The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters

A Novel

De: Elisabeth Robinson

Narrado por: Linda Emond

The bestselling status (and subsequent blockbuster film adaptations) of Bridget Jones's Diary and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is proof of the enduring strength of this category. Although the novel is invented, Robinson is a successful Hollywood producer whose credits include Braveheart and Last Orders.©2004 Elisabeth Robinson; (P)2004 Time Warner AudioBooks, a division of the Time Warner Book Group

The Cynic and The Idealist

I really liked this book. I think an audible format is the best format for this type of book. I thought that the characters were each well developed which is strange because the voice is primarily Olivia's. Yet through her letters you learn so much about each of the other characters. I liked the juxtaposition between the Don Quixote theme and the Olivia / Maddie theme. Is the leukemia battle Maddie's windmill? Olivia is the consummate cynic who struggles with issues of lifes’ fairness, personal faith and love. Ultimately the book is about love and how each character learns to value its true meaning.

Enjoyable book but...

Any additional comments?

The music at the beginning and ending of each chapter was ANNOYING!! It was so loud it drown out the narrators voice and it does nothing to add to the story. Audible- how about warning customers of this use of music at the beginning and/or end of every chapter? I find it takes away from the story and is very distracting. Most often it doesn't even fit with the tone or mood of the story.

A truly outstanding book!

I don't take the time to review too many books, but I just finished listening to this and highly recommend it. It was mesmerizing - I couldn't turn it off. The characters are so well developed, so real I keep thinking this must have been a true story. It isn't, but the author was inspired by her own sister's serious illness. The characters are all so human - flawed yet shining and immensely loveable, each in their own way. Set around sister Maddie's aggressive luekemia and sister Olivia's struggle to produce her first movie, Don Quioxte, during her sister's illnes, the tale unfolds as a series of letters, emails, and faxes from Olivia to the people in her life - family, associates, and ex(?) boyfriend Michael. As Maddie battles her illness with courage and dignity, Olivia battles movie studios, directors, and ex-bosses to get her movie made. I would not have thought I would enjoy a tale consisting entirely of letters and other correspondence from Olivia, but I found it immensely interesting and engrossing.

This book is not sugar coated and the ending is devastatingly real but amazingly satisfying at the same time. Olivia's wickedly humorous observations balance the sadness and keep this book somehow upbeat despite Maddie's tragic illness. There is no fairy book ending, but there is most certainly salvation - the real life kind as Olivia discovers so much about herself and the people she loves.

I highly recommend this poignant, entertaining, truly outstanding listen!

Didn't need to listen to whole thing

I really enjoyed the first couple of CDs out of eight. Number three was a struggle, and number four about killed me. After four, I listened to the last CD (something I never do), and learned everything I needed to know to tie up all loose ends. This book would be great if it was much shorter. The story is personal and engrossing, the writing style is fun, and the reading is talented and natural. But eight CDs is just too long for what the author is trying to convey. If you're interested in listening to only half of it, I think you'll enjoy it.

Teary chick lit

After hearing some goods things about this book, (Mainly The New York Times's Janet Maslin did a article comparing different Hollywood roman-a clef novels and said this was the best of the bunch) I found this to be a rather shallow 'Lifetime movie' about the author's reaction to her sister's cancer diagnosis. The story is told through letters that the older sister writes to everyone, which works well in the spoken format, but it is very limiting when it comes to the overall story. There are so many times I wanted to hear what other people were actually thinking or doing. The epistlelary style can be exciting and involving ( think of 'Dracula' or more recently " The Egyptoligist"), but when it is just one persons's point of view it get rather tedious especially since Olivia Hunt never comes across as paricularly bright.
In order to flesh out this short novel about the death of her sister, Robinson adds just enough inside info about the making of a Hollywood movie version of 'Don Quiote' with Robin Willams and John Cleese. This is the most amusing parts of the book, but for a much better look into the perils of movie producing, rent the movie of ' "Lost in La Mancha' about the same subject.
By the time Olivia's sister dies, I was more than ready to let her go, but finally at the end we get to here a little something of Madaline's (the dying sister) voice, which comes from beyond the grave, in the form of a lost letter. It's poignent, but too little too late.