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Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral
The beloved author of Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn returns with the story of five women who had nothing in common but one extraordinary friend. . . .
“Move over, Thelma, and make way, Louise! Annie Freeman's raucous and heart-tugging journey to eternity will put Kris Radish on the map—in a RED Cadillac!”—Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean
For Katherine Givens and the four women about to become her best friends, the adventure begins with a UPS package. Inside is a pair of red sneakers filled with ashes and a note that will forever change their lives. Katherine’s oldest and dearest friend, the irrepressible Annie Freeman, left one final request—a traveling funeral—and she wants the most important women in her life as “pallbearers.”
From Sonoma to Manhattan, Katherine, Laura, Rebecca, Jill, and Marie will carry Annie’s ashes to the special places in her life. At every stop there’s a surprise encounter and a small miracle waiting, and as they whoop it up across the country, attracting interest wherever they go, they share their deepest secrets—tales of broken hearts and second chances, missed opportunities and new beginnings. And as they grieve over what they’ve lost, they discover how much is still possible if only they can unravel the secret Annie left them. . . .
Praise for Annie Freeman’s Fabulous Traveling Funeral
“Radish’s characters help readers realize they are not alone in the world and their struggles have been or will be experienced by other women.” — Albuquerque Journal
“Radish sings the praises of sisterhood by creating an enticing world of women helping women to become the empowered individuals they were meant to be.” — Booklist
“Move over, Thelma, and make way, Louise! Annie Freeman's raucous and heart-tugging journey to eternity will put Kris Radish on the map—in a RED Cadillac!”—Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean
For Katherine Givens and the four women about to become her best friends, the adventure begins with a UPS package. Inside is a pair of red sneakers filled with ashes and a note that will forever change their lives. Katherine’s oldest and dearest friend, the irrepressible Annie Freeman, left one final request—a traveling funeral—and she wants the most important women in her life as “pallbearers.”
From Sonoma to Manhattan, Katherine, Laura, Rebecca, Jill, and Marie will carry Annie’s ashes to the special places in her life. At every stop there’s a surprise encounter and a small miracle waiting, and as they whoop it up across the country, attracting interest wherever they go, they share their deepest secrets—tales of broken hearts and second chances, missed opportunities and new beginnings. And as they grieve over what they’ve lost, they discover how much is still possible if only they can unravel the secret Annie left them. . . .
Praise for Annie Freeman’s Fabulous Traveling Funeral
“Radish’s characters help readers realize they are not alone in the world and their struggles have been or will be experienced by other women.” — Albuquerque Journal
“Radish sings the praises of sisterhood by creating an enticing world of women helping women to become the empowered individuals they were meant to be.” — Booklist
331 pages, Paperback
First published January 31, 2006
675 people are currently reading
4949 people want to read
About the author
Kris Radish
25 books285 followersKris started writing the moment she could hold a pencil. She grew up in Wisconsin, graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a journalism degree and hit the ground running. Her father called her "the tornado". She worked as a newspaper reporter, bureau chief, nationally syndicated columnist, magazine writer, university lecturer, bartender, waitress, worm harvester, window washer....to name a few. Her first two books were non-fiction and then Radish became a full-time novelist. The Elegant Gathering of White Snows, Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn, The Sunday List of Dreams, Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral and Searching for Paradise in Parker, P.A., The Shortest Distance Between Two Women, Hearts on a String, Tuesday Night Miracles, A Grand Day to Get Lost and The Year of Necessary Lies have won her acclaim and a great following. Her eleventh novel, A Dangerous Woman From Nowhere is being released in 2017. She is also the author of three works of non-fiction, Gravel on the side of the Road-Stories From A Broad Who Has Been There, Run, Bambi Run-The Beautiful Ex-Cop and Convicted Murderer Who Escaped to Freedom and Won America's Heart and The Birth Order Effect: How to Better Understand Yourself and Others. She is working on a book poetry, two new novels, a book of non-fiction and a few bottles of wine.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,435 reviews
December 7, 2008
I really, really wanted to like this book. It had a great plot and premise. Annie Freeman dies of cancer, and before she dies she arranges a "traveling funeral" for her closest friends. She sends them airline tickets, rental car vouchers, and credit cards to take a journey around the country to places that gave her life meaning. In theory, it was a wonderful setting for a meaningful story about women's friendships and the journey of grief and life. I would give the idea three or four stars.
