Once Upon a Day: A Novel

Once Upon a Day: A Novel
Average customer rating:

eh...

Hard to put down

Somewhere Between a Great Book and a Less-Than-Satisfying One

Never in my life....

Terrific!

Once Upon a Day: A Novel
Lisa Tucker
Manufacturer: Atria
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Psychological & Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0743492773

Book Description

Nineteen years ago, a famous man disappeared from Los Angeles, taking his two children, Dorothea and Jimmy, to a rocky, desolate corner of New Mexico where he raised them in complete isolation in a utopian "Sanctuary." The children grew up with books and encyclopedias, records and a grand piano, but no television, computer, radio, or even a newspaper. Now Dorothea, at twenty-three, is leaving this place in search of her missing brother -- and venturing into the wide world for the first time.

Dorothea's search will turn into an odyssey of discovery, leading to the truth of her family's past and the terrifying day that changed her father forever. But Dorothea's journey will also introduce her to an unusual cast of characters, including a homeless girl from Missouri who becomes a jazz singer and a social worker whose mistake in judgment changes her best friend's life. And she will meet Stephen, a doctor turned cabdriver who, after suffering his own losses, has lost his ability to believe in a meaningful world. Together, they have a chance to make a discovery of a different kind: that though a heart can be broken by the tragic events of a day, a day can also bring a new chance at love and a deeper understanding of life's infinite possibilities.

Beautifully written, with a spellbinding story, Once Upon a Day is "a lyrically poignant reminder of the necessity of hope" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Download Description

From Lisa Tucker, the critically acclaimed author of The Song Reader, comes a wise, humorous, and deeply compassionate novel about the risks and rewards of loving when a single day can change our lives. Nineteen years ago, a famous man disappeared from Los Angeles, taking his two children, Dorothea and Jimmy, to a rocky, desolate corner of New Mexico where he raised them in complete isolation in a utopian "Sanctuary." The children grew up with books and encyclopedias, records and a grand piano, but no television, computer, radio, or even a newspaper. Now Dorothea, at twenty-three, is leaving this place in search of her missing brother -- and venturing into the wide world for the first time. Dorothea's search will turn into an odyssey of discovery, leading to the truth of her family's past and the terrifying day that changed her father forever. But Dorothea's journey will also introduce her to an unusual cast of characters, including a homeless girl from Missouri who becomes a jazz singer and a social worker whose mistake in judgment changes her best friend's life. And she will meet Stephen, a doctor turned cabdriver who, after suffering his own losses, has lost his ability to believe in a meaningful world. Together, they have a chance to make a discovery of a different kind: that though a heart can be broken by the tragic events of a day, a day can also bring a new chance at love and a deeper understanding of life's infinite possibilities. Beautifully written, with a spellbinding story, Once Upon a Day is "a lyrically poignant reminder of the necessity of hope" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Customer Reviews:

eh..........2007-08-04

I admit, I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 so I wouldn't appear too harsh... I am disappointed in this book, after reading a synopsis of what seemed like it would be an interesting story line and seeing all the good reviews. Like some other reviewers in the minority, I think the writing is bland and stilted, and the characters are uncompelling, leaving me bored, not invested and annoyed with them (especially Dorothea - GAG). In fact, several times this summer I have gratefully put the book away to move on to a new buy -- only to have to pick it up again when I've run out of other things to read. My latest stint with the book has put me within 20 pages of the end, but I don't think I can make myself finish it -- it's just not worth it, in my opinion. I haven't read Lisa Tucker's other books, so perhaps her style of writing just doesn't suit my tastes.

Hard to put down.......2007-07-23

This is one of those books that I had trouble putting down. But I was disappointed in the ending, as it left me wanting to know more about how all the characters survived the challenges in their life. I guess I have to make up my own real ending.

I've not read any of Ms. Tucker's other books, but I plan to.

Somewhere Between a Great Book and a Less-Than-Satisfying One.......2007-07-16

I feel already that I'm going to have a hard time writing a clear review for this book, because even as I sit here just having finished it yesterday, I feel very confused about what I truly do think. But I am determined to try.

I read Once Upon a Day in eight days, not because I had nothing to do during the last week, but because I felt I couldn't put it down. During those eight days, I experienced different thoughts and feelings while reading this book that are making it very hard for me to decide to what level I like (or dislike) this book.

