Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Feb 21, 2011

Florinda rated it:

Dori Ostermiller s debut novel, Outside the Ordinary World, covers a lot of ground. It s the engrossing history of a complex family, an examination of marriage and its challenges, and a reflection on how women may find themselves becoming their own mothers, despite every effort not to.[return][return]Moving back and forth, in alternating chapters, over the 30 years between the mid-1970 s and the present day and from California to Massachusetts, Ostermiller follows the parallels and difference More...

0 comments like

Jan 01, 2011

Literary Feline rated it:

My roommate and I were both psychology majors. She was working on a paper about infidelity and she asked me if I thought I could stay with a husband how had cheated on me. My answer was instantaneous. Of course not. No hesitation. The more we talked, however, the more I began to wonder. I still doubt I could stay in a relationship with someone who had broken my trust in that way, but I eventually came to see that it wasn't black and white. And you really never can know what you would do unless y More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 22, 2010

Dix rated it:

I read Dori Ostermiller's novel in two sittings--and I am not a particularly fast reader. What made it so compelling for me has to do with the way in which Ostermiller has created a narrator whose own story, occurring in the new millenium, begins to mirror (rather against her will) that of her mother thirty years prior.

Yes, the pivotal moments in the lives of this mother and daughter do involve extramarital affairs. But as the title of the novel indicates, the real crucible for bo More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

May 19, 2010

India rated it:

Let me tell you why I love this book. Have you noticed the current trend in fiction these days – I have, I buy them for a living –many of the popular ones tell good stories, and more often than not they feature protagonists who are supernatural or canine or both. They are engrossing, for the length of time it takes to read them, but they lack an individual persona like a preteen who relinquishes her stunning uniqueness for the false safety of a peer identity.

“Outside the Ordinary Wo More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 06, 2010

Jill rated it:

Outside the Ordinary World is a gripping page-turner; a book that grabs you from the very first pages and doesn’t let go. It’s a book about the legacy of betrayal and there’s not a single false or sanctimonious note to be found. Have I mentioned it’s very, very good?

The book is divided into two narratives; the first takes place in the mid-70s when the protagonist, Sylvie, is only 12 years old. Her mother is “perfect”, the kind of mom who “wallpapered the insides of her silverwar More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 17, 2010

Merry rated it:

I liked this book a lot. Dori Ostermiller has done an exceptional job creating a lattice work of relationships past and present, west coast and east coast, durable and ephemeral . The writing style is arresting, poetic, and so specific in its use of imagery and metaphor that I felt at times like I was reading a painting, a painting that Sylvia Sandon had meticulously created to illustrate and to make sense of the shifting narratives of her life.
Another exceptional element of Ost More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Apr 20, 2011

Shari rated it:

The year is 2005, and Sylvia is married with two daughters. For the last 7 years, Sylvia and her husband Nathan along with the girls have spent their weekends working on their "dream home", an old farmhouse, which that they bought at auction and hoped to have totally renovated within a year. The excitement of their marriage is gone, the renovations are not going well, the money is running out and to make matters worse, Sylvia's carreer as an artist is at a standstill.

Flash More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 10, 2011

Jessica (Jess Hearts Books) rated it:

Dori Ostermiller’s debut novel Outside the Ordinary World has already been received with high critical acclaim in the US, that, along with the beautiful cover and intriguing family drama described in the synopsis had me very excited to read this one and straight from the beginning I could see what all the fuss was about. Dori’s writing grips you from the start, the beautiful imagery wrapping itself around you like a blanket. Despite Outside the Ordinary World being a debut it’s clear that Osterm More...

0 comments like

Jul 17, 2011

Jane rated it:

I was recently in Lassen Volcanic Park. Had to hike in through a snow filled road. Hilly drifts of 3 to 6 feet. Slippery and occasionally unstable (falling through a foot or two of snow-unstable). It was hard hiking for me...given the up and down, probably four miles of this. Slow, painful going. My son and husband carried the packs after the first half mile. And they both also hauled the food on a sled. All this to say, I sacrificed clothes for books. My husband had ten times more articles of c More...

0 comments like

Dec 14, 2010

Kirsta rated it:

I have taken a few days since finishing this to try to come up with the words to describe this and I can't. I found the writing to be stunning, but within the excellent writing, I found myself stopping and thinking "what a great sentence". I was easily able to see the individual parts that made the whole. Is this good or bad? I don't know.

This is a story of adultery and genetics and searching. It tells the tale of Sylvia as an adolescent in the 70's and then as a marr More...

