Customer Reviews

What Comes After Crazy

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Ms. Shelton is a masterful storyteller. Her easy, readable style brings complex characters and situations to life. Once I started this book, I found I couldn't put it down. I carried it with me everywhere and treasured every spare moment when I could pull it out and read a few pages. To me this is a coming of age book for adults. It takes a life time to "grow up" and Ms. Shelton illuminates the journey with intelligence,grace and compassion. The main character, Maz, is a deliciously flawed heroine, who fights her way back into the center of her life. I couldn't help but be compelled by her story. I certainly saw myself in her. Don't just take my word for it. Pick up this wonderful book and enjoy!

I guess humor is relative for those not finding this book funny. I found it hilarious and the characters couldn't have been more real. It was easy to get into, character development couldn't be more on track and the story was fun. I'm looking forward to more from this author.

I read the advance copy, but I assume it's about the same as the final edition. I really enjoyed the novel; it's witty, funny, touching, and the main character, Maz, is likeable and vulnerable. I generally don't read the genre, but am glad I made an exception, because the book was delightful and entertaining.

It usually takes me a few chapters to get drawn into a novel, but the character of Maz drew me in immediately. Ms. Shelton has a brilliant way of bringing all of her characters to life. I loved the way she put real people in real life situations that while difficult, could also be viewed with humor. I question placing this in the "chick lit" genre. I've read Sue Monk Kidd and Anne Lamott, and I would align it more in the realm of their works.This is just good literature. I think there are men who would enjoy this book as much as women because while Maz, a woman, is the protagonist, she deals with issues that we all do in our lives.

I loved this story all the way through! I "read" while I drive, so I did the audio CD, (unabridged), and it was delightful! The storline was so fun and quirky and did have me laughing at so many parts... I do like Maz! This is a woman we all know! She's just having a bad day! It's how she's dealing with it that's the fun part!
The people who surround her in her life were great to get to know.... even her mother.... who could be padded-wall material.
This story was a fun fast read and I'd recommend it to anyone.
JMHO //(*_*)\\

While I was reading this book, I found myself laughing out loud at the funny scenes between Maz, the main character, and her outrageous mother, Madame Lucille, and I was rooting for lovable Maz to come out ahead. It wasn't until I was done and still thinking about the characters that I realized this book has a lot to say about difficult but loving family relationships, and about the growing up we do long after we think of ourselves as adults. The readers who complain that it's not funny are really just saying that it's not ESCAPIST funny. The dialogue and situations can be hilarious, but it also leaves you with lots to think about. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a bit of laughter along with their self-recognition.

Shelton has taken some very serious issues that many of us are facing in our own lives, addressed them in a captivating story, and made us laugh so hard that we can't even breathe. Just a few of the issues include: overbearing relatives who want to tell us how to live our lives and make fun of the one we're living, overcoming a very difficult childhood, bringing up our own children in a world of insanity (including our own), the break up of a marriage, dating after the break up, the ups and downs of a deep and abiding friendship, the challenges of a relationship with a daughter entering adolescence, and the weirdness of getting to know the new spouse of a parent. You name it, and Shelton has cleverly woven it into this story.

What makes it so incredibly funny is that while these characters do some really outrageous things that you think "Oh, my GOSH!! I can't believe she's DOING THAT!!!", most of us, deep down inside, have entertained thoughts of doing just about every single one of them ourselves. Otherwise, it wouldn't be funny, now, would it?

Shelton has bravely gone where few authors are willing to go and deftly crafted what ends up being a beautiful story of someone grabbing hold of her own life and bringing it into focus.

Today I went two stops past my train stop because I was so engrossed in this book. I laugh out loud on the train. This morning a woman asked me what I was reading because clearly I was enjoying it so much. I told her and she promised she was going out and buying on her lunch break. I love this story. The main character is funny and smart and frantic and real. Lucille, her mother, is scarily similar to an aunt of mine. I can't say enough great things about this book. I'm going to suggest it to my book club.

I was engaged from the first chapter of this book. I laughed till I cried and had to bury my face in the pillow so I didn't wake my sleeping husband.The characters were warm and lifelike. I wondered if the writer had met my now 21 year old daughter when she was 10, precocious and exhibiting similar behavior as Maz's (the central character)daughter, Hope. I also found several lines so thought provoking that I quoted them to friends.

I highly recomment this book, It's funny and real.

What a treat, reading "What Comes After Crazy," in which author Sandi Kahn Shelton puts the "fun" in dysfunctional! I laughed so hard that I actually gasped for air on numerous occasions. The characters (even the cooky mother) seemed so believable. I was rooting for the protagonist. And I absolutely loved the author's voice. Can't wait to read the next one!