But the writing was exhausting to read. One reviewer said that it was "overwrought," and it was also overwritten. Long, runon, and flowery sentences and paragraphs, and way too much telling and not enough showing. The funeral doesn't even start until 100 pages into the book! The characters were too perfect and there was very little conflict or suspense.
I enjoyed some parts of the book--for example, the stories about their friend Annie that they uncovered along the way--but I found myself scanning great chunks of the book and anxious to reach the end so I could read a better book. Never a good sign.
But the writing was exhausting to read. One reviewer said that it was "overwrought," and it was also overwritten. Long, runon, and flowery sentences and paragraphs, and way too much telling and not enough showing. The funeral doesn't even start until 100 pages into the book! The characters were too perfect and there was very little conflict or suspense.
I enjoyed some parts of the book--for example, the stories about their friend Annie that they uncovered along the way--but I found myself scanning great chunks of the book and anxious to reach the end so I could read a better book. Never a good sign.
January 28, 2015
The Beautiful Ms. Bonnie (my very old dog) felt compelled to review this book and warn all potential readers to avoid it! She borrowed the book from me, as I was reading it for my book club, and then she did me the splendid favor of throwing it in the trash. Bonnie said that I should not even donate it to a thrift store as it would be almost criminal to inflict this drivel on someone else.
Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish LOOKED like it would be a funny and woman-empowering read. The premise is that a "funeral" is arranged by a woman, just before she dies, for 4 of her friends. They've never met each other, and Annie leaves them instructions, tickets, money, sending them off to visit 4 cities of significance to her while she was alive.
Sounds like it could be a two-week adventure and Bonnie thought she'd come to be very involved with the quirky characters throughout the trip. But Bonnie made horrific gagging noises and said that if Annie hadn't already "died", she'd want to kill her herself, along with her martyr-like friends.
Bonnie thinks the biggest problem with the book is. . . well. . . the writing! The author has this maddening habit of taking a sentence (like "She wondered if. . . . ) and then using it like a sentence completion stem, filling in the blank about 10 times, until you wanted to stab the book with an ice pick.
(This would be a typical style, especially the last segment: She wondered if this book was secretly a plot to make everyone pluck out their eyeballs and swear off reading for all time; she wondered if the author's word processor had an obsessive compulsive disorder and had to repeat the same phrases over and over again; she wondered if the sickening silver of the shiny moon would infuse their hearts with the love they felt toward Annie and make them howl in unison at the crack of dawn every day.)
And the worst thing, the absolutely worst thing, about the book was that you really, really didn't care about the characters by the time you get to the end. Except to maybe wish foul things upon them and then have to feel some guilt for that. The Beautiful Ms. Bonnie thinks we all tend to feel enough guilt in life, without having murderous-thoughts-toward-fictional-characters guilt and life is just way, way too short to waste on crappy books.
She gives this book two paws down and the BackYard Cleanup Award.
Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish LOOKED like it would be a funny and woman-empowering read. The premise is that a "funeral" is arranged by a woman, just before she dies, for 4 of her friends. They've never met each other, and Annie leaves them instructions, tickets, money, sending them off to visit 4 cities of significance to her while she was alive.
Sounds like it could be a two-week adventure and Bonnie thought she'd come to be very involved with the quirky characters throughout the trip. But Bonnie made horrific gagging noises and said that if Annie hadn't already "died", she'd want to kill her herself, along with her martyr-like friends.
Bonnie thinks the biggest problem with the book is. . . well. . . the writing! The author has this maddening habit of taking a sentence (like "She wondered if. . . . ) and then using it like a sentence completion stem, filling in the blank about 10 times, until you wanted to stab the book with an ice pick.
(This would be a typical style, especially the last segment: She wondered if this book was secretly a plot to make everyone pluck out their eyeballs and swear off reading for all time; she wondered if the author's word processor had an obsessive compulsive disorder and had to repeat the same phrases over and over again; she wondered if the sickening silver of the shiny moon would infuse their hearts with the love they felt toward Annie and make them howl in unison at the crack of dawn every day.)
