Rating: 
Summary: Easily the most thought-provoking book I've read this year.
Review: The book starts off with Jane Lafton, a woman who is "doing good" as in quite alright, thank you, who got into a car accident. She is saved with barely a scratch, but her scare got her thinking about her life, and how she wants to change it. With this resolution the heavy gears of change are set into motion, first slowly, then, as gears are wont to do, the changes in her life become much more profound.
This was not the most well-written book I have ever read, there were not a huge amount of fancy prose or spell-binding cliff-hangers, nor was this a romance in the true sense of the word. However, this was definitely a book that challenges you to take a good look at your life, and, even if you think you're "doing pretty good", as Jane Lafton thought of herself, there's always room for a small shift in priorities. I can honestly say that Pamela Morsi made me take a hard look at my own life, not to say I was exactly like that, but thinking through life, and growing, is what life is all about. This book had a tremendous amount of insights that I've never come across before in a book, romance or otherwise, and you can tell that Ms. Morsi really thought through her subject matter very deeply before writing this novel. I've read some other books with similar themes, with the protagonist going through a near-death experience and changing her life, but usually it transforms into a divorce, a career change, etc. Although Jane does go through those things, it is portrayed very differently, as a natural progression of her personal growth rather than a desire to actually change her life. Ms. Morsi also changed my views on divorce - until now I never thought there was such a thing as a GOOD divorce, I always thought that a divorce should be fought no matter what, but this book changed my mind. I am actually quite an opinionated person, and a pretty critical one, too - it takes a good deal to impress me. "Doing Good" impressed me very much.
If you're looking to change your life - even a little bit - you simply can't get a better how-to manual than "Doing Good". Thank you, Pamela Morsi.
Rating:
Summary: well-written entertainment
Review: This book could have taken a trite old concept -- rich person faces down death and starts to be a better person as a result -- and been hopelessly boring about it. However, it is cleverly written and keeps the reader entertained.Jane Lofton is a social climbing maven -- she has a lucrative real estate job, a rich husband who helps her get into THE country club worth being in, a nice home and car, and a beautiful 19-year-old daughter. Of course, her husband is fooling around with a twentysomething hairdresser and her daughter won't speak to her without telling her what her therapist says, but she made it out of her working-class neighborhood and that's all that matters, right? When Jane is in a car accident that leaves her trapped, she promises God she will "do good". When she is unexpectedly rescued, she has the uncomfortable notion that she should keep her promise. She starts to examine how she treats people and hunts down opportunities to "do good". She is surprised that the antiques dealer whose inventory she has been plundering for years is someone she knew in junior high, but has been too stuck on herself to notice. She has kept a sweet real estate deal going for herself for 2 years by promising to sponsor a couple to the country club, then deliberately blackballing them to keep them dependent on her .... Jane is easier and easier to like as the book goes on ... the text is peppered with excerpts of her childhood to explain (although not excuse) her adult behavior, and how she handles her issues with her family, as well as interact with people she would have overlooked before, is pretty amazing. This was my first time reading Morsi's work but it won't be the last.
Rating:
Summary: A Feel Good Read
Review: This is a wonderful book. 1st time I've read anything by this author but not the last. This book makes you think about how one lives their life.
Rating: 
Summary: Thought-provoking book
Review: This is an interesting book that lures you in, and leaves you with some questions.
It does have some stumbles at the beginning. When Jane is telling about having read books on the "fringe viewpoints" of child-rearing, she makes up silly titles. Why? There are real fringe viewpoint child-rearing books out there she could have mentioned.
Jane also brings up her silly belief that "true aficionados" of BMW cars call them Bimmers instead of Beemers - the ridiculous claim that the pretentious country club set has the right to dictate the "correct" slang term to the majority of the country. Language, especially slang, is based on usage.
In her book, the rich are almost always self-righteous, harmful and hypocritical (or at least shallow), and the non-rich are almost always honest with a heart of gold. One could even say that Jane's latent goodness is a result of the fact that she was born poor. This is an unthinking and gratuitous generalization.
Yet Morsi does have some nice turns of phrase. The belief that those who don't rise to the top don't deserve to is "social Darwinism. Or maybe in Edith's case, socialite Darwinism." And, of course, "no good deed goes unpunished."
There is little examination in the book, even after Jane becomes "good," of who God is. She doesn't examine that the God who sent Chester to rescue her is the same God who allowed her car to be on the road in the path of the semi-truck tanker in the first place.
She waffles back and forth on how far she should go in her gratitude for being saved, and in keeping her promise to do good if she is rescued. She also constantly wrestles with the uncertainty of how her actions will ultimately affect others: we may even harm people by "helping" them.
Jane "believed in God, of course." But that was supposedly evidenced by her husband and her being "members of one of the oldest, most influential churches in the city." She later later she reveals that she's not a member, but simply attended with her husband because "joining requires attending workshops and courses." Regular church attendance by this group of socialites does not translate into moral behavior.
Once Jane makes the promise "to God" to do good, she looks to mainly secular philosophers to guide her in what is "good." She's also guided by Maimonides' list of eight levels of charity (Tzedakah).
