Brilliant, fresh, funny, and wise, Allegra Goodman has delighted readers with her short stories in The New Yorker and her critically acclaim...
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Sep 26, 2010
Katie
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What an entertaining read about a truly dingbatty character. I saw so many reviews of this book where people couldn't get past not liking the main character, but I liked her - or rather, I liked reading about her shenanigans and all her missteps. Who wants to read about perfect people? She was just so exasperating, spastic, self-centered, and impulsive, that it was just constantly interesting. Nobody in real life has so many bizarre encounters and knows so many different kinds of people in diff
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Apr 21, 2010
Tiff
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I just finished reading a book, Paradise Park by Allegra Goodman. Paradise Park is this crazy novel about a young woman, Sharon, who gets stranded by a self-centered, overly serious boyfriend in Hawaii. Virtually penniless, with no one to come to her aid, Sharon continues her quest to find love, community and meaning. At first I thought this novel was insane. How could so much happen to this woman? How could she be so scattered? As the story progressed I thought for sure the author was ind
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Jul 31, 2011
Kate
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Had to put this on my "can't finish" shelf. I got really tired of Sharon, the main character. She jumps into things wholeheartedly, but can't stick with them for long enough to know how they will turn out. I realize this may change by the end of the book, but I lost interest in Sharon's story. It reminds me too much of growing up with my mother. In fact, Sharon is JUST LIKE my mother. She is literally the same age, in the same time period. My mom was a single mother and not such
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Aug 02, 2009
Lynn
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I have trouble reading about people who are so non-introspective, which the main character is in this novel. While the portrait of this character is well drawn, she's the sort of person that makes me nuts because she flits from thing to thing, diving in headlong, then oozing away when the thing doesn't answer all of her needs. I've sometimes wished to that I were more adventurous myself, so maybe that's why this behavior ticks me off, but lack of reflection can create havoc in those around you,
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Nov 04, 2010
Sara
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I'd read something else by her. Everyone seems to say this is her worst book. It's a solid read, though the pacing is uneven and the first half seems to go so much more slowly than the end. Story of a young seeker, self-absorbed (I don't get why this was a criticism so many people toss out there - I mean, that's the character), who gradually matures.
Nothing particularly interesting, but the life on Oahu is fun to read about. Toward the end, it becomes a story about growing up and growi More...
Nothing particularly interesting, but the life on Oahu is fun to read about. Toward the end, it becomes a story about growing up and growi More...
Oct 18, 2009
Taylor
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I really liked this book, and, honestly, I'm still sort of surprised about that. Not because it wasn't well-written, because it was, but because a) it's about a spiritual quest, which I usually think is pretty lame and b) the narrator/protagonist is a total hippie. However, in addition to being a hippie, Sharon is also kind of hilarious and endearing. In spite of myself I found that I wanted things to turn out okay for her, and her refusal to be discouraged about anything for too long and her
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Oct 23, 2009
Jgknobler
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In this too-long novel, a twenty year old folk dancer follows her boyfriend to Hawaii, where he promptly dumps her. The daughter of an alcoholic mother and a severe, rejecting father, she is on her own, supporting herself with odd jobs and searching for love and meaning. She is an infuriating young woman, constantly making bad choices, but has an amusing, sprightly openness that carries the novel a long way. This being Allegra Goodman, she eventually finds her way into various Orthodox and Hasid
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Nov 07, 2011
Sarabeth
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This book was neutral... Not particularly deep, but I liked the meandering quality of the writing. Sometimes it got slow, but overall I was interested in the narrator enough to stick through it. I really felt like she was this quirky woman. So often a narrator feels a little bland, but Sharon was incredibly opinionated and the book was saturated with her POV. The way she explained her mental reasoning (which was usually like- 'and then that got old, so I did something else...' or 'my boyfriend a
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Mar 05, 2010
Mimi
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Oy Sharon Spielgelman! There were times when your soul-searching was enough to drive anyone nuts - and yet, so intriguing were your misadventures and so radiant was your "goldene neshama" (golden soul) that your ultimate destiny was an important element of my own existence for 360 pages.
Allegra Goodman is a wonderfully intelligent, witty and sometimes poetic writer. ...And although there were times when the protagonist, Sharon, annoyed me, I never wanted to dismiss her or s More...
Allegra Goodman is a wonderfully intelligent, witty and sometimes poetic writer. ...And although there were times when the protagonist, Sharon, annoyed me, I never wanted to dismiss her or s More...
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Jul 05, 2011
Kirsten
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This was a strange book for me - compelling enough to keep me reading on an airplane, but ultimately dissatisfying. I thought the first half - when Sharon is flitting from one thing to another - was fairly enjoyable and mildly funny, but the second half gets bogged down with Judaism (which is nothing against Judaism). I thought Sharon had some reasonable quibbles with Orthodox Judaism which she then brushes aside and completely ignores and that rang false to me. Also, her lack of character an
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Aug 16, 2010
Dawna
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Aug 02, 2008
Rachel
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This book was very different from my favorites by this author- Kaaterskill Falls and Intuition. First of all, it was told in the first person rather than the third. The protagonist's life was literally divided into the chapters of the books, whereas the community of protagonists in the other stories tended to wash over you like waves. As a writer, this story seemed easier to tell because the prose style was less complex. But the narrator was also less relaible- obviously- because she was opi
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Jul 24, 2011
Nicki
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I am glad to see others shared my opinion of this book. The writing style is great, I actually didn't hate the main character, but the ending and the implied message that motherhood and marriage would redeem Sharon and give her what had has been searching for just didn't sit well with me. There could have been so much more done with the character! Still, I read other books by this author.
