On the plus side, this is a great concept and well written. Narration was good. I did enjoy certain parts of the book very much. On the other hand, the story didn't consistently hit the same note (comedy, tragedy?) and sort of meandered along (slowly) until...it was over. I felt a little more enlightened about the whole point after listening to an interview with the author, but not enough to wholeheartedly recommend the book.

I have enjoyed Tom Perotta's other work and I found many of the same qualities I enjoyed in his other works here - moments of wry humor, deeply flawed but compelling characters, and well crafted prose. However interesting the premise, I found the overall work unsatisfying. The story came to a somewhat abrupt end that gave me the feeling that the writer simply didn't know how to end it gracefully.

The narrator did a good job and this passed the time on a long car trip well, but I found this book a bit dissapointing.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a fun story about a possible rapture.I would much rather listen to The Leftovers than The Left Behind series.

.....the ending TOTALLY ticked me off!!

Okay...now that I got that off my chest....I was so excited to read this book....the cover was just so cool....the author is one I had read "Little Children" and really liked it.....and who doesn't want to read about 'The Rapture'???

I tried to like the main characters but I felt like I didn't really know them by the end of the book.....they all felt pretty superficial to me and I was basically disappointed in all their storylines and how they ended or should I say left you hanging....NOTHING worse than not finishing a storyline....

As for the ending.......I kept hoping that the last chapter of the book would redeem it by giving me something amazing to sum it all up....Was it really the Rapture or was it some Government conspiracy or aliens zapping people off the face of the earth??? Will any of the main characters reach some point of resolve and happiness in their bleak outlooks on life??? Will it make me forgive Tom Perotta for this waste of 10 hours of my life and be looking forward to his next novel??? I can tell you that the book failed in all those aspects and more for me....it turned out to be one longgggg boring review of people trying to cope with sudden loss of loved ones and what they should do now that it seems that there isn't much left in the world to look forward to.

It just NEVER got really exciting at any point in the book....there were many hopeful scenarios where I would think.....FINALLY....something to make my heart beat a little faster or wake me up from this snoze-fest.....then it would just fade into another story line with no climax.....this happened over and over again and then BAM the ending was absolutely a "WTF...is that really it?!?!?!"....I sat there waiting for something more and it was just a bunch of dead air than music to tell me the story was FINISHED...OMG.....I was so frustrated I came home and ranted to my husband all night long about how STUPID and FRUSTRATING the ending was and that I had just lost 10 hours of my life that I could never get back!!!

So basically what I'm trying to say is this book left me hanging and bummed because I was really looking forward to a new look at what has been written about many times before and it just wasn't there....Sorry Tom but I tried....but I just couldn't love it or even like it.....it was just ho-hum for me...

My issues are with the story, not the audio. I was disappointed with the story itself

Not a thing. He was fine

Nothing. My issues are with the story, not the audio

All of them

I will rely more on reader/listener reviews in the future and less on NPR book reviews

yes

did not have a favorite

first time

neither

I liked the book. It kept my attention until the end when I felt as though the author had gotten tired of writing and just ended, kind of taking the easy way out. The ending left me feeling like a leftover.

I really like the stories about

No, probably not.

The characters fall flat. We listened to the whole book because we were driving.

I found myself entering into the strange new world of the characters. Makes one wonder what it would really be like if the rapture came and I was one of the leftovers...one left behind. Who would be taken that would really surprise us? Those we would never expect to be raptured from the world. Those who don't fit our idea of the saved ones. Very interesting. And how many people would deny it was really the Rapture?

Usually my policy with book reviews is "if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all." Even if a book wasn't really my style I figure that someone worked really hard to write it and they don't deserve to hear their work torn apart. However, my reaction to this book is that it is so bad that I want other people to know before spending money on this one.

I heard about this book on a book podcast and it sounded like a really funny read. I've never read Tom Perrotta but am thinking that maybe his style isn't for me. The first 95% of the book is really disjointed and made me think of watching the nightly news if the news had hidden cameras and was reporting only the most mundane things that they saw. The only reason I actually finished the book is that I was hoping it would be one of those books where you are so blown away by the ending that it made the rest worth it. This ending was sloppy and disappointing. Basically it seemed like the author got to a point where he figured he should end the book and then drew all of the (too many in my opinion) characters together in the sloppiest ways.

I'm a christian, but was not offended by the subject matter, but can see how some people would be. If you are someone who is offended by different takes on the last days this book probably isn't for you.

Right after this book I found "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett. "Good Omens" is exactly what I was hoping for out of "The Leftovers" and I would highly recommend it instead of wasting your money on this book.