She acknowledges the inconsistency of believing in a God who rescues her, but ignores others in similar plights. "If all it took to get out of trouble were some heavenward mutterings, nobody would ever get hurt or die." And she faces the inconsistency of not really believing in a God who acts on earth, but having prayed to Him as if He did. Throughout the book she proceeds to "do good" without any heavenly guidance, yet concludes that the goodness of the universe is either "God or the result of God."
The sudden "miraculous" event of being rescued after her car crash gives Jane a different perspective on her values and priorities. The same thing can happen through taking a college class in Europe. The contributions Jane makes are not financially hard - she gives out of her abundance - but they are socially hard for her because they necessitate a sea change in her priorities and relationships. Like many of us, she never comes to a firm understanding of why the world is the way it is, and why she acts the way she acts. Her God is like a genie who must be credited with the good in the world, because we are embarrassed to admit that we may be good.
In sum, the book is worth reading. It's nice to read a book without a serial killer lurking in the shadows, or World War III looming over the next horizon.
Rating:
Summary: Doing Good by Pamela Morsi
Review: This is one of the best books I've read in a long time!
Jane Lofton thinks she has it all. She'd grown up as a nobody, wanting to be a somebody. Now she belongs to the country club, she drives a fabulous car, and she's married to a rich man from good lineage. But when an accident almost takes her life she makes a promise to God that she feels she has to keep. Her journey brings her to the realization her life hasn't been perfect, but it's never too late to change.
Pamela Morsi not only gave me a wonderful book that I couldn't put down until I read the last page, but she made me realize that even though I may never see the end result, little things do make a difference.
Rating:
Summary: Doing Good by Pamela Morsi
Review: This is one of the best books I've read in a long time!
Jane Lofton thinks she has it all. She'd grown up as a nobody, wanting to be a somebody. Now she belongs to the country club, she drives a fabulous car, and she's married to a rich man from good lineage. But when an accident almost takes her life she makes a promise to God that she feels she has to keep. Her journey brings her to the realization her life hasn't been perfect, but it's never too late to change.
Pamela Morsi not only gave me a wonderful book that I couldn't put down until I read the last page, but she made me realize that even though I may never see the end result, little things do make a difference.
Rating:
Summary: engaging contemporary morality tale
Review: When she was Jane Domschke growing up in impoverished Sunnyside, she had one goal and that was to get out of the wrong side of town. Jane succeeds by marrying into a wealthy family. She and her spouse David have one child, Brynn away at school, and Jane becomes a five million-dollar realtor. Her world seems perfect though her husband cheats and her daughter disrespects her whenever they talk.
Everything changes for Jane when an 18-wheeler tanker crosses the median of the highway and crashes into her car. Jane, trapped with smoke and gas all around her, prays to God that if she is rescued she swears that she will do good things from now on. Septuagenarian Chester Durbin unexplainably saves Jane's life. Jane makes efforts to do good deeds, but learns that good is in the eye of the beholder and that her intentions rarely pan out as expected. Still even with David leaving her and Brynn fleeing with her therapist for Europe, Jane rehabilitates herself with the help of Scott Robbins born on her side of the tracks.
DOING GOOD is an engaging contemporary morality tale that the audience will relish because of the complexity of the world that Jane is just beginning to explore. The story line shows how difficult and complicated society is as Jane's attempts to perform good deeds often go astray ending with questionable results. This includes the seemingly simple, symbolic and innocent act of giving Snickers to Chester. DOING GOOD is a great tale that deserves wide reading as Pamela Morsi demonstrates that sound bytes or even hard work do not necessarily solve social issues. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed It!
Review: Wow! What a different type of book. I had picked this up at the used book store a couple months ago, and it went to the bottom of the pile. Well, when I ran out of stuff to read I grabbed this. The back with the divorce and everything kind of put me off. This book is really fun and worthwhile. I think that it should appeal to almost everyone. A selfish socialite gets into a car accident and an elderly man from a nearby nursing home saves her from iminent death, and after meeting the guy, you knew it had to be from up above. While trapped in the car, she begs God to do better in her life and to do good things. The car changes her from a selfish social butterfly to someone who looks more practically at the world, and how she can help. It was a very feel good story, and had some humorous moments. It walked her realistically through a divorce whose time had come to dealing with and finding a balance with her 19 year old teenager. It also found her discovering who she was as a person. I think most women can relate to this book. Definately get it!!
Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed It!
Review: Wow! What a different type of book. I had picked this up at the used book store a couple months ago, and it went to the bottom of the pile. Well, when I ran out of stuff to read I grabbed this. The back with the divorce and everything kind of put me off. This book is really fun and worthwhile. I think that it should appeal to almost everyone. A selfish socialite gets into a car accident and an elderly man from a nearby nursing home saves her from iminent death, and after meeting the guy, you knew it had to be from up above. While trapped in the car, she begs God to do better in her life and to do good things. The car changes her from a selfish social butterfly to someone who looks more practically at the world, and how she can help. It was a very feel good story, and had some humorous moments. It walked her realistically through a divorce whose time had come to dealing with and finding a balance with her 19 year old teenager. It also found her discovering who she was as a person. I think most women can relate to this book. Definately get it!!
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