Oct 27, 2007
Ruth
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One thing being sick is good for: reading a lot. Well, as long as you're not TOO sick.
This novel begins in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the 1960s, moves to the U.S. West Coast, hops to Hawaii & lodges there for quite a few years/chapters, migrates to Bellevue, Washington, then makes its way back to the East Coast, with the final chapter leading us back to an Israeli folk dance at MIT in Cambridge. The sense of place is stellar--not just apt descriptions of landscapes but intuitions o More...
This novel begins in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the 1960s, moves to the U.S. West Coast, hops to Hawaii & lodges there for quite a few years/chapters, migrates to Bellevue, Washington, then makes its way back to the East Coast, with the final chapter leading us back to an Israeli folk dance at MIT in Cambridge. The sense of place is stellar--not just apt descriptions of landscapes but intuitions o More...
Jan 01, 2008
Barbara
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I appreciated this book, more than I loved it. It's so smartly written, all the detail really putting you in the places and situations being presented.
I went into it being interested in the main character's (Sharon) spiritual journey, and found it totally believable and sometimes laugh out loud hilarious for that reason. But Sharon annoyed me because I was so frustrated with her at times - which to me means she was, again, so believalbe and such a strong character. But, I guess I di More...
I went into it being interested in the main character's (Sharon) spiritual journey, and found it totally believable and sometimes laugh out loud hilarious for that reason. But Sharon annoyed me because I was so frustrated with her at times - which to me means she was, again, so believalbe and such a strong character. But, I guess I di More...
Dec 20, 2011
Nancy
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I loved the writing in the first person. It made me feel more of a part of the main character's life and experiences. Although at first I felt that the character of Sharon was shallow and not very "fleshed-out,'' I came to admire the author's consistency in presenting this character as a real person ...full of questions and misgivings about people and life. Having several Jewish friends and a Jewish spouse/children, in my own life, prepared me for the intense discussion of Judaism in th
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Jan 02, 2011
Barbara
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This book's heroine is the most mixed up, ditzy girl ... despite aging from 20's to 40's, she never stops being dizzy. The writing is alternately lyrical and plodding. The topics of religion and spirituality were often way too detailed for me. Nevertheless, it was a charming book ... in its own odd way.
Aug 27, 2010
Joan L
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I ended up giving up on this one about 100 pages into it. It may have been my mood or summer's heat and humidity) but I simply got tired of the woman telling her story. Some people have described this as their least favorite of Goodman's books, so I am going to try one of her others.
Jun 03, 2010
Donna
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Sharon Spiegelman, the heroine, is abandoned by her folk-dancing partner, Gary, in a Honolulu hotel room. Thus begins Sharon's spiritual quest.
Not a great book but you just keep reading to find out where Sharon ends up. Good ending.
Not a great book but you just keep reading to find out where Sharon ends up. Good ending.
Aug 30, 2009
Betty
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i liked this less than the other Goodman books I have read.. the central character just didn't strike a chord for me.
Nov 21, 2008
This one was a hard one to get through because I didn't care for the character much and found my self very annoyed by her. After having talked to one person in my book group who did like the book and the character I was able to see the character through her eyes and wasn't as annoyed. I read word by word until a little bit more than half the book and then I decided to skim the rest because I was having trouble with the character. The book did raise some good discussion. It would be a good book g
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Aug 27, 2010
Susanna
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This book holds a special place in my heart. It talked to me during a rough period in my life.
Aug 13, 2008
Zinnia
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This book is set in Hawaii & I like how real it (Hawaii) feels in the book.
For all Sharon goes through, though, it doesn't seem like she really changes. Which is maybe the point. Maybe we are who we are no matter what the outward trappings. Even if we'd like to think otherwise.
Or I guess sometimes I would like to think otherwise. But mostly I know I am who I am and that's who I am!
For all Sharon goes through, though, it doesn't seem like she really changes. Which is maybe the point. Maybe we are who we are no matter what the outward trappings. Even if we'd like to think otherwise.
Or I guess sometimes I would like to think otherwise. But mostly I know I am who I am and that's who I am!
Jun 24, 2008
Trena
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It took me quite a while to get into this book. I was kind of ready to give up on it, but I finally started caring about the character. By then end, I really enjoyed it. But it was perhaps more work than a book of this stature merits; I don't know that most people will wait so long to start enjoying a book and that's probably a smarter way to allocate your time.
Sep 07, 2010
Diane
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A hilarious Jewish version of Eat Pray Love. Goodman a much better writer than Gilbert, imho. This one takes place in Hawaii, Jerusalem, Brooklyn and Boston. Ends as well as it begins, unlike EPL which went steadily downhill.
May 02, 2008
Jennifer
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A cute book that tries to be too serious. I read it for our synagogue book club, but didn't make it to the meeting. The narrator/heroine of sorts can annoy you at times, but I understood her indecision as well. Since I read it before I went to visit Kauai, I enjoyed the Hawaiian aspect of it, although this character is mainly on Oahu.
Dec 15, 2010
Lisa
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I really enjoyed this, although it dragged at times. Goodman's writing is pretty slow anyway, usually in a nice way, and this book seemed slower than some others I've read. On the other hand, that slowness, and the way it just seemed to go on and on, from one thing to the next, fit in so well with the theme of the book that it was OK.
Aug 06, 2008
Laurel
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Although I didn't always like the narrator, I was interested in finding out what she would do next. I found her little eccentricities sometimes annoying, sometimes charming. I like books that follow one character for 10 years or more. Sharon seemed very "real" to me.