And the worst thing, the absolutely worst thing, about the book was that you really, really didn't care about the characters by the time you get to the end. Except to maybe wish foul things upon them and then have to feel some guilt for that. The Beautiful Ms. Bonnie thinks we all tend to feel enough guilt in life, without having murderous-thoughts-toward-fictional-characters guilt and life is just way, way too short to waste on crappy books.
She gives this book two paws down and the BackYard Cleanup Award.
January 28, 2020
Update: Kindle $1.99 special today!
It’s really wonderful! I still smile thinking about the clever plot.... the characters....the way these women become friends ... and the deeper messages underneath the charm & fun.
I read this years ago—and still remember the many things I loved about it!
It’s really wonderful! I still smile thinking about the clever plot.... the characters....the way these women become friends ... and the deeper messages underneath the charm & fun.
I read this years ago—and still remember the many things I loved about it!
February 10, 2008
I started out with high hopes for this book, but it turned out a little anticlimactic for me. What a brilliant thought - a traveling funeral, sort of like the movie "Elizabethtown", but with 5 older female characters in the title role. But the author really litters the plot with flowery prose on the meaning of life and how people grieve for the dead in so many different ways, and that there's not a wrong way to do it.
By the end chapters, I sort of wanted to skip to the end because she'd said the same thing in every single chapter. Not only that, but you lack creativity when you begin 6 paragraphs in a row with the phrase "Of course..." or "They cried...". Holy cow. That works for one out of every 35 books I think.
I would have enjoyed this more if the author had developed the characters more, developed the action a little more, and dropped half of the philosophical banter.
By the end chapters, I sort of wanted to skip to the end because she'd said the same thing in every single chapter. Not only that, but you lack creativity when you begin 6 paragraphs in a row with the phrase "Of course..." or "They cried...". Holy cow. That works for one out of every 35 books I think.
I would have enjoyed this more if the author had developed the characters more, developed the action a little more, and dropped half of the philosophical banter.
July 7, 2012
After slogging through the first 113 pages of this book, I decided to put myself out of my misery, and leave it unfinished for all time! I was thoroughly annoyed with the author's overwrought and repetitive writing style, and found myself in a near-catatonic state while reading many of the paragraphs. The characters, including Annie, seemed sketchy and too similar...and, I just didn't find them interesting, let alone care enough about them to find out how they interacted. I was immediately put off by Katherine, her Bali bra deconstruction, and interaction with the UPS driver...it all seemed too unnatural. Come on, what woman has ever found "the perfect bra" and failed to purchase it in multiples?! That should have been my first cue to call it quits on this book...
August 31, 2010
Rarely do I review a book but this one ticked me off so much I can hardly stand it!!!
I gave the book one star because I think the premise was great. The execution left much to be desired.
Here are a few of the troubling highlights.
Just because five women are grieving does not mean they all burst into tears simultaneously throughout their travels.
If five women are drinking together and someone buys them a round of drinks, (on two separate occasions) surely one of them is going to be curious enough and (hopefully) polite enough to discover who the person is and go over to thank them.
A charming, loving, gorgeous man fathers a close friend’s children and then takes absolutely no active role in their lives. He may be gay but he is supposed to be human.
Champagne might go right to their heads and perhaps they are ditzy enough that “they could care less.”
The women fly to Duluth from New York following ‘the frozen tundra across top of Minnesota..” Look at a map. One does not fly over Northern Minnesota to reach Duluth, (from Minneapolis or New York) nor is there frozen tundra anywhere in Minnesota at any time of year. (Thirty pages later they are all swimming naked in Lake Superior.)
It was too much to discover the lowly bartender was actually a two time published author and a therapist.
I’m thrilled it worked our perfectly for everyone but life just isn’t so perfect.
I gave the book one star because I think the premise was great. The execution left much to be desired.
Here are a few of the troubling highlights.
Just because five women are grieving does not mean they all burst into tears simultaneously throughout their travels.
If five women are drinking together and someone buys them a round of drinks, (on two separate occasions) surely one of them is going to be curious enough and (hopefully) polite enough to discover who the person is and go over to thank them.
A charming, loving, gorgeous man fathers a close friend’s children and then takes absolutely no active role in their lives. He may be gay but he is supposed to be human.
