Missing Mom: A Novel (P.S.)
by Joyce Carol Oates
|
|
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of Missing Mom: A Novel.
discuss this book
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 491)
Read in February, 2008
I enjoyed this quite a bit, and it was interesting to read in the wake of some of the other books I've torn through recently. This book covers some familiar territory for Oates -- family life and the attendant emotions and issues when something goes terribly wrong. We follow two sisters in the aftermath of the murder of their mother; the book is told from the point of view of the "party girl" sister, Nikki, who is transformed through her grief over her mother's death. There is a little...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Has a copy to sell/swap
About thirty pages into this book, I realized I had (surprisingly) little to no sympathy for the main character/narrator. This, KNOWING that the woman was about to lose her mother. Bad sign, right? I just didn't get it. Okay, okay. I get the "rebellious daughter/thrift-store shopper/married-man seducer/nonconformist/blah blah blah" angle, and maybe this would have been a seedy delight for me say, er.... ten years ago. But I felt like the narrator's petulant tone and bitchy view of ever...more
Like this review?
yes
3 comments
Has a copy to sell/swap
I would say this wasn't one of JCO's better attempts. I understand the novel is supposed to be about the process of grieving but I didn't see much of a plot line or an improvement in the main character. Maybe that was JCO's point- that even a year after a tragic loss, you can't expect to change much. The characters were all a little one-sided, especially the annoyingly selfish sister Clare. Even Gwen Eaton is remarkably linear and I don't agree with the reviewer that she is one of JCO's best cha...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2006
It was a well written book, and an easy read. I liked it a lot. I sort of was interested in it because I felt I should read something by Joyce Carol Oates just so I would be able to know what she is like. Pretty standard novel with some romance, some drama, some mystery and crime. I even cried during a few sections dealing with death. The main character Nikki who is a writer living in New Jersey goes through a lot of changes throughout this book and you get to know all of the various people...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone who thinks they know their mother.
Wish I could give half stars, I'd go 3.5 on this one. As is so often the case in Oates' novels, I spent the first bit annoyed at the totally implausible nickname she'd given a character and snapped to a ways later and realized I was totally engrossed nonetheless.
I guess what I like most about Oates is her focus on character development and family relationships. In this book, the mother of the main character dies and it is only after her death, through stories relayed to her daughter throug...more
I guess what I like most about Oates is her focus on character development and family relationships. In this book, the mother of the main character dies and it is only after her death, through stories relayed to her daughter throug...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in April, 2008
Missing Mom was a very emotional book - in a good way. The main character Nikki is a thirty-something, independent woman who thinks she really has no need for her mom, and her mom's attempts to stay in touch and stay connected are just a hassle. But when she loses her mother in an unexpected and horrible way, she realizes just how important her mother really was. This book chronicles the first year after her mother's death, and how she (and her other family members) cope with tragedy. ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Disappointed by the standardized characters and the gimmicky cop who saves the day. This character's major struggle is how to become a married woman cliche. Oates is writing about ordinary people who are struggling to be ordinary, who metamorphise through types (hence Niki's constant self-awareness of her 'punk' hairdo and the 'standard' brown hair shoulder-length hairdo at the end) But it's illuminating to the human perpective if you can step back from it and realize what the character herse...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in March, 2007
As someone whom is very close with my mom - this was a hard book to read. But at the same time, it was one that I am glad I read. While the main character in the book is very different from myself and so in turn, so is her relationship with her mother - at the core she a girl who has always needed the comfort and stability her mother provided, even when she turned her back towards it. The book is quite a journey, I reccommend it to everyone who has a mother, knows a mother or will ever even b...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2008
I picked this up in P'ton, I think, one random weekend. I was feeling a little homesick, and it seemed appropriate. I read about half then put it down, recently picked it up again. I have only read a couple things by Oates, but this really gave me a new respect for her. A long novel about basically one things, and yet there's so much to say. And her prose, though difficult at times, seems so appropriate. Especially toward the end, it was really powerful; I got really involved. Really good...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2008
This book is OK but I got bored right in the middle and I haven't picked it up again. I might grab it when I'm bored one day but it kinda lacks plot and character development. Plus, I don't really relate to the main character, who seems like a "lost" person who doesn't know what she wants in life.
The writing is good, however, for those of you who want to read a somewhat depressing book.
The writing is good, however, for those of you who want to read a somewhat depressing book.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2007
A good book, although I have read other Joyce Carol Oates books I've liked better.
Oates made a valid point about the relationship between children and their mother. Most kids don't think of their parents BEFORE they were parents; what were they like as a teenager, what impacted their lives, etc. It wasn't really as sentimental as the title leads you to believe.
Oates made a valid point about the relationship between children and their mother. Most kids don't think of their parents BEFORE they were parents; what were they like as a teenager, what impacted their lives, etc. It wasn't really as sentimental as the title leads you to believe.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone
There is always an objectivity about JCO that makes me hesitate before giving more than three stars; she gets the emotions absolutely right, but somehow I don't quite feel with the heroine the way I do with other writers. All the same, this is a book I will recommend to others, as it is a realistic portrait of grief and healing.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2007
I loved this book. It was very poignant, funny and smartly written. The main character, Nikki Eaton, is someone you relate to, feel for and admire as she goes through a major emotional transformation after her mother's murder. Her mother is a loving, wonderful person which makes Nikki's loss all the more heartbreaking to witness.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2006
I read this book because a psychic said that she was getting this author's name when we met (hey...it was a girl's weekend with friends and we thought it would be fun). It is the only book by Oates that I have read so far but it was pretty good. It was a bit long winded but it was a lovely journey.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in August, 2007
i started liking oates when i read 'where am i going, where have i been', a short story, in my short story class. it was adapted into a movie called 'smooth talk' with laura dern. the movie is really 80's but it is a pretty good adaptation of the story. highly recommend this book and all her others.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
no one
This book suuucked. I don't know why I keep accepting Joyce Carol Oates books from my mom, but I do, and I see them 'til the end, just waiting for their redemption. There was nary a character about which I gave two shits throughout this entire novel, including the narrator and her dead mom.
Like this review?
yes
1 comments
Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
people who have experienced and survived the death of a loved one
My sister, Carrie, got the book first because of its title "Missing Mom", a feeling with which we are all too familiar. After reading the book I was pretty impressed with the way the book is written. Oats does a good job writing about a subject that is often not easy to put into words.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in August, 2007
It struck me as I reading this book that Oates is still very affected by the loss of her mother. This is a story about how the murder of a mother affects the family. Interesting nuances about family dynamics, and reminders of the stupid things we do. A little on the long side.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2007
This book haunted me, caused me to neurotically call my mom every day, made me want to call her every hour, just in case something had happened. It was beautifully written and wonderfully read by Anna Fields. I'd recommend it to anyone with a mother, living or no longer here.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
reading this book was like witnessing a murder -- smelling the stink, seeing the legs on the garage floor, staring at the neighbors -- and then dealing with its after-effects on its victim's daughter and her journey through life and womanhood, parentless.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
