Customer Reviews

Made in the U.S.A.

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

You will not get anything done for a few days because you will not be able to put this book down! You will get attached to these young characters who are trying to figure this adult world out alone. They make bad choices and you will be rooting for them page after page hoping someone will help them find their way. You won't be dissappointed. Just forget about the laundry for a few days. (and the dishes, homework, phone calls, husband, children) Just keep reading.

This book was just "okay". I am still waiting for Letts to write another book as good as "The Honk and Holler Opening Soon" which I think was her best ever.

The first half of this book took place in Las Vegas and was pretty sleazy. Many of the things that happened there required a suspension of belief, something I do not readily do.

The book moved a little more easily once Letts returned to her familiar turf (Oklahoma). There was some interesting trivia about how a circus is run and what happens in the winter on its home grounds. But there was way too much coincidence for my liking.

I finished it because it was quick reading, but this will definitely not go down as my favorite Letts book. Also, the editing was very lax, something that annoys me a lot. But her husband died during this book's publication process, so perhaps her editor was being gentle....

In Spearfish, South Dakota, with their mother long dead, the McFee siblings teenage Lutie and preadolescent Fate live with three hundred plus pounds Floy Satterfield; their runaway father's former girlfriend. However, their lives take a spin when their guardian drops dead at the local megastore. Lutie, who enjoys shoplifting for fun ever since she was booted from the high school gymnastics team due to unfair influences, persuades her eleven year old brother to give up the TV shows and global warming because they have two choices: flee in Floy's ancient car or allow the state to place them. They decide to find their wastrel dad whose last known address is Las Vegas with no further specificity except some dive hotel.

In Las Vegas, they begin to learn nasty truths re their father and prison, and where he might be; which if true will prove he is beyond their reach. Fifteen year old Lutie obtains fake working papers and dead-end jobs so she and her brother have food and shelter of sorts. However, increasingly their choices seem to be foster care or the street sharks including avaricious child molesters, rapists, drug addicts and other abusers. However, former aerialist Juan Vargas "adopts" the pair as his redemption and takes them to his family in Oklahoma where they run the Vargas Brothers Circus. Juan carries guilt, but his grandma has love for all three seemingly losers that might help each find sanctuary if they reach out to her and one another.

Although at times diving too deep into soap opera territory, MADE IN THE U.S.A. is an interesting character driven contemporary tale that argues it takes a village to raise children. Readers will feel for the McFee sibs, who are neglected while their guardian lived and after she dies make questionable decisions more out of fear. What happens to them especially Lutie in Vegas shows the real sinful underbelly of the city. Although Oklahoma turns out to perfect to be realistic, fans will soar with Lutie, play trivia with Fate and hope Juan forgives himself as they with grandma try to become a family.

Harriet Klausner

The fact that Bille Letts has named her book "Made In The U.S.A." is something about which I gave little thought until I was reading the book for a second time. As she has done in the past, Ms Letts takes many elements of American culture and fuses them together to show that it's impossible to define what a real family is, that family values are consistently about respect, love and forgiveness and that the human spirit is stronger than the greatest evil.

This book begins with some pretty horrific situations and sadly none of them are so far fetched as to be unbelievable; any person with his ear to the track (even remotely) already knows that what our two central characters suffer from the moment they learn they're children on their own in the world and must run to(of all places) Las Vegas knows that there are stories far worse than this out there every day. in Vegas, the two children slowly begin to lose their souls until taken to safety by a man who is recovering from his own trauma. It's a rescue that comes just in the knick of time and there's a fair amount of violence, just like the real world. We're kept in suspense as they begin to find love and we see that there's the possibility to heal from trauma-not forget it, Billie Letts doesn't pander to us and we wouldn't buy it if she did, but trauma becomes a part of the love we have to offer. Billie Letts speaks a language and philosophy that makes us want to be better people. She understands our culture and is a wonderful philosopher for us.

And we are all part of the Country that makes up the United States of America. Ms Letts has never written a book I didn't read at least once, nor have I ever closed the last page without having grown from the experience. I have a feeling, however, that "Made in the U.S.A." is a novel that should be required reading for all politicians, all citizens who have children, teach children or are role models for children. (Thqat cover everyone? Think so) I'm not at all certain that it was President Bush's ruse regarding the Mexican immigrants and how his own family values are the only ones that he feels are appropriate that inspired Bille Letts to write "Made In the U.S.A." but she was certainly living in a country that was slowly deflating in every metaphoric way imaginable as she approached her word processor each morning, so that at the very least-sub textually-she was affected by it.

And so was I. In the midst of a time when I am disgusted by our world, Billie Letts reminds me that I should be proud of it instead. It's sincerely a beautiful place. This is a beautiful book.

i read this book cover to cover without any interruptions. more amazing quirky characters from her that you just grow to love.i look forward to her books, especially when im in a reading rut. its always a fun ride with billie letts, and this book for her fans will not dissapoint them at all. shes a blast.

Billie Letts has done it again! She is a master storyteller! Her stories and characters are so original and I can never put her books down.

I disagree with others that say there is too much "sleaze" and she went down the wrong path. Whether you like it or not what happened to Lutie & Fate happens to so many young kids a year. Those sleazy things exhist and good for Billie for letting us know what that life is like and getting a story like that out there.

Great job Billie and keep em' coming!!

Anticipating another great story by Billie Letts, I dove into this one as soon as it arrived. And although parts of the story made me a bit uncomfortable, it was a good story that was not a clone of her others but still had the Letts style. I think she was thinking more "out of the box" with this one. It's a great book to take on vacation as it doesn't take long to read, has a good story and is full of colorful characters. Evidently she did her research very well and showed a side of life that many of us never want to see. Having volunteered in a local food ministry, I have seen many people who struggle with the daily issue of finding food, etc. Made In The USA depicts that sad part of the character's lives as well as shows the joy of finding themselves to be worthy of love in the midst of despair. Lutie's strength is inspirational. Thanks for the story.

If I hadn't had to read this novel for my book club, I never would have finished it. It seemed like the book should have been categorized as "Young Adult/Teen" since the storyline is completely unrealistic and hard to enjoy from an adult point of view. There's not much else I can say, other than don't waste your time reading it.

I would have an easier time believing that Novalee Nation could live, undetected, in WalMart until she delivered her baby than I could believing in these characters and their lives. There is no way that these two kids would have made it so long without being turned over to DCFS care - especially when an 11 year old boy is spending all day - for days - in a public library. How was it that no one picked up on the stolen car/plates? Why was Juan's English so inconsistent? How old WAS Mama, anyway? If Ray was almost 70, Mama would have had to be at least 85 - 90... isn't that pretty darn old for someone who crawls under a bed and whips a truck in front of a GTO to get Lutie out of a car?

To me, this was almost a big of letdown as the jump from The Secret Life of Bees to The Mermaid Chair!

This book was a terrible disappointment for a reader who has enjoyed Billie Letts' previous books. The story had elements I enjoyed but it was poorly written and poorly researched. A glaring example would be the explanation that a character was working as a nurse practitioner while finishing RN training - a nurse practitioner is a level above a baccalaureate nurse so I assume Ms. Letts meant nursing assistant but someone should have caught that. There are too many places where one must completely suspend belief as in Fate's ability to understand and explain the psychology behind Lutie's "issues". Give me a break!