Champagne might go right to their heads and perhaps they are ditzy enough that “they could care less.”
The women fly to Duluth from New York following ‘the frozen tundra across top of Minnesota..” Look at a map. One does not fly over Northern Minnesota to reach Duluth, (from Minneapolis or New York) nor is there frozen tundra anywhere in Minnesota at any time of year. (Thirty pages later they are all swimming naked in Lake Superior.)
It was too much to discover the lowly bartender was actually a two time published author and a therapist.
I’m thrilled it worked our perfectly for everyone but life just isn’t so perfect.
August 29, 2014
I don't think I've ever been so moved by a book. I realized going in that this was a book that you either love or you hate. I loved it. It is a book that really shows the power of friendship and the bonds that women share between one another. I adored each one of Annie's pallbearers on her traveling funeral.
Each woman was very different and yet through their common bond, their friendship with Annie, they all come to be great friends. Its quite likely that you'll discover a bit of yourself in one of the characters. For me it was Balinda, a daughter that is trapped by taking care of her ailing mother.
There is so much about this book that makes the reader reflect on life and death. The book really seemed to carry a strong message of live life to the fullest. Annie may not have had a perfect life, but through her own trials she shared this belief with the five women she was closest two.
The idea of a traveling funeral was quite odd to me at first but as you learned the reasons Annie chose the places she did for her friends to visit and spread her ashes it makes more and more sense. It also really became a celebration of her life rather than a somber occasion.
The funeral book that they all wrote in is an idea that I came to love as I read. Whenever they had thoughts of Annie they wrote them down, rather than having a book with names of the people that came. It was a memento of their thoughts and feelings of their friend, with some remarks on what she would have said to their thoughts.
The book was so well written. The characters introduced in an orderly fashion. Radish introduced each woman as Katherine called them about the funeral and then shared how Annie became part of each woman's life.
I alternated between tears and laughter as I read this book. It really reached in and touched a part of me. It made me long for friends like Katherine, Laura, Jill, Rebecca, Maria, Balinda and Annie. I don't think I could recommend any book as highly as I do this one.
Each woman was very different and yet through their common bond, their friendship with Annie, they all come to be great friends. Its quite likely that you'll discover a bit of yourself in one of the characters. For me it was Balinda, a daughter that is trapped by taking care of her ailing mother.
There is so much about this book that makes the reader reflect on life and death. The book really seemed to carry a strong message of live life to the fullest. Annie may not have had a perfect life, but through her own trials she shared this belief with the five women she was closest two.
The idea of a traveling funeral was quite odd to me at first but as you learned the reasons Annie chose the places she did for her friends to visit and spread her ashes it makes more and more sense. It also really became a celebration of her life rather than a somber occasion.
The funeral book that they all wrote in is an idea that I came to love as I read. Whenever they had thoughts of Annie they wrote them down, rather than having a book with names of the people that came. It was a memento of their thoughts and feelings of their friend, with some remarks on what she would have said to their thoughts.
The book was so well written. The characters introduced in an orderly fashion. Radish introduced each woman as Katherine called them about the funeral and then shared how Annie became part of each woman's life.
I alternated between tears and laughter as I read this book. It really reached in and touched a part of me. It made me long for friends like Katherine, Laura, Jill, Rebecca, Maria, Balinda and Annie. I don't think I could recommend any book as highly as I do this one.
May 19, 2007
By the end of this book, I was tired of reading about how wonderful Annie Freeman was. The story was just too sappy for me.
December 28, 2007
When I finished this book I felt fulfilled, satisfied, contemplative and slightly giddy. Also, desireous of a traveling funeral (many years from now). While reading it, I laughed a lot, cried more than once, saw myself, my sisters and my friends in many of the traveling moments. The opening description of how a seemingly small incident (the disintegration of a favorite and dependable undergarment) can be the last straw was a hoot.
January 20, 2012
I had to read this for a book club I was hosting a few years ago. Being a man (apparently the author thinks that this is a huge disadvantage), I knew that I would be a little out of my element, but I volunteered to head up said club and vowed to give every book an honest, earnest chance. That being said...I absolutely hated this book.
