Marci

I am a long-time Steinbeck fan. I've read literally everything he's written, including the odd, hard to find science logs and short stories. Getting to listen to this book after reading it a decade ago was a real treat. I enjoyed every minute. The narrator really added to this story. The way he pronounced "family" and "Rose of Sharon" made me feel like he had met the Joad family and traveled with them to make sure he got it all just right.

Listening to it now, in the middle of the current Presidential race, I appreciated Steinbeck's hubris in making his political views crystal clear.

The story is a classic for a reason.

Joe Hill does it again. "Heart Shaped Box" and "Horns" were great, NOS4A2 is even better. It is really perfect in every way. As the other reviewers have stated, the narrator does an amazing job. Usually, I want the narrator to disappear so I can enjoy the story, but Mulgrew creates a perfect balance between you noticing the personality of the character and appreciating how she pulls it off.
The story keeps you guessing and keeps you interested. I loved Lou and Maggie, two side characters so much. Hill's development of each of the characters really rounded out the story. It was also just perfectly creepy.

It is not hyperbole for me to say that James Dickey should be spoken of in the same breath as ANY classic american author. He's a poet and genius. This book was done an injustice by the movie being made. I think more people would have read it if it could have been appreciated for the beautiful piece of literature that it is.
The fact that Will Patton reads it only makes it more perfect. Expectations cannot be too high when starting this book.

I only listened to this book because Will Patton was the narrator. I didn't know anything about the book or Pat Frank. Wow, what a great surprise. This book is perfect, just perfect. I've listened to it twice and recommended it to all my friends. You love and root for all the characters. And in the current world of zombie and end-of-the-world books being "in," Frank writes a believable story that captures the human side. All of the trendy stories out right now wish they could capture this story line as well as Frank did--he was ahead of his time.

This story started out slow, picked up for most of the book, to the point where it was really interesting, and then, it just ended. It was like a book report from a middle school student. I listened to this because it was by Ronson who is a wacky and controversial writer. But in this book, he didn't take a stand, he didn't give his opinion, it's a cop-out. He writes about what he saw and who he talked to, but then doesn't really give his opinion on anything. Anyone could have written this book since it doesn't reveal his point-of-view. Lame.

Thank you to all the other reviewers who really hated this book. I read all those first, then, because I've listened to the first 16 Reacher books, I had to listen to this one as well. My expectations were set very low, so I didn't hate this book.
Yes, the nasal narrative was over done. Yes, Reacher and therefore Child seemed sleepy through this entire story which makes it boring. Yes, the women were portrayed overly dumb, asking dumb questions and being bitchy and self-righteous while still being stupid.
I enjoyed most of the over-done math parts of the book and I enjoyed the first 2/3's. Things did kind of fall apart after that.
Child and Hill, we still love you, we'll be faithfully waiting for the next Reacher book. Don't let us down.

As the other reviewers have stated this was a beautifully written book. The imagery took me there. The development of the couple (the main characters) was very good and so consistent, I felt like I really got to know them. The "neighbors" characters also were so well done.
The idea of the book is to keep you unsure as the characters in the book are unsure. However, I wanted just a little bit more about the snow child herself for me to care about her. She was vaguely interesting, and there were moments when the author almost had me loving her, but the depth of her development was never quite there. She didn't haunt me and I wanted to be haunted by her.

I've followed David Sedaris for years and seen him speak twice. Before this book, his recent material included a lot of parables starring animals. They were not to my taste, I was disappointed that his work was heading in that direction. I'm so happy he is back. This book is filled with new yet classic Sedaris material with stories of his travels, his childhood, and his family. This book is a little darker than his past works, it feels a little more raw, but that doesn't make it any less great. I enjoyed this book like getting back in touch with an old friend.

This book has it all, and I've never thought that about another book. It's romantic, and sweet, and just hilarious, and spooky, and very smart. It's full of surprises, yet easy to keep up with everything. It defies categorization, so don't miss out on this one by saying "oh, I don't like that type of book." It's long enough to be satisfying, and you are glad the editor kept it that way. Also, you don't have to read any other David Wong books to understand everything going on. You won't miss out on anything by jumping straight to this one. Just order it, you won't regret it.

As good as this story is, I still need to start with the narrators. They were notable. I'll try other books that Julia reads, she's that good. Will Patton and William Hurt are the only other narrators I've ever "followed."
The story is flawless. It keeps you guessing, keeps you swapping who you are rooting for, and for me, it made me even question myself and what made me choose to like a character.

This true story is so good. It's heart warming, suspenseful, and sobering. You can feel the love and respect that the author has for the main character and it makes you love him too. The store moves along nicely, it's easy to follow, it's a well told, good story.
With that said, be prepared for some flaws. The author is the narrator and the narration starts out just awful. She warms up and gets better, but the first couple chapters are almost unbearable. There are small errors too, she mispronounces a couple of key words and she usually talks about herself with "I" or "me" but will occasionally refer to herself as "Laura" which is confusing. Don't let the amateurish moments take away from this great story.