On day one, as I started reading, I was immediately drawn to the idea of this book - the premise, the characters, the points of view. I felt I had to keep reading, and reading quickly to see what happened next. The first parts of the books were quick, enjoyable, and even a bit funny at times.

Somewhere around the middle of my read, I felt there was a distinct difference. I still liked where the book was going, but I felt some level of disconnect. I believe this was around the third or fourth section of the novel - after the original ones that covered Dorothea/Stephen and Lucy/Charles had been established.

By days seven and eight, I was happy to find out how it all ended, but not so very happy with the way that it did. I found the ending less than satisfying, and I'm not even really sure why. Perhaps it was too nicely tied in a bow -- which sometimes I certainly appreciate in a novel. But in a story with this much love, hate, emotional turmoil, and violent behavior, it seems wrong to have it end in the way that it did.

If nothing else, and perhaps part of the reason that I did like (not love) Once Upon a Day was the use of varying points of view from section to section. I really appreciate books that take on that format and if the action is pulled off, it can be a very effective way to tell a story. And I feel, in this case, Lisa Tucker did pull it off.

Conversely, I felt many of her writing sequences were too drawn out. I'm not a fan of long descriptions in general and some of her commentaries on either Lucy/Charles as they were shooting their movies, or on the topics of the movies themselves, were way too in depth for me to care about.

To sum this up as best as I can, I feel that if I wrote a review during the first few days of my read, I'd honestly say it was one of the better books I'd read recently. However, as it is, in writing this review at the end of my read, I'd say that while the story was at times compelling, and while I was certainly very curious to see how it all ended, and while at many times throughout this book (beginning, middle, and end) I really felt it was clever, that in the end I cannot say I'm thrilled with this book. To be honest, I would probably not read it again, and sometimes that's how I have to judge how much I truly like or love a book. At the same time, I was really torn with whether to give it a three or a four rating. I liked this book more than a lot of the others I've given a three to in the past. And if I were to average the five it started out as, and the three it ended up as, I guess I'd end up with a four, so that's what I'm putting.

Never in my life...........2007-06-07

....have I read a book like this. One so heartwarming, uplifting and full of hope, I can barely contain myself with the joy I feel now having just finished it. I devoured this book in almost 3 days, up until 5am just to finish and learn the true fates of the characters. Bravo Lisa Tucker, I cannot wait to read more.

Terrific! .......2007-06-07

This is a gripping story about a strange family. Brother and sister were raised in a very sheltered manner, with no access to media influences. The way they handle that upbringing once they are of age, is very interesting. Once Upon a Day handles two parallel stories very nicely, and when they come together...POW! This is a real page turner, and readers may not want it to end.

Average customer rating:

3 year old loves being made into pizza!
Pete's a Pizza
A cute read!
Make your kid into a pizza
This is a hoot!

Pete's a Pizza

Manufacturer: Joanna Cotler
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0062051571

Book Description

Pete's father starts kneading the dough. Next, some oil is generously applied. (Its really water.) And then some tomatoes. (They're really checkers.) When the dough gets tickled, it laughs like crazy.

Customer Reviews:

3 year old loves being made into pizza!.......2007-09-21

What a fun book! Our 3 year old loves being made into a pizza with all sorts of toppings made from paper or play food. Great activity that ends with a nice hug!

Pete's a Pizza.......2007-09-13

This is a wonderful and exciting book for all family members of every age. It's sturdy, nicely illustrated,easy to hold and to read. Talk about love in the family, this book illustrates to parents the importance of communicating, touching, and just having a good time with our children. Pete's a Pizza brings out the child in adults and keeps the child in children.

A cute read!.......2007-01-15

Cheer your kids up by turning them into pizzas. A cute book for any collection.

Make your kid into a pizza.......2006-10-17

Petes's in a bad mood because he can't go oult to play with his friends on this rainy day. To cheer him up and pass the time, his dad invents a fun and unique game. He is going to make a pizza out of Pete! The book is very amusing as the dad rolls the dough (Pete) and sprinkles cheese (paper) and tomatoes (checkers) on the pizza. This could be a wonderful game to play with your own children. Loads of fun to be had.

This is a hoot!.......2006-08-29

What a fun and engaging story. My boys love to have the "pizza treatment" all the time. I would definately recommend this story to most kids, and it's a fun, playful way to act out reading together.