The vast majority of this novel is spent granting 'magical' status to anything and everything in the known universe. The male characters might as well be cardboard cutouts and are generally not physically present, only occassionally referred to (there's the gay one, the stupid one, the slobbering rapist, etc.) The main characters are all the same: middle-aged, weepy spinsters who are all too ready to share some precious, meaningful, 'magical' (there's that word again!) moment with whoever or whatever happens to be nearby, as long as it isn't in any way masculine. I feel like I read the world's longest, sappiest sympathy card and I'll never be quite the same. In a bad way.
So, bottom line...flat characters going through predictable development in contrived situations that scream 'This could never, would never, should never happen in real life!' Complete strangers dancing in an airport terminal...need I say more?!?
The vast majority of this novel is spent granting 'magical' status to anything and everything in the known universe. The male characters might as well be cardboard cutouts and are generally not physically present, only occassionally referred to (there's the gay one, the stupid one, the slobbering rapist, etc.) The main characters are all the same: middle-aged, weepy spinsters who are all too ready to share some precious, meaningful, 'magical' (there's that word again!) moment with whoever or whatever happens to be nearby, as long as it isn't in any way masculine. I feel like I read the world's longest, sappiest sympathy card and I'll never be quite the same. In a bad way.
So, bottom line...flat characters going through predictable development in contrived situations that scream 'This could never, would never, should never happen in real life!' Complete strangers dancing in an airport terminal...need I say more?!?
June 25, 2016
Annie G Freeman knew she was dying (ovarian cancer), so she planned an unusual funeral. Her ashes were to be scattered over several sites that had importance in her life, and her “pallbearers” were to be several women she’d known and loved.
This is a pretty interesting premise and could have been a decent book. But Radish has given us cardboard characters, and over-written scenarios. I think a 7-year-old could determine the “important lessons” at each of the stops on the funeral route; but Radish doesn’t trust her readers to let them discern this for themselves. Instead, she hits us over the head with long, serious monologues, which are then further interpreted by one of the other women so everyone understands how important this was. Puh-leeze!
Linda Stephens does an okay job reading the audio book. She does not sufficiently differentiate all the many female characters to make them easily distinguishable. Still, it’s not difficult to follow. Her emphasis on the “important” parts drove me nuts.
I give it 1 star just because the premise was interesting (and I must be feeling generous, or am just so glad to be done with it).
This is a pretty interesting premise and could have been a decent book. But Radish has given us cardboard characters, and over-written scenarios. I think a 7-year-old could determine the “important lessons” at each of the stops on the funeral route; but Radish doesn’t trust her readers to let them discern this for themselves. Instead, she hits us over the head with long, serious monologues, which are then further interpreted by one of the other women so everyone understands how important this was. Puh-leeze!
Linda Stephens does an okay job reading the audio book. She does not sufficiently differentiate all the many female characters to make them easily distinguishable. Still, it’s not difficult to follow. Her emphasis on the “important” parts drove me nuts.
I give it 1 star just because the premise was interesting (and I must be feeling generous, or am just so glad to be done with it).
April 11, 2016
I recognize I am not the target audience for Kris Radish’s Annie Freeman’s Fabulous Traveling Funeral; however, I believe a good storyteller will overcome the scope of their material rather than continually remind you that you weren’t meant to pick up their book in the first place. All too quickly this approach made it difficult to both suspend disbelief at the endless string of coincidences and care about Annie Freeman when I clearly wouldn’t have been invited to the funeral. It’s a shame, I think, because (along with friendship) celebrating life and opening oneself up to life’s possibilities is at the core of this novel. It seemed like a missed opportunity.
December 26, 2015
This book was just what I needed to give me a much needed lift.And it did, but there were a few problems. Annie Freeman, before she succumbed to cancer, set up her own funeral. She set up five of her friends with all they would need to mourn and celebrate her life all the while traveling the country.
Each of her selected friends came with their own emotional baggage. Annie knew this and set it up so that her friends would have some growing moments amid all the travel and festivities.
I loved the premise, the empowering of women who get stuck in their lives.But I found the writing to be too glib, too easy to wrap up with a nice bow. I would have liked to see some honest to goodness conflict between these women. After all these were women who really did not know one another, but aside from occasional hints at squabbles,(someone taking too long at the bathroom sink)it was all one big love fest.The writing style to me was unattractive.
