Customer Reviews

Going Going

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book captures your attention from the first page. I was instantly charmed by Florrie, the main character. She is an idealistic young girl with a cause. She, as her grandfather before her, is saddened by the loss of so many small businesses in her neighborhood. Her neighborhood just happens to be downtown San Antonio. Nye describes this city so beautifully that I find myself wanting to move there. Florrie's cause is to boycott all of the large franchise establishments, hoping to help the small businesses stay afloat. The characters are engaging, the setting is charming, and Nye's writing is lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed this book - and I'm an adult with children in the target reading age!

I may be prejudiced, since I am a fan of Nye's poetry. Or I may be prejudiced because I, like the central character in this novel, love old neighborhoods and believe the ubiquitous, china-shipping strip-mall school of architecture is slowly killing our souls. Unlike some previous reviewers, I found this novel to be compelling, so much so that I read almost the entire book in one sitting. In my opinion Nye put just as much gravity, joy and truth in this novel as she does in her poetry.

I agree with the editorial review that says the book feels more purposeful than compelling. The idea of fighting to save small businesses is a good base for a book, but it dominates all aspects of this work. The characters do seem rather flat, with what dimension they have thrown in to try to help the reader ignore their unnatural single-mindedness. I became tired of the activist rhetoric at times, and Nye's creations seemed a bit fake upon close examination - who says that "teenage activists" have to conform to unusual styles of dress, be superartsy, and have strange names? What carries this book along is an honest love of cool little neighborhood businesses, and the tenderness with which the author renders them.

Just discovered the book while looking for something else. The title is from a poem by Philip Larkin. Now I have to find the book to see if the entire poem is used in the book. I thought it would last my time - / The sense that, beyond the town, / There would always be fields and farms...

This is the only book I've read by her, so I don't know how the books usually are. But I LOVE this book! I've read it about 5 times (like I do with any book I love) and it still doesn't get old. The descriptions in the book are all so good! (When she's talking about food, I always get hungry!!!) Florrie, (the main character), is a cool girl with a purpose. She hates franchises. She doesn't hate the people who work at them, but she hates their whole existence. She hates them because they clear out cool, independent places for their boring, generic crap.. One of the great things about this book is it's not your average cause. Usually, it's like 'save the trees' or something, but Nye puts out a message that's often forgot about. Yeah, you're sad when your favorite coffee shop goes out of business, but do you question it? Do you think, huh, I wonder if this place would've survived if Starbucks had never been? I'm sure some people do think about these things. But it's great for this message to be put out there.
Anyways, I love the book, all the characters, and the kind of strange way the author writes. It's kind of a welcome change of pace, and I hope to read other books as well-written as this one.

I hate preachy books, and this one takes preachyness to this whole new strange level. Apperently big buisnesses are horrible,and everyone who works for them is too. And Florrie's such an idealist and single minded there's very little realism. The book loves to blow everything out of perportion.

The names are also annoying. Florrie, True, Zip, Ramsey, etc, it's as if the author decided that creativity was important. The author also seems afraid of using normal human speech.

The cconversations aree unrealistic and stiff. I honestly finished this book just so i could review it.

I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin deep. That's deep enough. What do you want, an adorable spleen?
-This qoute comes from a relativily famous person.