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58th out of 149 books
—
103 voters
Joe Jones
by
Anne Lamott (Goodreads Author)
"If love is details, so is storytelling, and Anne Lamott excels at it. Her way with analogy, metaphor, and evocative detail is subtle; her ability to shift from the specific to the general to the specific again, superb."—The Nation
Joe Jones is Anne Lamott’s raucous novel of lives gathered around Jessie’s Café, "a restaurant from another era, the sort of broken-down waterfr...more
Joe Jones is Anne Lamott’s raucous novel of lives gathered around Jessie’s Café, "a restaurant from another era, the sort of broken-down waterfr...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
August 5th 2003
by Counterpoint
(first published December 12th 1986)
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"Joe Jones" is a novel or maybe more of a descriptive narrative that centers on Jessie’s Café. It is a rough and tumble down old place on the waterfront of San Francisco. Jessie inherited that café and at 79 lets Louise run the place while she sits at her favorite table at the window with her best friend Georgia who is mute and senile.
Louise is a rather sexy 40-ish woman who is the cook, pop philosopher/psychologist, and mother to all. Willie is Jessie’s 20-ish gay grandson who is trying to stay...more
Louise is a rather sexy 40-ish woman who is the cook, pop philosopher/psychologist, and mother to all. Willie is Jessie’s 20-ish gay grandson who is trying to stay...more
What a pleasure, and what a relief that the woman who gave me "instructions on writing and life" in Bird By Bird can practice what she preaches. I think in my mind I expected Lamott to be a second Elizabeth Berg, but she's actually not at all. An Elizabeth Berg book is a perfect snapshot of the human race that makes you feel good about the world. Anne Lamott is a little coarser, a little more loose in her prose style, a little more off the wall. She is also quite referential, but in this really...more
After reading Anne Lamott's non-fiction book, Bird by Bird, I was interested in trying one of her fiction titles. Bird by Bird was funny, irreverent, and very entertaining so I expected some of the same from her other work.
Joe Jones (if you can get past the blah title) is a meandering tale of a man named, you guessed it, Joe Jones, and the people in his life. Actually, the book focuses more on his semi-ex girlfriend Louise, the cafe she works in, the cafe's geriatric owner Jessie and Jessie's ho...more
Joe Jones (if you can get past the blah title) is a meandering tale of a man named, you guessed it, Joe Jones, and the people in his life. Actually, the book focuses more on his semi-ex girlfriend Louise, the cafe she works in, the cafe's geriatric owner Jessie and Jessie's ho...more
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It's a rather odd book, actually. Slim, superficial in many respects. But it has enough of its own flavor to linger in my imagination. The title is awful. Should have been Jessie's Cafe. Lamott's cast of characters is wonderfully drawn, even memorable. Yet we never get past the level of their interaction with each other. Even the moments of interior monologue don't take me past their relationship issues.
Since I had just finished Justin Cronin's Summer Guest--brilliantly written/told--he provid...more
Since I had just finished Justin Cronin's Summer Guest--brilliantly written/told--he provid...more
Anne Lamott how a very engaging writing style. Her similes and her characterizations are spot on and funny. How her character relate to each other and their dialog in particular is extremely realistic. It reads as if you were over hearing old friends chat, complete with the conversational shorthand and in-jokes all close friends have. Her characters feel very true to life and easy to empathize with and care about.
For all of that, though, I thought the plot was lacking. The novel is a depiction o...more
For all of that, though, I thought the plot was lacking. The novel is a depiction o...more
Joe Jones is a bittersweet story about a bunch of misfits at a San Francisco cafe who are all jonesing for something out of reach. Pockets of brilliant observations keep the pages turning, but this slice of life story feels like a reworked, extended AA meeting. What is Eva dying of, or is she simply a sadomasochist? Why name the book after such a narcissistic character, when it focuses on a collection of oddballs?
Having spent my Wonder Years in the Bay Area, I couldn't help but ponder exactly w...more
Having spent my Wonder Years in the Bay Area, I couldn't help but ponder exactly w...more
Anne Lamott is a favorite of mine mostly because I feel deep in my soul her warped sense of humor. She writes from a San Francisco/Marin County point-of-view, which is uniquely skewed, screwed, and loving, and she does that better than anyone. This is a novel reminiscent of Alice Hoffman's "Sad Cafe", only happy. I had a smile on my face the whole way through.
"Really, she thinks to herself, you ought to be in love with someone you wouldn't mind being.' ..AND...
"She will go home and put on her pa...more
"Really, she thinks to herself, you ought to be in love with someone you wouldn't mind being.' ..AND...
"She will go home and put on her pa...more
A very interesting read. I enjoyed Anne Lamott's writing a bit more in Crooked Little Heart; this at times felt too chaotic and disconnected, but at the same time, the characters were so intriguing and real, it definitely kept me reading. The strange inflections in all the dialogue took some getting used to, and most of the 80s references were a little flat now, but the complex characters were well drawn out. They made mistakes and were selfish, oblivious but at times self aware, and loved with...more
Anne Lamott has a wonderful and teaching sense of humor. Her grasp of character is amazing and ultra-real. She comes from the cusp of traditional storytelling form while using modern techniques of execution. This is a gently moving novel.