Average customer rating:

Deeply absorbing family saga.
Tedious
Been there
One of the worst books I've ever read.
Sue Miller's Great Work

Family Pictures: A Novel
Sue Miller
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0060929987

Book Description

A Masterful, Engrossing Novel About The Life Of A Large Family That Is Deeply Bounded By The Stranger In Their Midst -- An Autistic Child

The whole world could not have broken the spirit and strength of the Eberhardt family of 1948. Lainey is a wonderful if slightly eccentric mother. David is a good father, sometimes sarcastic, always cool-tempered. Two wonderful children round out the perfect picture. Then the next child arrives -- and life is never the same again. Over the next forty years, the Eberhardt family struggles to survive a flood tide of upheaval and heartbreak, love and betrayal, passion and pain...hoping they can someday heal their hearts.

Customer Reviews:

Deeply absorbing family saga........2007-08-30

This deeply moving Sue Miler novel, traces the life of a large family over 4 decades. This book deals with it all: autism, alcoholism, drug abuse, infidelity, teenage angst, I couldn't put this book down. Depressing at times, this novel was a spellbinding read.

Tedious.......2007-07-09

"Family Pictures" started off promising, but went downhill quickly. Too many words, but no action. Too many scenes in the book that had nothing to do with anything. Many times I was ready to put this book down and not finish it. What kept me reading was I wanted to know what happens to the Randall. I scanned the second half of the book.
Not one of Sue Miller's better books.

Been there.......2007-02-12

Family Pictures was my first introduction to Sue Miller. Coming from a family that had a severely autistic son, and watching my parent's marriage disintegrate, I can tell you that Sue Miller nails the dynamics pretty well. Bruno Bettelheim's placement of blame on the mother, mentioned in the book, destroyed my mother just as it did Lainey. I had a little trouble with the scene changes that others have mentioned in their reviews, but it did little to diminish the punch packed by Miller's portrait.

One of the worst books I've ever read........2006-11-07

I read a lot of books, though this is the first one of Miller's I've read. Even if a book isn't that great I read them to the end. Several times I almost quit reading this one, but kept on with it hoping to find some point to it. It didn't have to have a happy ending, or even a resolution, but when I finished reading it I felt like I'd been dragged through muck. It wasn't just unpleasant and depressing, it was also dreary and pointless. I wish I could get back the time I spent on it, even more I wish I'd never read it.

Sue Miller's Great Work.......2005-08-19

This book follows a Chicago family from just after WWII to the Reagan era, thru the Baby Boom years, Vietnam, the `70's and into the relative peace of the decade in which it concludes. A once tranquil Catholic family of six children is slowly undermined when the second son is born autistic. This is a story of people trying to cope and grab a share of normality while faced with a challenge that imposes abnormality onto them. The father, a psychologist, becomes increasingly distant from his wife and children; the mother, once the very model of a charismatic homemaker of the middle century, becomes a case study in smothering overprotectiveness; the oldest son feels neglected and rebels so deeply he leaves Harvard and goes to Vietnam; the main character, one of the middle daughters, spirals into drugs and a countercultural lifestyle. No one in this tale of creeping disintegration is left alone by life, or comes out unscathed.

Average customer rating:

Meanwhile... You'll find a great story
Meanwhile
Meanwhile, Jules Feiffer writes another winner...
Jules Feiffer strikes again
This book was GREAT!

Meanwhile...

Manufacturer: Michael Di Capua
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0062059335

Book Description

“Raymond, I want you!” Just when Raymond is in the middle of a comic book, his mother calls him. Not once but five times. “It's not fair!” Raymond thinks. Then he thinks: “What if I had my own MEANWHILE...?” Comic books always use MEANWHILE... to change the scene. So Raymond tries writing it on the wall behind his bed.

To his astonishment, Raymond discovers that he can MEANWHILE...from one perilous adventure to another'from pirates on the high seas, to Martians in outer space, to a posse and a mountain lion out West. Then, at the worst possible moment, Raymond's MEANWHILE... fails him, leaving him in a spot that spells certain doom! Unless . . .

Customer Reviews:

Meanwhile... You'll find a great story.......2007-05-22

Feiffer delivers a fantastic and laugh-inducing tale in this comic-book-come-alive adventure. The hero of the story attempts to escape his mother's nagging about chores by writing himself into a comic book. Simply writing the word "meanwhile.." transports him to the deck of a pirate ship, to the action-packed Old West and to outer space. But danger awaits in every new storyline and there are only so many "meanwhiles" to carry him away. This is a great laugh-along read-aloud and a good pick for young reluctant readers.

