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    <name><![CDATA[Gay]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>        
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  <id type="integer">2830067</id>
  <isbn>0688163181</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780688163181</isbn13>
  <ratings_count type="integer">1596</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">626</text_reviews_count>
  <title>The Given Day: A Novel</title>
  <average_rating></average_rating>
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  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2830067.The_Given_Day_A_Novel</link>
<author>
  <id type="integer">10289</id>
  <name>Dennis Lehane</name>
  <ratings_count type="integer">20231</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">2978</text_reviews_count>
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    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <read_at>Thu Jan 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Jan 15 15:00:31 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Jun 29 08:32:47 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I wanted to like this book a lot and many people do.  I love learning about the history of the Boston Police Strike and the concept of the characters, but this story is not as compelling as I'd hoped.  I expected to be swept into Lehane's world, and while I found much of the facts interesting, there were so many characters that I didn't care all that much about what happened to any of them.  I think for me I prefer books that stick to three or four charactes and get up close and personal with them.  The story felt &quot;told&quot; not &quot;shown.&quot;<br/><br/>Okay I confess.  I didn't read all the way to the end, but I'm going back to it because a friend of mine says it's better than I think. <br/><br/>UPDATE:  I guess I read it almost to the end when I was reading the hardback, but now I've listened to it on tape and I kept waiting for a part I hadn't read, but I'm finally finished and I guess I stopped reading when Tessa stabbed... wait that's a spoiler.  <br/><br/>Anyway, I guess I'd read almost to the end and now I've finished it on CD and nope,  I don't like it any better.]]></body>
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