Amazon.com: That Night (9780140108347): Alice McDermott: Books

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Customer Reviews

24 Reviews

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

Average Customer Review

3.7 out of 5 stars (24 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, December 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: That Night (Paperback)

This is one of my all time favorites. I first read it when I was barely out of my teens and identified with Sheryl, the teenager who becomes pregnant and is sent away to live with relatives. Now, as a suburban mother, I identify with the mothers whose lives- dashed hopes and dreams - and those of their husbands and children are so vividly described in McDermott's uncanny way of creating a visual and lyrical snapshot of suburban life in the sixties.

Alice McDermott really gets it right. Early love and the inevitable loss of it colors the way we think for the rest of our lives. The memories this novel brings back to me are so strong that this is one of the few books I re-read every few months.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved This Book!, November 25, 2002

By A Customer

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This review is from: That Night (Paperback)

I loved this book! I graduated from high school in 1959 and this book took me back, no doubt about it. I knew a couple of girls who got pregnant while still in school, and it was as terrible as is depicted in this book. (Thank goodness for progress and change.....) This book has very strong, well-developed, definitive characters, especially the young narrator. I can still feel the book as if I lived in the neighborhood......

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous! I'd like to see this one back in print., July 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: That Night (Unbound)

Rick and Sheryl are high school sweethearts involved in an intense love affair. When Sheryl discovers that she's pregnant, her mother sends her away, not even giving Sheryl a chance to say goodbye to her beloved. When Rick comes to find -- he hopes to rescue -- Sheryl from her mother's home, a fight ensues. The narrator is Sheryl's neighbor, who was a little girl at the time of the fight, and who found Rick and Sheryl's relationship utterly romantic and fascinating at the time. Her memories of the fight, and of that summer, are long-lasting, and she describes those memories in that way that makes them seem to glow a little more softly as the time has passed. The book recaptures lost youth, and at the same time makes us realize that our youth is truly irretrievable. I love this book even more now than when I first read it in 1987! (FYI, the book is by Alice McDermott.)

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this book
This is the book that made me an instant fan of Alice McDermott. She's a master storyteller, and it's always great fun to follow the paths of her Long Island characters.

Published 22 months ago by ricky1818

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book
Like all great writers, Alice McDermott takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary. An incredible read.

Published on April 6, 2009 by J. Johnson

5.0 out of 5 stars Forget the movie - read the book
I've just re-read this book after almost 20 years and found it as fresh and original and as moving as the first time. Read more

Published on January 2, 2008 by Geezer47

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Her Best But Pretty Good
I really love Alice McDermott's writing and she didn't really disappoint me with 'That Night'. It seemed very real, very authentic. Read more

Published on March 11, 2007 by D.T.

3.0 out of 5 stars There is better McDermott literature out there
The setting is 1960's Long Island. Two high school sweethearts, each with their own family secrets, become loves. Read more

Published on May 7, 2006 by Jessica Lux

1.0 out of 5 stars nothing extraordinary
i had to read this book in school. it's horrible. it's annoying. There is no point to the story. It isn't even fun to read. Read more

Published on February 1, 2005 by asdf

2.0 out of 5 stars Do yourself a favor -- read something else.
Men actually leave their yards and talk to one another. Children lie to each other about who does and who does not know how babies are made. Read more

Published on October 28, 2004 by Trustworthy and honest

2.0 out of 5 stars Melancholy and Cliche
Come on, people, get over yourselves. You could find a hundred lovely writers out there, and while McDermott may be one of them, it doesn't mean there's anything particularly... Read more

Published on October 21, 2004 by SAS

5.0 out of 5 stars haunting, elegaic
Well, this is a quite wonderful book that traces and retraces the events of one night in a suburban community. Read more

Published on September 14, 2004 by Just_Karen

5.0 out of 5 stars That Night...a novel to remember
Have you ever felt that instantaneous smile that stretched upon your face, that unexplainable feeling deep inside yourself that makes you glow on the outside? Read more

Published on May 20, 2004 by Rachel

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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
THAT NIGHT when he came to claim her, he stood on the short lawn before her house, his knees bent, his fists driven into his thighs, and bellowed her name with such passion that even the friends who surrounded him, who had come to support him, to drag her from the house, to murder her family if they had to, let the chains they carried go limp in their hands. Read the first page

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real estate woman

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Billy Rossi, Diane Rossi, Mickey Meyer

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