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  <name><![CDATA[Laurie]]></name>
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  <name>Laurie Lico Albanese</name>
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    <about><![CDATA[I love reading just about any type of literature -- contemporary to classic -- that has beautiful language, an exciting and fresh story line, and is written from character first (rather than plot-drive). I love first person narrations; for a long time Ellen Foster (Kaye Gibbons), David Copperfield, and Holden Caulfield were my heros. Okay, Harriet the Spy was a hero, too, but I was much younger then. ]]></about>
    <age></age>
    <gender>female</gender>
    <location>Montclair, NJ</location>
    <website><![CDATA[]]></website>
    <joined>04/2008</joined>
    <last_active>11/2009</last_active>
    <interests><![CDATA[Books (literary) and bookstores, poetry, Bikram yoga, kayaking and swimming at the lake, tennis, travel, BEING OUTSIDE. My family, always.   ]]></interests>
    <favorite_books><![CDATA[See below. I would gladly argue that The Great Gatsby, The Things They Carried, and Huck Finn, are the 3 greatest American novels, because they all incorporate the idea of self-invention with a journey -- albiet Gatsby's is of a different sort than Huck's ]]></favorite_books>
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    <action_text><![CDATA[gave 3 stars to: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/90872.Self_Help_Stories">Self-Help: Stories (Paperback)</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/11746.Lorrie_Moore">Lorrie Moore</a>]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73001978</link>
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    <updated_at>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:33:10 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
        
    
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      <update type="review">
    <action_text><![CDATA[gave 4 stars to: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19631.Birds_of_America_Stories">Birds of America: Stories (Paperback)</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/11746.Lorrie_Moore">Lorrie Moore</a>]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73001895</link>
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    <updated_at>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:32:44 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
          <body><![CDATA[Brilliant. ]]></body>
        
    
  </update>  
      <update type="review">
    <action_text><![CDATA[gave 2 stars to: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6076387.A_Gate_at_the_Stairs">A Gate at the Stairs (Hardcover)</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/11746.Lorrie_Moore">Lorrie Moore</a>]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72999800</link>
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  <id type="integer">1079207</id>
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    <updated_at>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:25:20 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
          <body><![CDATA[&quot;People Like Us Are the Only People Here,&quot; has been one of my all-time favorite short stories for some years. So it was quite disappointing to find I was skimming this book just to see what would happen next, not because I was enjoying it. None of the characters were likable except maybe T...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72999800">more...</a>]]></body>
        
    
  </update>  
      <update type="review">
    <action_text><![CDATA[gave 5 stars to: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59145.P_re_Goriot">Père Goriot (Norton Critical Editions)</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/228089.Honor_de_Balzac">Honoré de Balzac</a>]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72998741</link>
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    <updated_at>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:04:06 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
          <body><![CDATA[After starting several contemporary novels that couldn't hold my interest -- particularly Lorrie Moore's new one -- I picked up my first Balzac and was delighted to find I couldn't put it down! This was like reading Dickens or Wharton, but without all the extra descriptions of the streets and houses...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72998741">more...</a>]]></body>
        
    
  </update>  
      <update type="review">
    <action_text><![CDATA[gave 5 stars to: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1736739.Olive_Kitteridge_A_Novel_in_Stories">Olive Kitteridge: A Novel in Stories (Hardcover)</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/97313.Elizabeth_Strout">Elizabeth Strout</a>]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72998129</link>
    <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1239113569s/1736739.jpg</image_url>
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  <id type="integer">1079207</id>
  <name>Laurie</name>
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    <updated_at>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:54:07 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
          <body><![CDATA[This is a masterpiece in the tradition of Winesburg, Ohio (Sherwood Anderson), which is a book of intervweaving short stories I've read, taught, and used for inspiration. Anderson, incidentally, was a mentor to Hemingway and Faulkner, among others.<br/><br/>It took a little effort for me to get pa...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/72998129">more...</a>]]></body>
        
    
  </update>  
      <update type="review">
    <action_text><![CDATA[is currently reading: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14836.Midnight_s_Children">Midnight's Children (Paperback)</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3299.Salman_Rushdie">Salman Rushdie</a>]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68027039</link>
    <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166661748s/14836.jpg</image_url>
    <actor>
  <id type="integer">1079207</id>
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    <updated_at>Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:23:49 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
        
    
  </update>  
      <update type="review">
    <action_text><![CDATA[gave 4 stars to: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5084.My_Life_in_France">My Life in France (Hardcover)</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3465.Julia_Child">Julia Child</a>]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68026409</link>
    <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165517460s/5084.jpg</image_url>
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  <id type="integer">1079207</id>
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    <updated_at>Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:21:00 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
          <body><![CDATA[What a fun book to read after seeing the movie Julie &amp; Julia! I found her tales about discovering the French and their food to be delightful.  A fun book to read before our upcoming trip to Paris. Thanks to Julia I'm reminded that the first place I'll go in Paris when I arrive with my husband is Caf...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68026409">more...</a>]]></body>
        
    
  </update>  
      <update type="review">
    <action_text><![CDATA[gave 4 stars to: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/546018.Roots">Roots (Paperback)</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17434.Alex_Haley">Alex Haley</a>]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68025810</link>
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  <id type="integer">1079207</id>
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    <updated_at>Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:17:18 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
          <body><![CDATA[I read this book over the summer as the start of my research into American slavery for an upcoming novel. What an eye-opener! I was thoroughly mesmirized and horrified by Kunta Kinte's journey both interior and exterior, and I'm ashamed to say that I learned many many things I'd never known about th...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68025810">more...</a>]]></body>
        
    
  </update>  
      <update type="comment">
    <action_text><![CDATA[new comment from Laurie]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/67490958</link>
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    <updated_at>Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:12:41 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
          <body><![CDATA[yes I absolutely adore this book. What a great raw talent!]]></body>
        
    
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