This was my introduction to Kris Radish. I have more of her work on my to read list. I hope I enjoy those more.
Each of her selected friends came with their own emotional baggage. Annie knew this and set it up so that her friends would have some growing moments amid all the travel and festivities.
I loved the premise, the empowering of women who get stuck in their lives.But I found the writing to be too glib, too easy to wrap up with a nice bow. I would have liked to see some honest to goodness conflict between these women. After all these were women who really did not know one another, but aside from occasional hints at squabbles,(someone taking too long at the bathroom sink)it was all one big love fest.The writing style to me was unattractive.
This was my introduction to Kris Radish. I have more of her work on my to read list. I hope I enjoy those more.
April 17, 2018
I have never had such a difficult time trying to finish a book. This one took me a bloody month to read, and I managed to finish it just minutes before I went to my book discussion group. It required much patience and resulted in a lot of eye-rolling and exasperated sighs. I am not one to give up on a book; the fact that I nearly did so after every chapter but kept reading is a testament to, well, really just an insane level of resolve on my part, cos this was terrible.
I can easily read a book in a day when I have the time, and it's rare that a book takes me more than two or three days (Tolstoy notwithstanding, lol).
A book this small should have taken me a few hours at best. I was intrigued by the premise and had high hopes - which were quickly dashed by the plot's execution and disappointing, monotonous writing style. This book basically consists of one character with different names, one of which dies (not a spoiler if you've read the title). The vernacular is off-putting (it's very romanticised; an example: Annie says to her caregiver, and...one of the other characters says to another - ...well, just pick two names, really - 'I love when you call me "baby,"' which sounds like Harlequin &/or Jenna Jameson dialogue but is supposedly said by one female to her platonic female mate, not lover) and repetitive. I don't know about you, but my mates and I have different speaking styles, yet the writing here has the group of girls sounding absolutely identical - though they've never met before, imagine that!
Were there men in this book? I think...erm, perhaps, lurking somewhere in the darkness, there were?
It's a book about women by a woman for women - simple ones. The author tells the reader how to feel without backing her claims using proper context (the most obvious being a case of 'Annie G Freeman is the most wonderful, amazing, intelligent woman to have ever existed!!!! Seriously! She's so brill, I don't even need to develop the character at all!') There is an attempt at philosophy so thinly veiled as to be not at all; its depth is rather shallow at best, echoing things most of us already are well aware of - but doing so in a far more pretentious manner.
I barely slogged through this one; I hope I can save you the headache of attempting the same.
May 14, 2013
I'm more than half way through this book, but I am giving up on it (which I don't do often). The concept is ok, and I like the progressive thinking, but the book is so overwritten and repetitive that I probably know what's going to happen, just like the omniscient Annie, who "knew" what would happen when she asked her best friends to travel together to scatter her ashes around the country. The story is a tear-jerker, but it's predictable and I am tired of being hit over the head again and again by what's going to happen. It takes any joy out of the story when things actually happen. The action is written almost as an afterthought. I feel like I'm pretty tolerant of imperfect writing, I read tons of romances, but this sentimental fantasy of these powerful women bonding leaves me cold. There is just not enough fun or learning going on for me to put up with the writing style.
October 14, 2007
pure crap. didn't finish it.
April 2, 2012
If I had remembered that Kris Radish was the author of Searching for Paradise in Parker, PA, I never would have started reading this book -- because Searching for Paradise... was a book that I couldn't even enjoy while sitting on a beach. This one wasn't any better. I actually really like the idea of a traveling funeral to celebrate someone's life by spreading her ashes around the country in the places that meant something to her. Too bad that I HATE Kris Radish's writing style -- overly flowery, full of middle-aged grrrl-power, not the least bit believable, and then there's the small problem of the fact that her characters all blend together, except for the fact that one of them likes to say "shit" constantly. This book hurt my brain.
Currently reading
October 28, 2008I have to say, I'm disappointed with this book so far. The writing is so flowery (not the right word) that it gets in the way of a potentially great story.
May 5, 2009
I LOVED this book! In fact I gave it as gifts to two of my closest friends last year, and told them that this was one of my favorite reads of the year.
