Customer Reviews

Sleeping with Random Beasts

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

 

 

I started reading this book on a Friday night, and didn't stop until early Saturday morning when I finally finished it. The characters, especially Bean, are so real and funny that I missed them when I finished the book. Anyone who is in their mid-twenties to early thirties (and has felt "like an alien who has been dropped onto Earth and can't learn the customs") should read this book.

A well written, light and easy read with characters that are interesting and likeable. Bean's struggle with weight, relationships, and career all hit the mark. Really loved the book and am looking foward to Ms. Goodwin's next novel. If you liked this book, I highly recommend Jennifer Egan's Invisible Circus.

I found Bean to be a pathetic character, with no reason to be pathetic. She blames all of her problems on her relationship with her parents and other people. However, these people weren't despicable. She is really just a normal person with normal problems who blows them into something larger than they should be. She really annoyed me. Even though the premise of the story is good, Bean never really seems to learn from any of her mistakes which was a disappointment.

Ms. Goodwin's writing style if funny and real. She did tend to jump around from present to flashback with no warning, which was a bit confusing. However, her writing style of giving Bean's thoughts was so humorous that it made up for it.

I liked the book okay. I don't know if I would recommend to a friend.

Elenor May a.k.a Bean, is a great charcter. I'm still dying to know what happens to Bean, I think Karin is a great writer. Everything was just right for this book. The setting, the wording, and the characters. I would suggest this book to everyone, buy it for your friends.

This book was great, it gives an inside look at the reality of being a twenty-something. When Bean loses direction she struggles with family, friends, old memories and skeleton's in the closet in order to find her way back. I love this book because it doesn't spell out the outcome the way many books do, it gives it out in a very unique manner.

Karin Goodwin manages to get to the heart of alot of 20somethings. Myself includes. This book makes you wish you had the guts to get up and go and tell people off in the process. This book is heartwarming and charming and fills you pride in Bean, the main character, who after all of the stuff in life, finally finds out that life isn't so bad.

Goodwin obviously has some talent/humor..she reminds of David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell. Maybe she should try essays. This novels certainly doesn't hit the mark. There's no plot to speak of, very little character development and the only character who does get significant "screen" time is utterly unlikable. She's a lazy, pathetic slob who never seems to learn from her many mistakes. Even in the end she isn't redeemed. The story is hard to follow at times and there are too many minor characters to try to keep track of who's screwing who.

I just finished this book and I'd say only part of it was interesting. It jumped around too much and was hard to follow - plus there wasn't any closure to it. Books need real endings. I wouldn't recommend it, but that's just my opinion.

We've heard the storyline before-- a 30-something who is sick and tired of their ordinary life, decides to pack a bag and set out to "find themself." (In this particular case, our protagonist leaves her boring bank job to revisit her talent as a photographer.) As generic a plotline as it is, a road trip story usually makes for a good novel: a quirky yet lovable protagonist, colorful supporting characters along the way and a myriad of locales to serve as a backdrop. Unfortunately, this road trip story breaks down on the side of the road before it ever gets to its final destination.
We get a quirky protagonist in Bean, but she is so whiny and unmotivated, it's hard to care about what happens to her. For someone who talks so much, she never truly says anything interesting. Ms. Goodwin completely misses the mark with the supporting cast, touching on a million people in Bean's life but never developing any of them. The characters who have real potential are never given the chance to come alive. As far as the locales are concerned, one is never 100% sure of where Bean is at any given time.
Perhaps the most disappointing thing about this book, however, is the ending. It comes to such a screeching halt that I actually thought some of the pages were missing from the end. I wondered if the author was trying to make a point, or if she just stopped writing when she couldn't figure out how to end the book. Basically, this novel about as interesting as driving down the NJ Turnpike.

It is evident that the author has some very worthwhile and interesting thoughts, but she did not adequately expand upon them, and instead created a fairly meaningless, vaguely realistic plot. Read it if you're stuck on a plane from Los Angeles to New York, but it's not worth any more time than that.