The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done [Import] [Paperback]

Sandra Newman (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Chatto & Windus (2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0701173114
• ISBN-13: 978-0701173111
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,349,275 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sandra Newman is co-author of How Not To Write A Novel. She is the author of the novels The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done and Cake, as well as the forthcoming memoir Changeling. She has taught writing and literature at Temple University, Chapman University, and the University of Colorado, and has published fiction and non-fiction in Harper's, Granta, and London's Observer, Telegraph, and Mail on Sunday newspapers, among other journals and newspapers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A First Novel that Shows Talent, August 29, 2003

By 

Timothy Haugh (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done: A Novel (Hardcover)

Here is another book read in my project of reading first novels. I always make it a point to read a few first novels every year. Rarely do you find a gem but often you find writers with real talent that you hope will grow. Newman is a talent.

I have some problems with this novel; mainly, I'm not into clever technique nearly as much as I'm into a really well written story. I could have done without the variations in prose and shifting plot threads. On the other hand, Newman creates some very compelling characters in Chrysalis, Ralph and Denise. And the story, once you've pieced it together in your mind, has some very interesting aspects though her use of coincidence and relationship is not on the level of Dickens.

Still, this is a novel that moves along nicely and is easy to read. In a situation like this, I'm more anxious to see what Newman comes up with next as opposed to reading this novel again. But that doesn't mean this novel isn't worth a look.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this novel!, March 15, 2004

By 

Meriah L. Crawford (Richmond, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done: A Novel (Hardcover)

The author uses numbered and lettered lists and odd formatting that I expected to find annoying after a while, but the effect does not feel contrived or `writerly'. It's poetic, clever, funny, and tragic. The characters are, to put it simplistically, all deeply messed up by a lack of love and by their experiences of loss and abandonment. They are, therefore, all doomed. In the meantime, they live twisted and fascinating lives. This is a tremendously creative and enjoyable book, which I recommend highly.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great personal story, February 21, 2004

By 

T. Ziegler (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done: A Novel (Hardcover)

I really enojyed this book. The format is unusual but I felt is was a good way to deal with elements in the past present and future and incorporate different viewpoints as narrator. Mostly I liked it because the character are fleshed out in such idiosyncratic detail. I began to see a lot of myself in the central character and by the end of the book I felt like I wouldn't want to recommend it to a friend because they'd learn too much about *me*. If you are sarcastic and like dark humor it is a book for you.