false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172245214m/152662.jpg 152662 7 Just about everything in Endora, Iowa (pop. 1,091 and dwindling) is eating Gilbert Grape, a twenty-four-year-old grocery clerk who dreams only of leaving. His enormous mother, once the town sweetheart, has been eating nonstop ever since her husband's suicide, and the floor beneath her TV chair is threatening to cave in. Gilbert's long-suffering older sister, Amy, still mourns the death of Elvis, and his knockout younger sister has become hooked on makeup, boys, and Jesus -- in that order. But the biggest event on the horizon for all the Grapes is the eighteenth birthday of Gilbert's younger brother, Arnie, who is a living miracle just for having survived so long. As the Grapes gather in Endora, a mysterious beauty glides through town on a bicycle and rides circles around Gilbert, until he begins to see a new vision of his family and himself....<P>With this wry portrait of small-town Iowa -- and a young man's life at the crossroads -- Peter Hedges created a classic American novel "charged with sardonic intelligence" <I>(Washington Post Book World).</I><P> 1147214 1991 What's Eating Gilbert Grape total:804|5:11|4:13|3:5|2:1|1:0| 804 3244 1110 85 0 0 false false Tue Feb 24 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 12:08:20 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 12:43:57 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Dec 04 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 02 14:30:39 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 05 02:54:40 -0800 2008 1 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jul 03 10:04:33 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 11:25:49 -0700 2009 An Ocean in Iowa. Both are fantastic! Those of you avoiding the novel because you've seen the movie are making a mistake. Gilbert is an amazing character who struggles to understand hi...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Tue Feb 10 10:54:09 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 11:03:17 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Apr 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 23:05:17 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 11:51:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Dec 17 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 12:13:57 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 12:20:05 -0800 2008 Some things I did no...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 07 18:00:28 -0700 2009 Thu May 28 13:29:19 -0700 2009
Anyway, one of the things that really stood out for me in this book was that all the characters ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Nov 02 19:16:56 -0800 2008 Wed Sep 24 22:13:59 -0700 2008 Sun Nov 02 19:16:56 -0800 2008 1 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon May 04 07:40:58 -0700 2009 Mon May 04 08:17:52 -0700 2009
Rereading it as an adult, I find it even more touching and see a glimme...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 22 14:32:55 -0700 2009 Sat May 23 08:41:32 -0700 2009 this book is basically a pool of cliches that should be unendurable: the "mentally challenged" boy, the "loner", "the dairy queen princess", "the fat lady", "the lonely housewife", etc. here, they all seem to work. the success of this novel hin...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Apr 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 15 06:10:38 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 16 11:28:25 -0700 2009 It made me feel Gilbert's almost claustrophobic life in that ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jul 25 22:47:33 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 22:56:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 05 19:59:37 -0800 2009 Thu Mar 05 20:03:42 -0800 2009 ]]> 5 0 false false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jan 07 19:31:32 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 19:32:42 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Fri Jan 02 06:51:05 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 02 07:04:18 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sat Jan 10 20:57:51 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 10 20:59:28 -0800 2009 2 0 false false Sun Dec 09 18:36:04 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 09 18:41:17 -0800 2007 -Gilbert is kind of an asshole, especially the way he constantly refers to his brother as "the retard." Not even Johnny Depp could have m...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jun 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 18:33:02 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 01 20:11:23 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 31 08:55:30 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 31 08:55:34 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Apr 21 21:55:07 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 21 21:58:33 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=152662