<![CDATA[Wish You Were Here]]>

false <![CDATA[Wish You Were Here]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172885987m/228344.jpg 228344 7 A deep, poignant study of a family fighting its inner demons awaits in Stewart O'Nan's Wish You Were Here. A year after the death of her husband, Emily Maxwell gathers her immediate family together at their summer home on Lake Chautauqua in western New York for a final sendoff and to dole out keepsakes before the new owners move in. Joining Emily is her daughter, Meg, fresh from rehab and upset over her imminent divorce, and Meg's children: the emotionally unstable Justin, and Sarah, a teenage beauty learning to use her charms. Ken, Emily's fortyish slacker son, and his wife, Lisa, also bunk down for the week, bringing along their two kids: the troubled Sam, and Ella, a plain, smart girl who finds herself with a crush on her cousin, Sarah. O'Nan has a gift for voicing the inner fears that motivate and stifle us, and his characters move and act as members of a polite society--a family even. Yet each is distinctly alone, with voices and turmoil raging inside. The tension between the characters is keenly drawn, and O'Nan perceptively captures the snippets of thought and memory that follow us around. Ken notes "he assumed more than he knew, not only about the world--whose workings would remain closed, forever a mystery--but even those closest to him." Emily, while preparing dinner, finds her late husband's bottle of scotch, and imbibes: <blockquote>She went to the window over the sink and held it up to the light, long now and mote-struck, casting shadows under the chestnut, firing an amber glow in her hand.... She looked around the kitchen again as if she'd forgotten something but couldn't find what it was.</blockquote> Wish You Were Here is an excellent character study of a family grudgingly plodding forward while believing the best chance for happiness passed by sometime ago. --Michael Ferch 1408571 2002 Wish You Were Here total:210|5:25|4:54|3:82|2:29|1:20| 210 665 339 51 5 2 false false Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Tue Jan 01 09:22:22 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 10 11:06:23 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 02 14:15:46 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 02 14:16:24 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Jan 11 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 03 01:21:38 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 12 14:03:45 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Nov 29 08:56:04 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 29 09:00:17 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 26 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 12 19:59:09 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 26 17:24:22 -0800 2009 Wish you were Here...more...]]> 0 1 false false Tue Feb 26 07:32:12 -0800 2008 Tue Sep 09 13:31:56 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jan 25 13:48:48 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 25 14:36:00 -0800 2008
A story about family, as told from several different family members, on vacation at their family cottage by the lake. Ra...more...]]> 1 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Apr 05 07:22:02 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 05 07:25:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 24 11:39:19 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 30 16:22:34 -0800 2008 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 28 16:39:41 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 16:41:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Aug 14 20:19:20 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 14 20:19:20 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat May 31 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 06 20:34:38 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 20:35:43 -0700 2009
". . . she imparted the one nugget of wisdom her travels had instilled in her and that no matter where one happened to be in the world, one should always bring a book."]]> 4 0 false false Wed Apr 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 16 19:19:48 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 16 19:21:09 -0700 2009
Worth reading for sure.
]]> 3 0 false false Mon Apr 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 11:37:39 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 06:58:19 -0700 2009 Lots of complexities in these relationships without being melodramatic or a Lifetime movie.
]]> 0 0 false false Wed May 06 19:19:26 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 19:20:10 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Dec 20 20:30:53 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 22:38:35 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 20 20:30:53 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Tue Nov 25 07:39:23 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 25 07:39:53 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Wed Dec 31 18:32:21 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 15 18:35:19 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 31 18:32:21 -0800 2008 more...]]> 1 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 26 12:41:46 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 26 12:43:15 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Apr 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Feb 09 19:58:13 -0800 2009 Fri Apr 24 08:08:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=228344