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Good Kings Bad Kings: A Novel Hardcover – May 28, 2013

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Susan Nussbaum (Author)
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4.6 out of 5 stars 82 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Algonquin Books; First Edition edition (May 28, 2013)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1616202637
  • ISBN-13: 978-1616202637
  • Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.1 x 8.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #422,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsGood Book Good Book
By Samantha Hoffman on July 16, 2013
Format: Hardcover
My main problem with Good Kings Bad Kings is that I couldn't put it down. It's a mesmerizing story of disabled kids living in an institution in Chicago, how they cope with their environment and each other, and what goes on behind the scenes.
There are numerous characters - each chapter is told from a different point of view - and at first it was tough to keep track of everyone. But I soon got to know them so well that it seemed they were real. Nussbaum does a great job of giving each person his or her own voice and personality.
This is a beautifully written, emotion-packed story that will grab you and won't let go of you until you turn the last page. And then those characters will stay there for a while in your head.
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5.0 out of 5 starsYOUR BAD LUCK IS ABOUT TO CHANGE
By Pamela A. Poddany VINE VOICE on July 13, 2013
Format: Hardcover
GOOD KINGS BAD KINGS

Welcome to the Illinois Learning and Life Skills Center -- better known to the young patients living there as ILLC. ILLC is a state-run nursing home for kids with disabilities. They are able to stay there through the age of twenty-one; wherein they are either placed in an adult nursing home or are able to tackle life on their own.

Each chapter is told by a different individual; someone who is either living at the center or is an employee there. Hats off to author Susan Nussbaum -- each character has their own very distinct and unmistakable voice, telling their story in vivid details, catching your attention, warming your heart, and most of all, opening your eyes.

Yessenia Lopez is fifteen and a resident. She's in a wheelchair and alone in the world. She doesn't let her disability get her down, takes it all in stride. She plans on not staying long at ILLC, getting out no matter what is her desire and plan. Yessie can take care of herself and thinks as she is in time-out -- "And I'm sitting here in this urine punishment room because that pimple-headed heifer Benedicta, my quote roommate, stole one of my teddy bears out my collection I won playing body-parts bingo, so I chopped up her blanket. Or I started to until some bald dude interrupted. It's not like she was in the bed at the time."

Joanne Madsen is a data-entry clerk at ILLC and the center's only handicapped employee -- or as she refers to herself as a 'crip'. Living an independent life, she cares for the kids at the center and changes their lives after some exciting circumstances. Joanne is the type of person one can count on -- and so many of the youths look up to her. Being in a chair herself, Joanne can honestly relate to these kids.Read more ›
8 Comments 7 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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4.0 out of 5 starsEngaging and Honest Take on Nursing Homes
By hanakinstarbuck on December 11, 2013
Format: Paperback
I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway. This has no bearing on my review.

I started reading Good Kings Bad Kings on my lunch break a few days ago, figuring that I had some time to kill before I went back to work and that I'd get a few pages in. I ended up spending my whole break in the car glued to this book. The character's voices came to life for me, and the story kept me engaged.

Good Kings Bad Kings is the story of ILLC-the Illinois Life and Learning Center, which is a for-profit nursing home for both mentally and physically disabled children. It's told through alternating voices--each chapter is from the point of view of a person involved with ILLC. From Yessenia, Teddy and Mia (residents of ILLC) to Joanne, Jimmie and Ricky (employees) to Michelle (a recuiter), we learn about life both inside the home and and at Whitney-Palms, the company that owns ILLC. Each chapter is short but the voice of each character is very different, so I didn't have trouble keeping track of who was who.

This story is heartbreaking and powerful. I would say that I definitely learned a lot and it opened my eyes to how nursing homes can be and the horrors that these children face every day. Not only the complete lack of freedom, but abuse and neglect from having an understaffed home. Still they make friends, find love, and support each other through it all. Nussbaum definitely doesn't pull any punches. Several things happen in the book (I won't spoil anything) that were very upsetting, so I would take that into consideration. But truthfully the incidents that happen to the kids at ILLC often happen in real nursing homes very similar to the one portrayed here. So there's that.

There were a few parts that were a little slow but overall it was a solid book. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the subject matter, and even those who might find it outside their usual reading, like I did. I am definitely glad that I recieved it.
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5.0 out of 5 starsLeaps off the page! Moving & true.
By Ben Mattlin on August 2, 2013
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
A gripping book that shines a warm yet piercing spotlight on a substrata of our civilization. Just hope you're not in that substrata. Still, though there are no easy answers, there is deep and abiding humanity there.

An easy, fluid read, each short chapter is from a different character's point of view. Each has his or her own dialect. You can tell Nussbaum is a playwright - she clearly has a terrific ear for dialogue, and you can easily imagine these characters saying these words on stage. Sometimes the language is rough, the images disturbing. But to me it all rings true. Imagine Junot Diaz mixed with Harriet McBryde Johnson's "Accidents of Nature" - it's that kind of natural street lingo, telling the interwoven tales of a group of kids with disabilities who are stuck in a neglectful, sometimes dangerous institution. But no caricatures here. Even the bad guys are believable and three-dimensional. A tour de force!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsEssential Reading For Anyone In Healthcare or Education

I read it in one sitting. This is one of the most special books I've read in a while, and also the most haunting. My friends in the disability rights all love it. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsMUST READ

It is a fantastic book. I laughed, cried, and smiled while reading this book. I don't want to give anything away but it's an amazing read. Very quick and easy.

Published 1 month ago by Andrea Fouste
5.0 out of 5 starsWow!

This was an absolutely BEAUTIFULLY written book about an invisible problem within our health care system and society.... Read more

Published 1 month ago by Jo E.
5.0 out of 5 starsoutstanding book

I absolutely loved this book!! My eyes we're glued to it and I couldn't take them off. You should totally get it. It is truely worth reading especially on your free time

Published 3 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsAn Amazingly Beautiful Book

An extraordinary work of fiction which tells the truth about many young people with disabilities with unflinching heart. The characters are real and you come to love them. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Adrienne Lauby
5.0 out of 5 starsGood read

My God daughter loved this book

Published 3 months ago by DJuna Savoy
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat read

Good kings bad kings is a rare blend of humor and sadness.
The book was exclusively written for those who have a long weekend to read. Read more

Published 4 months ago by dw
5.0 out of 5 starsGood King Bad Kings is not a book you'll want ...

Good King Bad Kings is not a book you'll want to put down. This novel was absolutely fantastic! The author does a phenomenal job of describing both the joys and the horrors of... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starscomplex characters in a multiple POV story of caretakers and patients...

Read this book.

But be prepared for some complicated, messy, all-too-flinchworthy behavior from the characters in this book. Majorly flinchworthy. Read more

Published 4 months ago by kbirdlincoln
5.0 out of 5 stars... this book for her summer reading project and he loved

Yes it did my daughter had to read this book for her summer reading project and he loved it

Published 7 months ago by Haniysah Robinson

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