Pull of the Moon [Unabridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Elizabeth Berg (Author), Barbara Caruso (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1997

Best-selling author Elizabeth Berg has published fiction and nonfiction in The New York Times Magazine, Ladies' Home Journal, and New Woman. She has been nominated for a National Magazine Award for her graceful, witty writing. In The Pull of the Moon, she alternates letters and journal entries to trace a middle-aged woman's impulsive, and solitary, drive across country. Can the middle age years still hold as much promise as the full moon of youth? Nan has no answer to that question, but she knows that the moon of her life is on the wane. As she drives away from home, turning the wheel toward an uncertain future, Nan begins to contemplate her relationships with her husband and her daughter. Slowly, over nights spent in highway motels, and meals eaten in booth-lined diners, she regains a focus in her life that she had given up for lost. Funny, poignant, and often dazzling, Elizabeth Berg's novel will instantly appeal to women of all ages. From the moments spent studying the time lines of her body to Nan's re-examination of what keeps her in her marriage, each word resonates with gentle honesty and growing strength.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Recorded Books Inc; Unabridged edition (1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0788717790
• ISBN-13: 978-0788717796
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (128 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,382,315 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elizabeth Berg won the NEBA Award for fiction for her body of work, and was a finalist for the ABBY for Talk Before Steep. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Ladies' Home Journal, Redbook, and the New York Times Magazine. She has also taught a writing workshop at Radcliffe College. She lives near Boston, Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Berg is tuned in to a perfect frequency...., December 10, 2000

By 

Denise Bentley "Kelsana" (The California Redwoods) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pull of the Moon (Paperback)

I have never read a book that was so exquisitely tuned into the mind and feelings of the human condition. The lead character is turning 50 years old and decides to take a road trip. Oh, she's not headed anywhere special on the map, but this trip couldn't be more important.

As Nan meanders across the country on those back roads that only the towns people use, she is content to pull up and set for a spell on the porch of a woman that seems to know exactly why she came, though the two have never met. She sits down to meals in diners with complete strangers and finds she has more in common with them than she might expect.

Along the way she writes letters to her husband, honestly pouring her heart out to him, letting him know how their comfortable day to day saunter through life may not always have been all that was expected. The trip is a revelation for both of them in the end.

This is a coming of age book, it points out the wisdom that gradually permeates the mind and spirit as we ripen with time. I can't begin to tell you how revealing Berg's insights are, I got the feeling that she went through life taking notes on all of those little things that we experience and never give a thought to, little, insidious things that can impact our outlook on life in the most profoundest of manners. Read this book and I promise you won't be disappointed, you will find yourself in the midst of more than your share of "a-hah" moments and this book will make you realize just what a comforting thing that can be. 12/10/00

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspirational view of life, December 6, 1999

By 

Mary Shine - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pull of the Moon (Paperback)

If you have ever been lost especially lost within yourself, you can't afford not to read this book! Elizabeth Berg gives us a story of a woman who is lost and runs away from home to find herself. The Pull of the Moon is a well-written story that is impossible to put down.

I have never read anything quite like it, and would be insulting this book's integrity if I compared it to any other book I have read. I loved everything about this book from the way it was written to the way it moved me. Words simply cannot express how wonderful this book is.

My suggestion, Buy it! Find a nice quiet place and prepare yourself to experience a range of emotions and inspiration, and fall in love with this book and its values like so many others have.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In search of oneself.., January 12, 2002

By 

Ratmammy "The Ratmammy" (Ratmammy's Town, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Pull of the Moon (Paperback)

Elizabeth Berg's THE PULL OF THE MOON is the story of Nan, and her search for herself. She's in her 50's and has decided to leave her husband (temporarily) and travel the country, looking for what, she does not know. She sends letters to her husband Martin throughout this entire trip, revealing to the reader what is going on in her head as she goes from town to town, doing things she enjoyed doing but felt her husband never understood. She finds joy in the little things, taking time to talk to people along the way.

A lot of her letters are angry, some are sad. She loves her husband, but as many women feel as they approach middle age, she feels burnt out and neglected. She's been taken for granted, and she wants to change it all.

I think a lot of women will be able to relate to Nan and her journey to find herself. It's an easy read; took me only a few days to finish. I'm not 50 yet, but I could understand her frustrations. Elizabeth Berg is the master of "chick books" I think, and I always come away from one of her books with a "I can relate!" feeling. If you are an Elizabath Berg fan, this is another great read!