Meanwhile.......2007-03-28

This book, written in a comic book style is the story of a young boy's imagination. This is a good book to use as a model for writing this style, although the storyline is a bit confusing for young readers, due to the frequent changes in setting.

Meanwhile, Jules Feiffer writes another winner..........2003-01-01

Those of you who are long-ago fans of the wit of Feiffer's Phantom Tollbooth will be charmed by this picture book about young Raymond, who gets out of chores, perils with pirates, mountain lions, and Martians by writing out the magic word "MEANWHILE...," thus zipping himself instantaneously into a new story.

The book is filled with Feiffer's imaginative comic-style illustrations to go with the amusing story. I surely do wish Feiffer would write more children's books, his books are unbeatable for their combination of humor and imagination. Especially good (but not only good) for little boys.

Jules Feiffer strikes again.......2002-07-18

Jules Feiffer's "Meanwhile" is another great example of his feverish, wonderful brain at work. "Meanwhile" looks at the life of Raymond, a young boy who just WANTS TO FINISH READING HIS COMIC BOOK, FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD! But no, his mother is calling him to do a chore and Raymond mutters, "It's not fair!" and then realizes that he can "meanwhile . . . " out of his life just like his comic book heroes do. Raymond zigs and zags around from one adventure to the next, always depending on "meanwhile . . . " to get him out of increasingly dangerous scrapes (it's hilarious to see the lengths he goes to to "meanwhile" in different situations).

When Raymond finally ends his adventures . . . well, I don't want to give too much away. Suffice it to say that Feiffer uses his usual masterfully simple line drawings to jack up the feverish pace of this wonderful tale. Boys and girls, kids and adults, will all enjoy this ripping good yarn.

This book was GREAT!.......1999-09-14

I really liked this book! It is about a kid who writes meanwhile on the wall and when his mother calls him, he thinks to himself It's not fair. When ever he writes "MEANWHILE", he ends up in a toattly diffrent place, from a pirate ship to the wild west. But when the kid (Raymond) comes back to the pirate ship, he doesn't have time to write "MEANWHILE" And meats his doom.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures

Average customer rating:

good book
The Truth Shall Scare You Silly
I Wish I Could Have Read This When I Was Seventeen
Gloeckner tells it how it is
3 1/2 Stars

The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures
Phoebe Gloeckner
Manufacturer: Frog, Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1583940634
Release Date: 2002-11-14

Book Description

So begins the wrenching diary of Minnie Goetze, a fifteen-year-old girl longing for love and acceptance and struggling with her own precocious sexuality. Minnie hates school and she wants to be an artist, or maybe a speleologist, or a bartender. She sleeps with her mother's boyfriend, and yet is too shy to talk with boys at school. She forges her way through adolescence, unsupervised and unguided, defenseless, and yet fearless.

The story unfolds in the libertine atmosphere of the 1970's San Francisco, but the significance of Minnie's effort to understand herself and her world is universal. This is the story of an adolescent troubled by the discontinuity between what she thinks and feels and what she observes in those around her. The Diary of a Teenage Girl offers a searing comment on adult society as seen though the eyes of a young woman on the verge of joining it.

In this unusual novel, artist and writer Phoebe Gloeckner presents a pivotal year in a girl's life, recounted in diary pages and illustrations, with full narrative sequences in comics form.

Customer Reviews:

good book.......2007-09-02

its a good book, the title is a bit misleading, this book is NOT for anyone under 17, language, sexual situations, drug use.

The Truth Shall Scare You Silly.......2007-03-25

Really an excellent window into two separate-but-joined alien landscapes - the inside of a teenager's head, and the post hippy paradise crash-and-burn San Francisco of the mid-1970's. The work suffers a bit from being neither fish nor fowl - about 25% comics shuffled throughout a prose diary - but it has to be admitted that neither approach on its own would have resulted in a work with quite as much resonance or elicited as much empathy from the reader.

Case in point: Gloeckner has revisited several of the scenes from this book in various short comics over the years, and while they bring out the horror-show elements well thanks to her humid drawing, they don't offer much hope for humanity (not really a criticism, I know) or much in the way of true depth or reflection. But the diary pieces on their own only offer the up-close solipsism of the teenage mind, so the uneasy balance seems to be a necessary one.

