Customer Reviews

Emma Who Saved My Life

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Snappy. Fun. Funny. UNIQUE! Finally...something different to read! The dialogue is witty. The characters were amusing. The main character is so very clever; I like the "stream of consciousness" way about him. I am not one to read "long" books, however, all the moments in the characters' lives were ironed out in the craziest, most entertaining ways.

I want to read more books like this. In fact, I purchased Show World by Barnhardt. I'm looking forward to the read!

I have read this book every year that I have lived in New York, and each time I have a different experience with it. The first time I read it, I had just arrived in NY, fresh out of college, and I agreed with the reviewer who wrote that it's a great book until the end. Then I read it a year later and decided that it could not have ended any other way. This book is about growing up, and it has so mirrored my own experience of this city that I laugh and cry and have a totally different experience of it each time I pick it up. Sort of like looking at an old photo album--where you realize your relationships with the people inside the book have changed, but the feelings evoked by looking at them are just as strong as ever.

It's lovely. I can't imagine admiring a book more.

This is far and away the most enjoyable book I have EVER read. I bought the hardcover in 1989, and over the years have re-read it many, many times. I even named my daughter "Emma"! It is laugh out loud hysterical, and deeply moving. You feel as though you are transported to NYC in the 70s and 80s, sharing experiences with these unbelievable realistic characters. I cannot stress enough how wonderful this book is, I have yet to find one I like as much, and I read A LOT of books-trust me!

Read this book! If you were in college in the '70s I know you'll agree with me that "Emma" captured the essence of that time better than anything ever written - ever. This is my favorite novel. It amazes me how often I find people who share the same opinion because Wilton Barnhardt is not so well known. This gifted writer should stop teaching and keep writing! All his novels are terrific, but "Emma" will always have a special place in my heart

Emma Who Saved My Life is one of the funniest novels I've ever read, and one of the sharpest memoirs of NYC. I was born and raised in that wonderful city, and lived and worked there during the years covered by the story. Borough by borough, the author has the NYC of that time exactly right. One of the reasons I love this book is that it brings me back to the years I spent there.

Found this book in a discount store, cost $1, decided why not give it a try...surprise discovery: $1 nowadays does indeed buy something worthwhile! Definitely a book to purchase GUILTFREE, even for FULL price (imagine that!), because you'll likely want to hold onto it, given it's the rare book where throughout the reading you're entirely convinced you are peering straight into another person's mind, essentially eavesdropping on his deep-most feelings- Gil, the main character who tells the story, is devoted to expressing his honest reactions (he's not ashamed to reveal to us the times he cried; no false pretensions here- how refreshing!- those of us who have brothers probably don't know them as well as we end up knowing Gil; in this novel Barnhardt displays a special talent for MAIN character development). Barnhardt created this man-boy Gil in such a way that I thoroughly believed that Gil was Barnhardt himself (meaning, an autobiographical work)...and from this false impression arose my only disappointment: at the end of the book, after I read Barnhardt's bio, I had to face the fact that Gil's a fictional character and not a real man! Silly but true! Besides for the joy (and in this novel's case, the sense of relaxation) that comes from feeling as if you're truly inside the main character's brain is Barnhardt's marvelous talent for capturing the pulse of New York City in the 1970's and 1980's. Amazingly delightfully on-target! Do read it for fun...and, as an extra and somewhat unexpected benefit, you may find yourself not only entertained but relishing contemplating this novel's deeper "meanings" about whether the path you've chosen in life is taking you where you REALLY want to go (re: Gil pondering his "ultimate" decision about how to spend his acting career- Those reviewers here who disliked the novel's ending might like to rethink their understanding of it by asking themselves "What does Gil REALLY do next?").

I happened to obtain an advance galley of this book in 1989, when it was first published, and something made me sit down with it--I'm convinved that fate exists, as this is definitely among my "Top 5" fiction books of all time, and like other reviewers, I continue to give this hilarious book away as a gift to anyone I consider a good friend!

I cannot do the wry and right-on-target observations and humor justice here, but I can *promise* that anyone who reads two chapters of this book will not want to put it down until it's finished, at which point they'll want to go back and read it again!

This book is great.. i picked it up in a discount store and it would have to be one of my best finds ever! One of the first books i ever read that made me actually laugh out loud while reading it. Definately recommend!

I was absolutely crazy about this book in the late 80's and early 90's and reread it recently to see if it was as good as I remembered. Everything I'd loved about it - Gil's love affair with NYC, his infatuation with Emma, an overall feeling of hopefulness and youth - was as fresh as ever. I'm sure I'll read this book in another five, ten, fifteen years and still feel the same way I did about it when I first read it in 1989.

In this story we see Gil come to the Big City of New York to find his dreams as an actor on Broadway. But that famous avenue seems a long way off, Gil has to endure many trying situations in the acting profession. He has what would appear to be a dream setup - living with two attractive women - but even in this part of his life, Gil is having less than successful. It is Emma, that crazy would-be poetess who salvages the ten year ordeal for Gil. Emma is Gil's anchor to reality, even when she is at her most manic. It is through Emma's eyes that we see Gil's triumphs and failures. She is the prisim through which everything in this novel becomes real and bareable. The world would be better off if everyone had their own personal Emma. I highly reccommend this novel from Wilton Barnhard, it's definitely a keeper!