Customer Reviews

Round Rock

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

 

 

Red Ray, the central character in this tremendous first novel by Michelle Huneven, was a thriving West Coast lawyer with a glamorous and ambitious wife--until she dumped him for being a drunk, and until he himself ended up nearly dead, thrown from a car wreck during a booze-driven tour of the southwest. ``Red Ray,'' says Huneven, ``rose from that curb a sober man.''

Round Rock is a story about a group of memorable people who, like Red Ray, have hit bottom and are trying to rise back up. It sounds like it ought to be a depressing story-it's anything but. Hunevan has an ability to dispassionately create characters with major league flaws you cannot just relate to, but embrace. The ability to empathize with these people is key because, being on the down and out and, often, in denial about it, there are problems galore. There are also compassionate, realistic people around to help them get through them and back into the light.

This is a book about the power of love and hope told in a matter of fact manner that actually accentuates the warmth and love that make personal redemption possible.

I stumbled on to this book, have given it to several folks as gifts, and every single one of them has loved it. I think the vast majority of people will.

The only disappointment I have is that Huenven has never written another book. After reading Round rock, you'll wish she had a full catalog of choices to read through. Alas, such is not the case, so enjoy this one to the hilt.

When a compelling book forces me set aside an entire Saturday evening to read it, it's a good sign. I enjoyed Huneven's sophomore effort, Jamesland, so much that I searched out this earlier novel; I advise all those who also enjoyed Jamesland to do the same. Huneven's writing style is as fresh and clean as the California air above the Santa Bernita Valley, where the novel is set. This book has a cast of characters who are very real. Huneven has the gift to write about The Rest of Us: women who cannot afford the $1000 Manolo Blahnik shoes and have more pressing issues to attend to, and men who don't have washboard abs and SUVs. The people in Huneven's world live in OUR world. Perhaps at times, all the coincidences and linked destinies can be a bit Dickensian, but with such a smooth, engrossing narrative it works. And it works supremely well.

I am surprised that Huneven has been, up to this point, rather overlooked. I'd never heard of her before and now I only want to see more. It's a shame when so many lesser works and authors are getting attention and being chosen for one of the myriad book clubs on television.

This is the Huneven challenge: go to the library and read one of her books. Or buy it at the bookstore; I'm pretty sure you'll be glad you did.

When I started reading "Round Rock", I didn't expect that I would soon be looking forward to going to bed and spending some more time with this book. I found myself staying up later and later, only to be sorry when I finally finished it. I missed the characters when they were no longer in my life. I especially enjoyed the relationship between Ray and Lewis. Huneven clearly and meaningfully illustrates Ray's effects on Lewis. I hope to read another of her books soon.

As I started reading this book my first thought was, "oh, no, another preachy, churchy book about alcoholics". Then I became so involved with the characters that I forgot I wasn't going to like the book. Huneven does a great job presenting "real" people with real emotions and feelings. I love the way she leaves some strings dangling at the end, it's not all tied up in a nice pink bow. When an author leaves openings like that, I know she is writing about "real" life, the way we all live it. Great book! Anxious for the next one.

With apologies to Bill W., my only concern is now that Michelle Huneven has written such an attractive book, how can I help promote it? This book astounded me on every page. This story has been lived. It rings so very true. Round Rock is a study in healing of all types. Thank you, Michelle. I initially checked the book out of the library but I just have to own it!!

This is one of the most amusing, empathic and intelligent books about recovering alcoholics and their friends that I have ever read. I read it when it first came out ten, twelve years ago, and I read it again recently and loved it even more. I never forgot the characters--Red Ray, Lewis, Libby--and was delighted to find them as compelling as they were the first time around. The story is really Lewis's: he starts out a self-obsessed punk in the drunk tank and, by the end of the book, has finally come around to being a passable friend, able to show up for others, and actually spend a few minutes at a time not thinking about himself. (The author believes in redemption, but only in reasonable, believable doses). Red Ray, who runs Round Rock, the rehab place, is the heart of the book and Libby, the woman both Red and Lewis want, is refreshingly down-to-earth. The Santa Bernita Valley, which I take to be the valley in Ventura County where Piru, Fillmore and Santa Paula are situated, is another major player, with its orange groves and social tensions. (Huneven is particularly deft with the intriguing cultural history of the area.) I have given this book to many people over the years, all of whom have come back to me to tell me how much they loved it.

Round Rock was a fantastic read. One of those books where I'd think after dinner and kids to bed: "Oh good, I can read it now!" It is a very character driven novel and the characters are like life: complex, exhilarating, sometimes infuriating but always real. The story moves along at a perfect pace with interesting twists. Nothing is contrived. The location history is compelling. The AA/addiction angle is treated with keen insight. There are really funny moments and moments that sock you in the gut, but Huneven is always on point with believability and compassion, and she doesn't pull any cheap shots on her reader. I am so happy to have her next book Jamesland waiting in the wings. Superb writer!

I liked the characters in this novel, the location and the interesting situation. The novel revolves around the lives of people in a small California town and includes inmates of a "drunk farm." The plot was entertaining, if a bit contrived. My only real complaint is that the last 1/4 included too much plot summary, compared to the first 3/4 where I really felt the immediacy of the characters' lives. Look forward to another book by this author.

Hmmm, well, I'd been referred to this book by a co-worker who raved about it. Don't get me wrong, it was decent but I've read far better books on addiction. The characters were a bit scattered & at times, hard to attach to.