There is also an 'abyss gazes back' aspect to the book that's off-putting: as an adult male (I'm 37), I'm deeply uncomfortable reading about the truly depressing sex, drugs and rock n' roll adventures of a 15 year old girl. It could be argued that the journalistic integrity of the work renders the dubious morality of the simple act of reading it moot, but in the end, the art and content of the book are too deeply entwined to let the reader off the hook. In fact, it's pretty apparent that Gloeckner intended to implicate the reader as well, so read it fully expecting to be left feeling both somewhat guilty and enlightened.

Really, if the content weren't so questionable, I'd recommend this as a perfect book for any teenage girl who is interested in either prose or comics that focus on them. It's a rarity, and a vacuum that shoju sadly can't fill. I did give serious thought to recommending to the two girls in the Comic class I teach, but it's just too raw for that.

It goes without saying that both the prose and drawing are top-notch.

So: recommended for anyone who can appreciate a well-made piece of catharsis (for both artist and reader) by a master of the comics craft. Then have some lighter fare nearby so you can decompress afterwards.

I Wish I Could Have Read This When I Was Seventeen.......2006-07-13

I hate to used such clichéd words as "raw" and "honest" to describe Phoebe Gloeckner's The Diary of a Teenage Girl, but that's exactly what it is: raw and honest. I wish I could have read this when I was in high-school, instead of poring over a borrowed and well thumbed copy of Sweet Valley High. That's not to say that it isn't without flaws. There was something a little too disturbing about Minnie's nonchalance about sex, particularly sex with her mother's boyfriend. It's almost cold, despite her desperate need to be loved by anyone.

It does read exactly like a teenager's diary-- maybe even more so than Zoe Trope's Please Don't Kill the Freshman, which was written by a teenager-- with all the insecurities and doubts that come with the job.

Gloeckner tells it how it is.......2006-06-13

At some parts during this novel I questioned the necessity of the graphic text, because after reading these books for Adolescent Literature class, I told my teenage sister that I would pass them on to her. Some part of me wanted to hold this one back, and keep it on my bookshelf instead of placing it into her hands. But then I asked myself which part of the novel I would be censoring her from: the drugs and the sex or the hurt and awkwardness that comes from experiencing life as a teenager. I figured she will eventually find out about the drugs and the sex, I can't protect her from these things--knowing about them won't want to make her try them, it will only answer some of her questions about the "unknown." And I can't protect her from the feelings we all experienced as teenagers. This novel might even teach her that her feelings are normal, though some of the events in this book will hopefully be extreme for her lifestyle.
More than any novel we've read so far, this story shows the naked passion of a teenager. This book seems to be written by a teenager dealing with honest struggles, rather than a book written by an adult that's trying to teach the teenage audience a lesson. Part of what makes this book seem so candid is Minnie's ability to accept that she's searching and she doesn't try to pretend she has answers. Even though her search involves some sexually and intoxicating situations, the heart-grabbing matter of the text seems to be Minnie's desperate search for authentic love--a desire that many can relate to.
The reader can experience Minnie's development through both her diary entries and her drawings. Gloeckner doesn't spend much time anticipating the future, but instead she focuses on the present and what that means in the relation to the character. Text has the ability to reveal the past thoughts of a character, but the drawings seem to represent the present. When Gloeckner presents Minnie's thoughts through a drawing, instead of text, you can almost feel the thought process the character may have been pondering as she sketched. The drawings symbolize those times when you've exhausted yourself and don't feel like placing your thoughts into words. Instead you want to just sit and think and replay the scene over and over in your head.
When you hear the story through only one character's thoughts, your view is tainted to seeing how they see the world. Minnie's development as a character is shown through chapters that are labeled with periods of time often seen by teens. Minnie began her exploration in spring, which she calls her "introduction to love." During this period, she seems interested in the here and now, and Minnie feels and experiences things as they come to her.
In the next section, Summer Vacation, Minnie lets loose and experiments, even though she knows her actions may not be in her best interest. She never says it aloud, but many readers excuse her actions during this period because it's summer. Readers understand the need to take a break and go crazy at the same time. Hey, school's out.
During Minnie's junior year, the reader could see her being to map out her future actions. They began to see her challenge her own thoughts. Minnie becomes depressed during her junior year, because she allows herself to recognize her self-hurting actions. At this time she realizes that she has to do something to change her life.
In the epilogue, the reader is allowed to feel a sense of joy for Minnie--not because her life's better and there's a happy ending, but rather because she's learning to be honest to herself. She still doesn't have the answers to life, but she's beginning a sincere search. And you can't help but feel a sense of girl power when Minnie looks Monroe in the eye, shakes his hand, and thinks "I'm better than you, you son-of-a-bitch."

