Beth read and liked Mindy's review of The Hour I First Believed: A Novel:

"The Hour I First Believed? By Wally Lamb? Yeah, I read it. Hey, I didn't say it was great or anything. In fact, it seems like Mr. Lamb was really inspired by that show. Law and Order? Yeah, you know the one where they use crappy dialog to push forwar...more The Hour I First Believed? By Wally Lamb? Yeah, I read it. Hey, I didn't say it was great or anything. In fact, it seems like Mr. Lamb was really inspired by that show. Law and Order? Yeah, you know the one where they use crappy dialog to push forward bizarre plot points and explain complex technical stuff so the audience doesn't feel dumb cause they're not lawyers? Even though real people probably wouldn't talk like that in real life? Yeah, it's kinda like that in some ways. (You know, I felt totally validated by the couple of direct Law and Order references after I first made this observation.) The tone was often grating. Lacking in eloquence. Know what I mean?

This book is about the Columbine High School massacre, Hurricane Katrina, domestic and sexual abuse, adultery, the Iraq War, drug addiction, alcoholism, child abduction, a women's prison, mummified babies, Mark Twain, a miraculous Mary statuette in a Catholic bakery, post traumatic stress disorder, Nikola Tesla, stroke victims, cameos from both of Lamb's previous novels, brain aneurysms, 19th century abolitionism, vehicular manslaughter, enough genealogy to make the Mormon Church drool, and characters named Ulysses and Velvet.

So you might think the only thing missing was the kitchen sink, right? Wrong. It's lacking in a few major ways: not nearly enough UFOs, vampires, werewolves, subtlety, or sense of irony. It could also have used a strong, heavy-handed editor to reign in Lamb's rambling, messy prose, pointless character back stories, diary entries, and a laughably bad and unfortunately lengthy women's studies dissertation prospectus.

But you see, somewhere in this sprawling tome there's a really great book. Lamb knows how to jerk tears, set a scene, create suspense, elicit empathy for his characters, and provoke a few thoughts. Unfortunately, he goes off the deep end in melodrama, tragedy, and annoying tangents.

And yet, like Oprah, I still have a soft spot in my heart for good ole Wally Lamb and his writing. This book is so bad, it's actually kinda good.(less) "

Beth read and liked Jeff's review of The Hour I First Believed: A Novel:

"When an author asks you to go on a 700+ page journey, the trip should be enjoyable and/or the destination should be fulfilling. Unfortunately, I don't feel that "The Hour I First Believed" really offers either a good trip or a satisfying fi...more When an author asks you to go on a 700+ page journey, the trip should be enjoyable and/or the destination should be fulfilling. Unfortunately, I don't feel that "The Hour I First Believed" really offers either a good trip or a satisfying final destination. Rather, it is joyless, self-indulgent, and exposition-heavy. Lamb too often tells rather than shows in this book, and the telling is a little over-done. Also, the dialogue given to the teen characters and an early chapter written from the POV of the narrator at 8 years old are not only unbelievable, but almost cringe-worthy.

As evidenced in his first two novels, Lamb is a fantastic writer and a superb storyteller. His latest, however, just didn't do it for me. (less) "