But John Gardner would hate her. She has a knack for colloquialism, but she loses the authorial voice in the process because she's too in love with her language. She distracts from the clarity of the narrative with poetic interjection and wordplay, which would b...more
But John Gardner would hate her. She has a knack for colloquialism, but she loses the authorial voice in the process because she's too in love with her language. She distracts from the clarity of the narrative with poetic interjection and wordplay, which would b...more
I'm an Anne Lamott fan- from her funky hair dreads to her hip writing style. She meanders her way through everyday lives of some pretty strange people- most of whom I liked. I was glad it didn't end with Louise taking back Joe the philandering Jerk- boy does this guy have issue or what?? I'll definately pick up another Lamott (wish she made the 1001 books to read before you die list. I hate to wander of my list but I need to once in awhile!)
I have LOVED Anne Lamott's more recent writing, but I just liked this one. Some of the same themes are here - bad things happen but we can still find moments of grace if we look for them, sometimes the best thing you can do to help someone is just show up. I enjoyed the quirky characters but couldn't muster up much sympathy for Joe. Her writing is great, but this one didn't have me laughing out loud or in tears as most of her others do.
I enjoyed this book. It was a little different and slow in places. The characters are people I can't imagine having in my life. I also listened the book, and something about the narrators voice kept making me think that Willie was Native American, not some blue-eyed, blond haired boy which is a little odd, and one of the first times something like that has happened for me.
Not my favorite Anne Lamott. I think I like her memoir-style books better. Everyone in this book was so dramatic and sad, and for such mysterious reasons! There must be something in the water up there in Marin County. But she's still an incredibly clever writer, so I give it three sentimental stars. Because Bird by Bird and Operating Instructions are so great.
I actually read this a few years ago and still think about it fondly. The reason I fell in love with it is that the characters become my friends, and that is rare indeed. I loved all of them and was quite sad when the book was finished and I didn't have them around me anymore. No too cerebral, but still a great read, I highly recommend it.
The word that I would associate with this book is "gentle." It's about ordinary people living ordinary lives, centered around a rundown cafe in the Bay Area. Major crises occur, and people deal with them in their various ways, but we see them continuing their lives however they can. It was a quick read, and I enjoyed it, but the final test for this one will be to see how it sticks in memory.
I really love Anne Lamott - she is the queen of analogy and metaphor. Her books generally deal with heavy topics, but they are written with such love and compassion that they don't leave the reader feeling down. I also really like the way most of her characters seem to form a non-blood family amongst friends.
Anne Lamott can write about crazy but lovable real people! The indecision and not knowing the reasons why humans do what they do. She writes it all stems from their parenting and not being loved enough or spoiled with whatever they want materially but not given the love they need more. Too much love is not detrimental it's essential.
I feel like I got to understand one perspective on Marin County, CA, as it morphed into the 1960s. I admire Lamott's ability to completely take on the her main character's state of mind in a way that feels very real to me. The relationship in limbo she depicts is right on.
Quirky characters, and somehow I could not pin point the locale or anyone's heritage...my imagination placed them in a much less populated area, like an island. The title too influenced my perception of who these people were. Was occasionally moved by the story.
Not my favorite Anne Lamott book. The overall story way well written as all of Lamott's books are, but it was rather a "slice of life" than anything with a plot to it. It was a story of family, love and taking care those one loves - and that's always good.
This was very hard for me to get through - very disjointed and the characters were very strange. If I wasn't the kind who has to finish a book once I start I would have put it down but I have to finish what I start sooooo...would not recommend tho
I have read and loved many of Anne Lamott's non-fiction books, but Joe Jones is the first I have read of her fiction. What a delight. She is such a wonderful writer, both in voice and in her amazing ability to develop detailed, real characters. You can easily visualize the restaurant in which most of the book takes place, and will find yourself rooting for every one of these likeable, flawed people. There are two older women in the story whose friendship is based on an intuitive kind of communic...more
If you like a "slice of life," you'll love this story about average people with slightly heightened lives. If you need a story to come to a conclusion, or wrapped up somehow, this is not for you.
I really enjoyed this book. Extremely light reading. Made me smile and often laugh out loud. Fun reading a book that has a setting that you know well- the Bay Area. Just a good read.
I really don't care for her fiction. Her memoirs are so fun to read. You feel like you really get to know her as a person and she's hilarious. Seems like real writing.
Needed a book to listen to. Almost gave up on this one several times, but hung in because Lamott has been recommended to me by a friend whose reading tastes I respect.
An unusual book with interesting characters but some of the writing was hard to follow. I'd have to read a line over to figure out who was speaking and some references weren't explained. It seemed that two different people would be speaking on the same line, with no clue as to who was speaking to whom, so maybe the formatting of the book was not the best. I kept thinking I'd missed a page somewhere at times but I enjoyed the very flawed characters and how they hung together through thin and thin...more
I LOVED this book! It reminds me of Anne Tyler's style of writing about people and their relationships. It was thoroughly enjoyable!!
Easy to listen to as an audiobook. It has a variety of quirky characters and touches on different life and death philosophies.
my idea of a "beach read"...about a likeable group of friends in a small town cafe. Prefer Anne Lamott's non-fiction.
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Anne Lamott is an author of several novels and works of non-fiction. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, her non-fiction works are largely autobiographical, with strong doses of self-deprecating humor and covering such subjects as alcoholism, single motherhood, and Christianity. She appeals to her fans because of her sense of humor, her deeply felt insights, and her outspoken views on topics such...more
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