3 1/2 Stars.......2005-10-22

As far as fictional diaries go, this wasn't the worst. Although it's gritty and honest, it just seems to be lacking in any real emotion.

Average customer rating:

This Book is so good!

Hamlet (Picture This! Shakespeare)
Christina Lacie
Manufacturer: Barron's Educational Series
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Accessories:

Hamlet
Hamlet (Shakespeare Made Easy)
Hamlet (Barron's Book Notes)

ASIN: 0764135244

Book Description

Newest in Barron's growing Picture This! Shakespeare Series is the immortal tragedy of the Prince of Denmark, who seeks to avenge the death of his father. Each title in this series introduces a Shakespeare play to beginning students in a highly original graphic-novel format, which is supplemented with substantial excerpts from Shakespeare's original dialogue. Also presented are thumbnail sketches of the play's main characters and a succinct plot summary that explains the play's main themes and meanings. Students who feel overwhelmed by the original Shakespeare texts can use titles in this series as an important first step in understanding these literary masterpieces. Supplementing every Picture This! Shakespeare student edition is a teacher's resource guide that suggests topics for classroom discussion and presents enlightening activities intended to fulfill the needs of a multi-skill-level classroom environment.

Customer Reviews:

This Book is so good!.......2007-05-16

I homeschool 6th, 7th, and 9th grade. This book has given me a love for Shakespeare ,finally. The kids love this style of interpretation, and I highly recommend the Teachers Edition for novice teachers of Shakespeare.

Average customer rating:

A Surprise Find For Another Fan Of Henry Orient
Impressionistic Memoir
Engaging and personal

Coast to Coast: A Family Romance
Nora Johnson
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Nora Johnson was a young child when her parents' marriage collapsed. Her father, Nunnally Johnson, the writer, producer, or director of many acclaimed movies, such as The Grapes of Wrath and The Dirty Dozen, remained in California, where he would continue to be a major Hollywood presence for more than three decades. Nora's mother, Marion, a beautiful but unsettled woman, took her to New York to start a new life -- one surrounded by her mother's lovers and eccentric literary friends instead of movie stars and studio heads.

Coast to Coast is Nora's account of a childhood spent shuttling between Manhattan and Hollywood. What emerges is a marvelous portrait of American life in the 1940s and 1950s -- from the movie lots of California to the cocktail parties of the Upper East Side -- and also a touching story of a shrewd, observant girl who would grow up far too fast. Nora shares the colorful details of a childhood spent in privilege, but also captures the painful loneliness of changing schools, four-day train trips from one coast to the other, and never being quite sure of where she belonged. She also brings to life her droll, charming, talented father -- a Thurberesque character in Hollywood -- and her beautiful and erratic mother, a woman who fled the Los Angeles movie colony life but was unable to forget the husband who took her there.

Coast to Coast is a wonderfully written portrait of a fascinating era and a child who came of age in it, who had everything she wanted -- except a place to call home.

Customer Reviews:

A Surprise Find For Another Fan Of Henry Orient.......2005-08-25

My eleven year old daughter and I read The World Of Henry Orient, another work of this author, as part of our tradition of reading books together over summer vacation. We so enjoyed that book that I quickly ordered another of Ms. Johnson's books - this one just for my own reading. Coast To Coast is just as much fun for adults as Henry O was for myself and my daughter. I now have a third book of Nora's on order and it will not be the last. Highly Recommended!

Impressionistic Memoir.......2005-07-03

It seems as though Nora Johnson already wrote this book before, though now she's telling the story in a new way with a new focus on experimentation, as though Virginia Woolf were writing THE LAST TYCOON. The accent is on her younger years, and what is what like growing up in Hollywood and New York, the child of a broken home and the daughter of an accomplished, even famous screenwriter. Quick, impressionistic sketches of a time long gone by intermingle with the author's private reflections on the events she lived through, and some of them she helped create.

Fans of the lyricist Johnny Mercer are not going to like the way he comes across in this book, as a poisonous Buddha who apparently hates women and is drunkenly, insanely cruel to a young girl at a "sophisticated" party. Talk about a mean drunk! At the same party the girl is rescued by none other than Humphrey Bogart, who betrays the sensitivity and the thoughtfulness we always "knew" lurked behind his touch guy image.

