A Perfectly Good Family

De: Lionel Shriver

Narrado por: Susan Ericksen

Following the death of her worthy liberal parents, Corlis McCrea moves back into her family's grand Reconstruction mansion in North Carolina, willed to all three siblings. Her timid younger brother has never left home. When her bullying black-sheep older brother moves into "his" house as well, it's war.

Each heir wants the house. Yet to buy the other out, two siblings must team against one. Just as in girlhood, Corlis is torn between allying with the decent but fearful youngest and the iconoclastic eldest, who covets his legacy to destroy it. A Perfectly Good Family is a stunning examination of inheritance, literal and psychological: what we take from our parents, what we discard, and what we are stuck with, like it or not.

©2009 Lionel Shriver (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

terrible narration

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I loved we need to talk about Kevin which is why I choose this book by the same author - and perhaps It too is a great book, but the narratation is so monotonous that I couldn't even make it through the first half.
No Character voices no pauses between conversations or even pauses between paragraphs.
Do not waste your money

Would you ever listen to anything by Lionel Shriver again?

yes provided the narrator was different

What didn’t you like about Susan Ericksen’s performance?

No character voices very monotonous

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from A Perfectly Good Family?

couldn't Even finish the story unfortunately

Narrator ruins it

I love Lionel Shriver but could not get past one hour with this narrator’s voice

A Bit Tedious

The relationship between the siblings grew tiresome as I kept waiting for something to happen. Ms Shriver has entertained me with so many of her other books I can't be mad at her. About to listen to another of hers.

"Po-TAH-toes"?!

I am a Lionel Shriver fan, and this book, while good enough, is not up to "We Need To Talk About Kevin". The story's premise is promising - three siblings attempting to dispose of the family estate, with none of them having enough funding to buy the others out. However I missed the added layer of computers, internet, email, cell phones and texting, that books written before 1994, or "B.C.", i.e. "Before Personal Computers" conspicuously lack. There is the usual variety of distorted personalities, most of them interesting, compelling and amusing, with plenty of quirks and glitches, but the narrative style seems artificially antiquated, and this book feels much older than it is. I kept imagining a "Gone With The Wind" setting, rather than North Carolina circa 1993. Still, it's a good story, and the author's facility with dimensional characterization is evident. I did think she could have done more with the protagonist, however, IMO the only really likable individual in the story.

My low rating of 2 stars is mainly for the narration, which I thought was overly dramatic and shrill. And...I have never ever heard "potatoes" pronounced "po-tah-toes". The pronunciation made me laugh out loud! Narration should err on the side of the majority of listeners, and I would guess there are very few out there who pronounce the typical tuber with a long "a".

On balance, it's a good listen, excellent picaresque entertainment, and I recommend it - even though it's not quite up to my personal standards.

The Mansion is Lovable

Sad that previous reviewers did not give this story a chance. True, the narration detracts from an otherwise insightful dissection of sibling relationships. The house the children inherit is the most lovable of the characters. If you are a fan of Shriver's, give this book a chance. You will be rewarded with an almost Dickensian heartfelt American novel.

Ugh. PoTAHtoe?!

Didn't love it... because the english accent the main character was supposed to have was very very ordinary. PoTAHtoe is not how I have ever heard this word said. Ugh.

Infuriating, opinionated, and a genius

Lionel Shriver has gone from being a book club interest (the post-birthday world), to possibly my favorite living author. Her stories are raw and human in a way that few authors capture properly. And certainly one of the few who can do this without car chases, guns, or crime. This book is not my favorite of hers, those would be The Mandibles and So much for that. But even though it’s not at the top of my list, it’s still incredibly effective. I don’t think Shriver writes books that are meant to be “enjoyed”. She writes books that hold a mirror up to real life while not being too pretentious. I don’t think I would get along with Shriver, but only because she seems to be too much like me.

In conclusion, not the Shriver book to start with, but a must read for anyone who has read her other books and wants to continue building the whole picture. Also for anyone who has lived through a death that results in inheritance.

Get a life!

this book is like one long whine!!! I just wanted to scream "Get A Life!". It was actually painful to hear and I would imagine just as painful to read. We read it for my book group and one other woman said no one should ever have to read this book. I think it holds the top spot as the all time WORST book I have ever read/listened to.