Michael Rogers

I was disappointed it was extremely similar to the Social Animal which I had already read and that it didn't go into as much scientific detail as the Social Animal (I can be real nerdy-most people will probably prefer this version to the textbook The Social Animal). But despite these small dislikes I was very impressed with information and particularly the fact the book gave practical advice about to apply the book's concepts to everyday life.

I was really impressed with this book. I would give 4 and half stars but it only allows me whole stars so I'll give it a perfect score. I was reluctant about this book because I knew the author is White and the book was written mostly from the perspective of Black women. There were some parts I felt were obviously written by a White (I???m sure Black readers could find more). but after reading this book I do feel Kathryn Stockett did a great job and although not perfect. A couple months ago I read David Morrell???s First Blood and enjoyed it but was disappointed because Morrell claimed he did an excellent job of telling the same story from two different points of view and I wasn???t impressed with his ability to show different perspectives. Although The Help rarely told the same events from two different perspectives - that would have made the novel too long-it does a good job of telling the story from three distinct personalities.

Because it???s about a pivotal time in our history while discussing timeless issues I believe this book will be around for many generations. It takes a long time to finish this novel but the character development and humor make it worth reading. Personally I think some content could have been edited out and more should have been added about the lives of Minnie and Aibileen. I also think Skeeter's character was too naive.

Stockett made several errors and one of those is using the rare name Aibileen and describing her in a way that matches her brother's maid Aibileen. Stockett was told not to use her name but she liked the name too much to change it. Her brother, sister-in-law, and the maid who in the past would babysit Stockett's daughter are now in a lawsuit with Stockett. A bigger problem is the negative stereotypes of black males in the book with little mention of black males who live moral lives. There are other problems but no novel is perfect.

I heard this novel does a good job of telling the story from two different perspectives and I enjoy stories that show events from more than one perspective. I was disappointed that it didn't do a good job of showing the events from both perspectives (in my opinion at least) but I enjoyed this book because of the excitement. I usually only read and listen to nonfiction but this is such an action packed story I enjoyed it.

One criticism/warning is that the authors comments before the story give away the ending so if you don't want a spoiler skip the author comments until you've complete the rest of the book. On the positive side the narrator was incredible.

The book is very similar to the early 80's Rambo movie at the beginning but as the story progresses the movie took a different course so you won't know what comes next if you've already seen the movie.

I'm sure some will not find this book interesting because it isn't as exciting in their view as the action filled fiction novels but this is a really enjoyable book. I particularly enjoyed learning some of the behind the scenes history of events from the 80's and 90's.