To me, the greatest disappointment was Johnson's chapter on poet Sylvia Plath, with whom she attended Smith College back in the day. It's not that Johnson doesn't give a new angle on Plath, for she does (she, Nora, must have been one of those privileged, spoiled rich co-eds whom Sylvia envied, feared and adored), it's only that Plath still manages to elude description properly. Of all the great Hollywood and Broadway legends whom young Nora knew, isn't it odd that the most provocative and charismatic turns out to be none other than our Sylvia?

Engaging and personal.......2004-09-13

If this is a genre, I don't have any experience with it. Part confession, an insightful portrait of her times and engaging picture of very human personalities, whatever it is I found this memoir to be charming as it was frank, and poignant.
The brushes with late fifties Hollywood royalty bring the era alive. The author brings us into her encounters with friends of her beloved father Nunnally (famed screenwriter of the day) with an immediacy that I could touch. Her wry rending of the struggles of an adolescent and young woman of her life including (tactfully) frank discussion of coming to grips with sex bring the story alive and make me look forward to the sequel. I want to know how she and the characters she introduces us fair in the many worlds she travels.

Average customer rating:

Moving forward by leaving your background behind
A beautiful story, beautifully written.
Sharing with Our Daughters
Fast moving, very engrossing
Excellent, engaging read.

Third Girl from the Left
Martha Southgate
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0618470239

Book Description

My mother believed in the power of movies and the people in them to change a life, to change her life." So explains Tamara, daughter of Angela, granddaughter of Mildredthe three women whose lives are portrayed in stunning detail in Martha Southgate's accomplished second novel. Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1970 is not a place a smart black girl wants to linger in long. For Angela, twenty years old and beautiful, the stifling conformity is unbearable. She heads to L.A. just as blaxploitation movies are pouring money into the studio and lands a few bit parts before an unplanned pregnancy derails her plans for stardom. For Mildred, movies have always been a blessed diversion in a life marked by the legacy of the 1921 Tulsa race riot. In the Dreamland Theater, she and Angela sat in rare harmony, enthralled by the images on the screen. But when Angela herself appears onscreen, dancing naked, it breaks Mildred's proper heart, and a rift ensues. It falls to Tamara, a budding documentarian, to help mother and grandmother confront all that has been left unsaid in their lives. Like Southgate's first novel, The Fall of Rome, which the New York Times hailed as "a deeply felt book" that brings characters to life with its "clear, penetrating examination," Third Girl from the Left is an enormously entertaining yet serious novel about African American women struggling against all odds to express what lies deepest in their hearts.

Customer Reviews:

Moving forward by leaving your background behind.......2007-05-30

I picked this book up in a grocery store on a bit of a whim, and was ultimately surprised and pleased to have done so. I had not encountered Southgate's earlier books, so she was unfamiliar to me. I am originally from Tulsa but have been gone for several years. A few years ago, I found out about the Tulsa race riots for the first time (notably, after high school). I felt a great amount of guilt and shame about not knowing about this major event in the state's short (i.e., mostly white/"American") history, and it reminded me of the way I felt when I first learned that a lot of kids growing up in Northern Ireland had no idea that the Irish Famine of the 1840s had occurred. We just have such a inconsistent understanding of our own past, which distorts how we view ourselves now. And this is just such a sad thing to me.

This general sense of sadness and even guilt pervaded the book for me, but this is also what made it so powerful and so real to me. The protagonist is Angela, a beautiful black woman who strives for something more than what 1970s Tulsa has to offer. Interestingly, her beauty would have entitled her to more than her peers, but it isn't enough. She is clearly a free-thinker, without ever having been taught to be. She doesn't buy into the current sexual mores, for instance, and instead follows right along with the contemporary trend towards women becoming more aware of their bodies. Yet she does this not because of the women's liberation movement, which has never really reached Oklahoma, anyway, but because that's who she really is. Her inherent "differentness" causes her to develop a hatred for boring and behind-the-times Tulsa. This self-confidence, awareness of her own beauty, and her love of film eventually lead her to L.A.

L.A. couldn't be more different from Tulsa, however. She finds herself marked as an outsider--by her accent and relative innocence of the ways of the world--and she's never able to shake this stigma. This just increases her dislike of where she came from, and she desperately tries to completely remove herself from her roots. She ultimately fails to achieve what she hoped and finds only a hesitant satisfaction with her life. It is almost as if by trying to remove all traces of Tulsa from herself, she sets herself freely floating and nevers manages to ground herself in L.A. The fact that you don't fit in one place does not necessarily mean you fit in somewhere else. Recognizing this and forgiving yourself for where you come from can bring more satisfaction, and in the end Angela faces her past and finds it not as awful as she had thought.

