All New People: A Novel
by Anne Lamott
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 284)
Read in January, 2008
This is just the Lamott I needed. I can’t believe I let so much time go by before reading this, but maybe I knew all along that I should save a couple of her novels for this era when all she is publishing is the same cute essays over and over and over (see my review of Grace Eventually.)
This one is a slow moving, quiet, luscious reflection on the main character (Nanny, as always, layered with Annie) and her growing up years in Marin County during the sixties. There are so many familiar as...more
This one is a slow moving, quiet, luscious reflection on the main character (Nanny, as always, layered with Annie) and her growing up years in Marin County during the sixties. There are so many familiar as...more
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Read in January, 2005
This book is pretty wonderful. The characters are so real. And she writes so well. There's pain and humour and wonderful, wonderful sentences. I love great sentences. An example:
"I am living once again in the town where I grew up, having returned here several weeks ago in a state of dull torment for which the Germans probably have a word."
Another exemplo:
"In a way I've never quite understood, the veil tore an inch for me that day, like it does every so often, when in t...more
"I am living once again in the town where I grew up, having returned here several weeks ago in a state of dull torment for which the Germans probably have a word."
Another exemplo:
"In a way I've never quite understood, the veil tore an inch for me that day, like it does every so often, when in t...more
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I didn't go into this book with great expectations - and therefore I wasn't all that surprised when it failed to live up to Traveling Mercies, Bird by Bird, Operating Instructions, etc.
I wasn't surprised by the characters in this book - there's always a group of weepy women from Marin County, California, someone who attends a black presbyterian church, someone who plays tennis, someone with unruly hair, and there will be someone with a drinking problem. We've heard this story before....bu...more
I wasn't surprised by the characters in this book - there's always a group of weepy women from Marin County, California, someone who attends a black presbyterian church, someone who plays tennis, someone with unruly hair, and there will be someone with a drinking problem. We've heard this story before....bu...more
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Read in July, 2007
Disappointing, as I am a huge fan of Lamott's nonfiction. The book did not move me, did not speak to me, the way her other work has. Maybe because her fiction seems as if it were culled directly from her own life (and not heavily disguised), I felt I had already heard the story she was telling. I did relate to Nanny's constant sense of shame--whether she felt it as embarrasment over her family, or vicariously through the family memebers themselves; and also I resonated with her hopeless effor...more
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I remember hearing Lamott read from this when I was a senior in college. Maybe it was the synchronicity - the book talks in part about one character during her senior year in college, during a time of lies, errors, and self-delusion - but it really resonated with me then. I didn't love it but I responded very strongly. A compelling read with a specific demographic. Maybe someday I'll be far enough beyond my own lost period to be able to read it again, and find more in it than a vindication o...more
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Read in October, 2007
Anne Lamott is one of my favorite authors, but this book didn't do much for me. It has a strong setting, and it has some themes, but it didn't have much plot or character development. If you are going to read anything by Anne Lamott, I would recommend Rosie or Blue Shoe or maybe Operating Instructions, but not this one unless you are particularly interested in a portrait of Marin County in the 1960s.
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Life is about a journey--with turns and twists that do not really make sense at the time, but may make sense later. Or may never make sense but are still part of the journey.
This seems familiar, which may mean it is part autobiographical and certain scenes were in another book.
This seems familiar, which may mean it is part autobiographical and certain scenes were in another book.
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Read in September, 2007
recommended to Lynn by:
Jennifer Merk
This book is geographically and culturally interesting as it paints a vivid picture of Marin County in the 1960s. The imagery is beautiful and Anne Lamott's voice is clear. Although it was a bit slow paced, reading this book was an overall good experience.
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Read in August, 2007
This book is best read by flashlight. This is a coming of age story, but not a typical 'girl grows up and learns a lesson' story. The words flow and memories melt into each other. The characters are nice to be with...reading this book is kinda zen.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in December, 2007
When I can read a book more than halfway through and still not care about the characters or the story, it's time to give it a rest. I like Anne Lamott's nonfiction, but this story just didn't hold my attention.
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Read in August, 2007
characters were intriguing -- story about an adult coming to terms with her childhood -- great, stream-of-consciousness style writing.
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recommends it for:
Maureen, nancy
Was for many year my favorite book of all time...it's still way up there...I think it's just about perfect from beginning to end...
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I have to admit I like this author's nonfiction work much better than her fiction. But this is a touching coming-of-age story.
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Read in February, 2008
I love her style, but this one is so similar to another of her novels that it felt neither fresh nor capturing.
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Read in January, 2007
My favorite line from this book: "In a hundred years, all new people." Kinda puts things in perspective.
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