Customer Reviews

Rosie

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I can hardly believe what some of the reviewers have said of this wonderful book. Where is my elephant gun? Pay absolutely no attention to anyone who claims this isn't up to Lamott's par. Rosie is not just a brilliant read, it is a superlative re-read. She's created another riveting tale of family woes and the love that keeps them in order. However, this novel has a unique coming-of-age brand of its own. The telling of a mother's struggles with alcoholism is poignant and enthralling. I am so relieved I can now lend out my dog-eared second-hand copy and purchase a new one for my shelves. Fans of Lamott rejoice! Now all we need is a new effort from this brilliant author.

feh to the armchair psychiatrists...ROSIE was just as absorbing and real as any of Lamott's work. It seems as though people bring a bulging satchel of unrelated subtext to these reviews...so I will stick to the book at hand. Lamott's characters as always are people you feel live next door, and that you would not run if you saw coming. Rae for example is almost exactly like my late stepmother; I would give anything to meet her and let her sly humor into my life....which is what I did when I read ROSIE. I guess I've read it two or there times, and each time I revel in its treasures.....the unlikely and gritty love story, the alcoholic dilemmas which Lamott faces square on, not sparing us the ghastly details. it made me want to drink less and like myself more, ROSIE. some books are equally well written but make one want to cataopult oneself from a tall building. Lamott's work is life-affirming, funny, and tangibly human. Thank you, Annie. The only thing sloppy about this book is the praise I feel: for that I do apologize. You deserve a more dignified fan, instead I jump up and down, waving chocolate.

Fabulous read- a truly wonderful book. Here we find Elizabeth, attempting to be the best mother she can be -while under the influence, and Rosie, a character not to be reckoned with. A sprite she is at all her five years!Rosie reconstructs the family she's longed for, and in doing so cures her mother of alcoholism. Good Job! Quirky, personal, and poignant all describe the work of Anne Lamott. Read this-you won't be dissappoined.

Lamott's book "Bird by Bird" on writing was really superb and unforgettable. So, I wanted to absolutely love "Rosie." The characters are indelibly etched in my mind, especially Rae, James, and Rosie. And, parts of the book, mostly the parts about Rosie's character make the the entire book worthwhile. But, I had to force myself to pick it back up after putting it down a few times, and that's not a good sign. It lacked plot. There was nothing that I was really dying to find out. And, the main character's self-obsessed complaining got a little old; she had everything, and just couldn't seem to get it together. I kept hoping she'd just grow up and get over herself. I think the book is worth reading, but don't expect brilliance. Expect a good book that is slow in parts, but that in the end, you'll probably be glad you read.

Well, I must say, this is book is worthy of both most of the negative and positive comments it has thus far received. On the plus side, Anne Lamott is truly a wonderful writer; her ability to stretch the otherwise quotidian into a relatively entertaining novel attests to that. The characters (especially Rosie) are quite real and the humor makes it fun, while it is at times a bit caustic. Yes, it is the portrayal of a starkly bored, depressed borgeoisie woman trying to get a fix on her life--certainly that is grounds enough to dissuade some people from reading it--but I think what makes it work, and work well, is that it is a very realisticly wrought portrayal. Perhaps it isn't the most exciting facet of life, but it also makes no apologies for it, and in the end accomplishes what all good art should: to bring that little extra bit of appreciation and enlightenment to our everday lives.
Lamott's idiosyncratic literary voice is not far removed from her public one, which I was lucky enough to catch on the radio one night, and I think it is this element that is indispensable to her particular formula, rather than subject material. Anyway, give this one a try. Who knows? You might just ... like it?

I decided to pick up this book because I've read some of Anne Lamot's other work, namely her non-fiction, which I found to be so much better than her fiction! I was terribly disappointed and bored, I think I must have put the book down 10 times in disgust, but since the book is really not that long I kept thinking and hoping that maybe the story would turn and get better. It didn't. Granted this was Lamot's second novel and maybe I've just become accustomed to her style after she had cultivated it more in her later work, but I really feel the time I spent reading it was a complete waste, and there were so many things I could have been doing instead...like folding laundry for example. The characters are so boring and you never really get what the purpose of the book is at all. Also, she named the book after the little girl but it really is about the girl's mother, Elizabeth who sounds suspiciously autobiographical. Still I got a little tired of summoning up any type of sympathy for a woman who is ALWAYS drunk, paranoid, angry and perpetually unemployed with absolutely no direction in life at all. My suggestion is to skip this book entirely if you are trying to get to know Lamot and read some of her later books. She is after all a very realistic, witty and heart wrenching author - just not with this book!

If you are an Anne Lamott fan, you must read this book. If you are not familiar with the writing of Anne Lamott, you have even more reason to read this novel. Rosie is a masterpiece of characterization. Elizabeth Ferguson is an avid reader and an unemployed widow and an struggling alcoholic-a mother's whose love shines through her fog of alcoholism. Her primary love is her precocious daughter Rosie will steal your heart-sometimes she is more grow up at eight years old than her mother.

Having read Bird By Bird, I was ready for the graphic and funny style of Ms. Lamott. Being a writer, I especially aware that she knows how to put her writing advice to work in a realistic modern novel. I strongly recommend you read, this novel. Once you have started you will not be able to put it down until you are finished.

Anne Lamott does what we want her to do: show us, the reader, a piece of her soul. In Rosie, we meet Elizabeth and Rosie. A mother-daughter team that represents a realistic slice of the new American life. Unemployed, widowed, alcoholic Elizabeth is neither pathetic or tragic. She is human, so much so, that you wish you could phone her up to come for dinner. Her daughter, the unbelievable Rosie, is an extension of her troubled passionate mother. This is a brilliant novel, easily a pick for a book club or a gift for a close friend. It's impossible not to love something about this book.

I'm shamelessly hooked on Anne Lamott's style of writing-she's so funny and bright and creates characters that you want to meet-if you haven't already. Rosie is someone that you'll want to protect, but you learn that she can handle herself. As you observe thru her experiences, you may find yourself growing up a bit more. Anne Lamott is heroic in her ability to craft a tale.

"Rosie" is not the type of book I usually read. In fact, I discovered Anne Lamott quite by accident. I first read "Blue Shoe" and found the insights into a normal person's sometimes insane psyche incredibly compelling. Lamott has an uncanny ability to capture a woman/mother's daily struggle to hold her life together while maintaining her sanity. Aspects of her characters ring true with moments from almost anyone's life. "Rosie" beautifully captures the competing demands between self-fulfillment, motherhood, and addiction. I highly recommend this book. I am hooked!