Despite what people say, there are many of us who are outsiders even when we are at "home". Some of us will never find a place to truly fit in, even if we explore for years. The world does not actually offer an infinite number of possibilities. This is another sad thing about our existence, but undeniably true. Being able to see this through illustrated through the experiences of a young black woman living in a historically interesting world is wonderful, and just made it so clear how fundamentally human this can be.

A beautiful story, beautifully written........2007-04-26

I loved the "Fall of Rome" and I was thrilled to find this book completely unexpectedly on my library shelf. WHAT A BOOK! It grabbed me from the first page until the very last word. I couldn't wait to turn the page to see how Ms. Southgate would turn her next phrase. The 3 women are fascinating and multi-dimensional, the men in their life, interesting in their own right and not subjugated to staying in the shadow of these powerful and beautiful women.

I can't even write much more than this. I cannot intellectualize the feelings this book brought up in me. I can only say, I LOVED IT...

Sharing with Our Daughters.......2007-03-10

I must say that her first novel "Fall of Rome" is a hard act to follow; however, Martha Southgate's sophomore effort "Third Girl from the Left" supports my first impression of her as a writer: Southgate is a gifted creator and teller of stories. I not only enjoyed this mother/daughter tale, but also the talent she displayed manipulating language and weaving in the historical social climate of each of her characters (from the tragic destruction of Greenwood, OK to the era of Blaxploitation films) Each woman's narrative was a journey to becoming her own self. How awesome that each daughter--Mildred, Angela and Tamara--had to learn about her mother's past to accept her own present. Best of all was the way Southgate brought the daughter Angela back to her mother Mildred using the granddaughter-Tamara's need to make her mark as a film director. I think "Third Girl on the Left" is one heck of a story!

Fast moving, very engrossing.......2007-01-18

Martha Southgates Third Girl from the Left, is excellently written with a beleivable plot. I thought that Southgates references and detail regarding the 1970's Blaxploitation movies was very insightful. The relationship between the three women in the story is one that strikes a chord with any woman that is fortunate enough her mother and her child in her life. It is a reminder of how complicated this life can be. I have not yet read the Fall of Rome, but plan to soon. I highly recommend this book.

Excellent, engaging read. .......2006-08-23

I haven't read FALL OF ROME, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I thought THIRD GIRL FROM THE LEFT was a great read. From a plot standpoint, the story kept moving and I was never bored or disinterested. There were times when the writing, from a literary standpoint, was incredibly inoriginal, but overall, the book does a great job of telling its story -- the story of a family of women, their dreams, their secrets and their imperfections.

Mixedblood Messages: Literature, Film, Family, Place

Average customer rating:

Both texts and readers are examined in Mixedblood Messages.

Mixedblood Messages: Literature, Film, Family, Place
Louis Owens
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Other Destinies: Understanding the American Indian Novel (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series)
The Sharpest Sight: A Novel (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies, Vol. 1)
Indigenizing the Academy: Transforming Scholarship and Empowering Communities (Contemporary Indigenous Issues)
Red on Red: Native American Literary Separatism
Wolfsong (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series)

ASIN: 0806133813

Book Description

Louis Owens examines issues of Indian identity and relationship to the environment as depicted in literature and film and as embodied in his own mixedblood roots in family and land. Powerful social and historical forces, he maintains, conspire to colonize literature and film by and about Native Americans into a safe "Indian Territory" that will contain and neutralize Indians.

Customer Reviews:

Both texts and readers are examined in Mixedblood Messages........1998-09-01

In a book which many might initially expect to be acontinuation of his highly-regarded _Other Destinies: Understanding the American Indian Novel_, Owens takes a large step forward before turning to bring his gaze to bear on the readers of American Indian novels. What do we expect to find in "Indian Territory?" And are Indian writers promoting "literary tourism," or are they appropriating the colonizers' language and creating something that is both fresh and disturbing to Indian and mainstream readers? Who reads these books, anyway? Who gets to review them, and who publishes them?

For scholars who have relied on Owens' steady voice, this book will be a wonderful gift. Several hard-to-find essays have been collected and reworked in this cornucopia of Owens material. While this is not a continuation of _Other Destinies,_ this text will most likely become its steady companion.

Book Description

Being the good guy isn't always a day at the beach!

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