get down to it, they need each other. They are alone, lost their mates, or are a heartbeat away from losing their mates.

Aging is a drag, but Alice Adams has a way of softening it. It's always a pleasure to get to know her characters. She gets inside their heads and shows (through the help of limited parentheticals) what they are immediately thinking as they are saying something else. They are not forced upon us. Tragedies happen in this story, but they aren't the easy emotional or manipulative bombs that a lesser author would overuse.

It's an engaging read. Unfortunately, this book is not as good as her Superior Women.

Rating:
Summary: what was that?
Review: I read it and I still dont understand what the point was. There has to be a better way to portray the elderly than a bunch of bohemian Californian weirdies who have no clue. At least I hope there is.