0 comments like

Jul 24, 2010

Susan rated it:

I just finished reading Dori Ostermiller’s debut novel Outside The Ordinary World. This gripping novel is a story of love, lies, betrayal and regret. It is a story about relationships between mothers and daughters, husbands and wives.

The year is 2005, and Sylvia is married with two daughters. For the last 7 years, Sylvia and her husband Nathan along with the girls have spent their weekends working on their “dream home”, an old farmhouse, which that they bought at auction and hoped More...

1 comment like

Sep 25, 2010

Feral rated it:

My friend Meredith gave me this book, written by a friend of hers. I have been hungry for this kind of voice in books all my life. I'm out of my earlier phase of only reading women writers, and I read lots of books by men again, but somehow when a contemporary woman writes deeply and honestly w/o any hint of aspiring to the canonical standard - I don't really know how to say it - anyway I read it almost in one sitting. It touches gently but surely on all the tender places of families and rela More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 31, 2010

Ellen rated it:

There are so many things I love about this novel. Like Sylvia's separate but echoing stories of her childhood and her adulthood, which are beautifully blended and woven together. And like Ostermiller's descriptions of intense moments caught in time - young Sylvie's mother curled in the patch of sunlight on the rug in the empty yellow room.

I think the real genius of this book is the way the author captures the complexity of family life - the parallel, non-intersecting domestic conver More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 12, 2010

Zoë rated it:

"Maybe, then, life is a series of reenactments- chasing down new frames for the stories that stalk us."

Sylvia swore she'd never be like her mother, but as Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller shows, some ghosts are too strong to hide from forever. The novel alternates between Sylvia's childhood, taking place in in the late sixties to mid seventies, to her life as a mother of two and her affair with the father of one of her students from 2004-2005.

I did More...

0 comments like

May 26, 2011

Meredith rated it:

I liked this book because I felt that it captured the woman-in-her-40's perspective and predicament. Or perhaps it just resonated with me. It's a time of life that your kids are getting bigger and not needing you in the way they once did. Your career is floundering and you question your career path. The main character in this book is in this place. She has been married for around 15 years and she and husband are stuck in a predictable array of unresolved marital issues. The way she deals w More...

0 comments like

Nov 16, 2010

Lisa rated it:

"Is this the magnetism of self-discovery or self-destruction -- both of which have always had equal pull in my life; I've never been able to keep them straight, never been able to tell where one lets off and the other one begins."

Such are the musings of Sylvia, the protagonist of Outside the Ordinary World. She is an adult in 2004-2005, but her childhood from 1968-1975 plays a big role in her adult life, so the novel alternates between the two. Ostermiller deftly explores More...

0 comments like

Feb 03, 2011

Tonya rated it:

Is the grass really greener on the other side? You see this situation every day, someone isn't happy in their marriage; whether they are justified or not. So they find someone whom they don't have to live with, and of course things are going to be grand!

This book was well written, I loved going back forth between present and past, all tied together very nice between the mother's choices and Sylvia's choices. When you become an adult and then a parent you seem to understand more of th More...

0 comments like

Sep 03, 2010

Sally rated it:

I won this book through First Reads.

I dont normally read books in this genre but something made me want to read it. I think it was the cover that drew me to wanting it sooo badly, I was intreaged to find out more about it.
I am glad that I read this book, but wouldn't say it was one of my favourite reads of the year. I did though found myself unable to put it down once I was reading it but not really thinking about it when I wasnt.

Dori Ostermiller created charact More...

0 comments like

Aug 09, 2010

Nina rated it:

I would have given this three and a half stars if I could have. It was a pretty good read (damning with faint praise) though a bit formulaic and predictable. Well written and conceptually okay in its going back and forth in time in the life of Sylvia, her sister, mother, then going forward to Sylvia's marriage, her career as an artist, and the way her life is turning out. The church stuff was just wierd considering how amoral the mother really was. It's a good book for what it is, even thoug More...

0 comments like

May 21, 2010

Bayshore rated it:

In today’s reality affairs are not that uncommon, so truthfully I wasn’t expecting much from a story written about the subject. What makes this one so remarkable is the fact that the characters are complex, realistically flawed characters and their actions have real impact on those around them. This isn’t a story about a woman having an affair; it is the story of how one decision impacts her life as well as the lives of her spouse, children, parents, siblings, and those of her lover. Outside More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 14, 2011

Joni rated it:

Well written but I had the 'been there done that' feeling. Why do people cheat on thier spouses? Becasue they do. Why do people avoid telling thier spouses that the relationship is in trouble? Because it's easier not to. Do cheating parents ask thier kids to collude and lie, either overtly or covertly? Yes. Will there be a consequence to all of this that really scares everyone? Yes. Is there hope at the end. Pretty much. THe bond between mothers nad daughters here is complicated and the author e More...

