Excuse Me for Asking [Paperback]

Janis Arnold (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 1997

Janis Arnold's good-humored second novel is about big dreams, sweet dreams, and nightmares. As we follow two friends across more than two decades and watch their dreams collide with the realities of careers, husbands, families, and aging parents, we're drawn into a warm and affirming story, a prickly testimony to the power of true friendship.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a small town, can you ever have the freedom to do as you please? Arnold (the praised Daughters of Memory) empathetically but rather languidly describes life in Cypress Springs, a small Texas town where children may leave but ultimately will return to settle near their parents. Flamboyant Julia seems an unlikely college freshman roommate for the studious Robin, raised by an aunt and on scholarship at Texas Tech, but against the odds, the two become friends. Though she's a rebel, at least where her mother is concerned, Julia marries her high-school boyfriend, who has stayed in Cypress Springs; meanwhile, Robin, who has never known her parents, becomes a schoolteacher in Houston and has a child out of wedlock before she, too, feels the pull of small-town life. Arnold knows the language of a community and speaks it with authority, using shifting viewpoints to advance the narrative and to show how her characters' perceptions are affected by the said and the unsaid. Minor figures are drawn with sure, minimal brush strokes, as with Susie, who becomes a Legal Aid lawyer in order to have something to do, or Evelyn, who lends Robin a piece of furniture to increase the chances of Robin marrying her son. Robin's voice isn't sufficiently differentiated from Julia's, and there's a poorly executed subplot about Robin's hunt for her parents. Still, Arnold makes clear with passion and humor the ways in which children grow up and establish the continuity of families and towns.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

YA?Julia Salwell is the ebullient sun around whom everyone in her life revolves. Her family adores her but her mother, Verona, finds her to be an impossible and unending trial. She is impulsive, gutsy, and a whirlwind of activity, the exact opposite of Robin, her college roommate, who is quiet, steady, and organized. Their differences make them best friends. They tell the stories of their lives, while other characters offer their versions of the same events. All the voices are authentic and compelling. Arnold's style is lively and readable, filled with Texas accents and speech patterns. The dynamics among the characters are convincing, especially Verona and Julia's quintessential mother-daughter relationship, which is sure to engage YAs' sympathy and understanding. The surprising choices that Julia and Robin make and the unexpected paths they take enliven this modern story of women, family, and place.?Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 364 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books (January 4, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565121724
• ISBN-13: 978-1565121720
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,078,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Excuse Me for Reading, October 10, 2000

By 

Linda Kruger (Delray Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Excuse Me for Asking (Hardcover)

I just did not get the point of this book. I thought it was a monotonous read, with no discernable plot. The crises were manufactured - Robin gets pregnant out of wedlock and conveniently, lives "happily ever after". Julia is convinced that two bodies are buried under her house - two migrant workers murdered by her father - and that, too, has a "happy ending". There wasn't one character in this book that I took a liking to. If this is meant to be a primer on the tranquility of small-town life, I say, "thanks but no thanks" to that existence.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining book along the line of the Ya Ya's, August 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Excuse Me for Asking (Paperback)

This is the first book I have read by Janis Arnold and I hope that she writes more! A few times I had to decide that maybe that could happen, but I have never known anyone to have that exact experience. However, I was willing to follow the incident to the end, and I was glad I did. People who do not see themselves as victims usually aren't, and that is what I saw time and time again in this book. I really enjoyed it and I am anxious to see what others think.