0 comments like

Nov 01, 2010

Rhonda rated it:

Sylvia grew up in troubled home...her mother had a long-term affair which she was privy to, and he father hit her around.

When she grows up and has a husband and kids of her own, she finds herself tempted to follow in her mother's footsteps and wonders about her mother's feelings and choices, and confronts her, trying to understand what she was going through.

Favorite Quotes:

"Does anyone love what competes with their needs?"

"'One alw More...

0 comments like

Nov 02, 2010

Riverminx rated it:

This book seemed promising, and there is some interesting writing in it, but it ended up just being tedious--I abandoned it halfway through. The characters act in very cliched, predictable ways, and the self-absorption of the adult narrator is astounding and dull at the same time. The guy she wants to have an affair with has about as much depth as a piece of cardboard and is totally unappealing. The whole church thing with her mother coupled with her mother's infidelity seems far-fetched. The gu More...

0 comments like

Nov 08, 2010

Laura rated it:

I was intrigued by the description of this book, but was also worried-- I often react badly to books about infidelity.

In this case, I really could identify with where Sylvia is in her life. I even started reading the book on my 42nd birthday, and the modern day sections start on Sylvia's 42nd birthday. Sure, the details are different-- I'm not an artist, and there isn't any other guy to even potentially bring this sort of temptation into my life.

Sylvia is having a lot of tr More...

0 comments like

Nov 02, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

From my book review blog Rundpinne...."A beautiful and eloquently written debut novel, Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller is a powerful story of infidelity, secrets and the bonds between mothers and daughters. Ostermiller’s debut is an extraordinary work of literary prose with compelling and captivating storylines begging the question is one destined to become one’s mother and if so when does the process begin? " My full review may be read here: http://www.rundpinne.com/2010/11/book-re... More...

0 comments like

Aug 28, 2010

Lydia rated it:

Outside the Ordinary World is a story of a mother and daughter, of marriage and marital issues and of, ultimately, mistakes made and the attempts made to right them.

Sylvia's mother is a religious woman. She's heavily involved in the Seventh-Day Adventist and, despite that religious leaning, she makes the mistake of looking outside of her marriage and involving her daughters in the decisions that will shape their lives.

The book switches back and forth from the early 70's More...

1 comment like

Sep 30, 2010

Shantel rated it:

I marked this book as read, however, I did not read it all the way through. Someone I work with recommended this book, so I picked it up and began to read it. It is all about infidelity, a mother as well as her daughter many years down the road have extra marital affairs. I didn't read enough of the book to know the why/how things worked out, but it is not a book that I would recommend to anyone in my circle of friends due to the fact that I didn't find it inspiring, uplifting, or interesting. More...

0 comments like

Oct 31, 2010

Brooke rated it:

This book had me waning from interest to indifference as it alternated from the main character's past to her present. I found the chapters involving her childhood, and her relationship with her mother, father, and friends, to be much more interesting and engaging than the chapters concerning her adult life and the effect that her childhood had on it. I did not care for the character as an adult, and her affair did not pull me in and make me anticipate what the end result would be. The book als More...

0 comments like

Jun 04, 2010

Heather rated it:

Beautifully written and quietly spellbinding, OUTSIDE THE ORDINARY WORLD chronicles the heartbreaking deconstruction of an American family. Dori Ostermiller skillfully melds past and present through the eyes of young Sylvie who had to bear witness to her parents’ fallibility and adult Sylvia who has to come to terms with her own choices as a wife and mother. Ostermiller’s compelling debut novel is a story of love, regret, and forgiveness that will linger with readers well after the final page is More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 05, 2011

Lauren rated it:

This is turning out to be a good choice given I just grabbed it at the library based on a review. It follows a mother and daughter, first in the 1970s and then in present day. Both are unfaithful in their marriages but somehow the book manages to be un-judgmental enough that you end up able to focus on the women, their choices, lives and so on, without being entirely focused on 'the cheating'.

Just finished--def. worth reading. The female characters are flawed and vacilate between bei More...

0 comments like

reviews