The story is about loss, love, the power of women's friendships and living each moment we have here on earth. It's about making the sometimes tough choices that allow you to live an authentic life. It does it without getting to sweet, or too sad -- although there are sweet and SAD moments, they don't bog down the book.
Annie Freeman has died from cancer, but before she died -- she planned her own traveling funeral. She's gathered together some of the people that meant the most to her in life for one last celebration. The book chronicles that final journey, and the discoveries the participants make along the way about Annie, and themselves.
This book introduced me to Kris Radish. I've since read all of her books. I really enjoyed them all, but this is my all-time favorite of hers, so far....
The story is about loss, love, the power of women's friendships and living each moment we have here on earth. It's about making the sometimes tough choices that allow you to live an authentic life. It does it without getting to sweet, or too sad -- although there are sweet and SAD moments, they don't bog down the book.
Annie Freeman has died from cancer, but before she died -- she planned her own traveling funeral. She's gathered together some of the people that meant the most to her in life for one last celebration. The book chronicles that final journey, and the discoveries the participants make along the way about Annie, and themselves.
This book introduced me to Kris Radish. I've since read all of her books. I really enjoyed them all, but this is my all-time favorite of hers, so far....
September 6, 2020
This is a book which is not great, enduring literature, but I will say that it has endured in my heart since I read it when it first came out. The rollicking dialog between the women is among the best examples of female conversation which I have ever read, and even though I have just finished reading it for the second time, I want to buy it in hardcover so that I can read it again and again and it will not explode into a pile of worn pages and glue. (I've still never forgiven the unknown person to whom I loaned my original copy and she conveniently forgot to give it back.) I love this book and its characters beyond all reason, and will continue to sing its praises to all whom I can get to stand still long enough to listen.
May 6, 2018
DNF. I read about 60 pages of this book. It was my book club's May choice. Nothing about this story rang true other than - people die, those who love them are sad. Below are a few of the reasons I chose not to continue the torture of trying to read and enjoy this book.
1. The ridiculous drama about the worn out bra in the first chapter felt like poorly contrived drama. Let's face it, 3 year old bras do not "explode". The elastic wears out and they just become tired and listless and the owner does the merciful thing and throws them away. I read the last few paragraphs of the book after accepting that I was not going to find any joy in completing this overwrought melodrama. I was surprised and disappointed to discover, once again, that bra. Katherine burned the Bali bra at the end of the book. REALLY? The bra died a week before she left for the "momentous trip" and we are supposed to believe that she packed the worn out bra, traveled for 10 days during which time she made 4 new best friends, had life changing experiences, and still waxes nostalgic over that worn out bra. Give me a break.
2. We are all going to die. Anyone in their 50's should have come to some level of exceptance of that fact. So it seems extremely arrogant of Annie (in her 50s) to think that her death gives her the right to demand that 5 friends drop everything in their busy lives and jump through her hoops for 10 days. Annie is supposed to be wonderful and amazing. Her last act before dying seems manipulative and self-absorbed.
3. I don't buy the premise that the women on this trip all become best friends. Mature people have mature relationships. Friendships of 25+ years have been built on a history of sharing 25+ years of happiness, heartbreak, fear and trembling, etc. While we still meet people who are interesting that we want to include in our lives and they may become best friends in time, the term "best friend" is earned. Best friend is not a label to slap on someone that you have spent 10 days with. Well, unless you have really pathetic people in your life that you have been calling best friends. How sad would that be.
4. In conclusion, this book has the feel of one of those books that got a lot of undeserved hype from the publishing world in an effort to increase revenue and now book clubs across America are reading it. There are so many GOOD books that I will never have time to read, I see no reason to waste any more time reading this sappy drivel.
1. The ridiculous drama about the worn out bra in the first chapter felt like poorly contrived drama. Let's face it, 3 year old bras do not "explode". The elastic wears out and they just become tired and listless and the owner does the merciful thing and throws them away. I read the last few paragraphs of the book after accepting that I was not going to find any joy in completing this overwrought melodrama. I was surprised and disappointed to discover, once again, that bra. Katherine burned the Bali bra at the end of the book. REALLY? The bra died a week before she left for the "momentous trip" and we are supposed to believe that she packed the worn out bra, traveled for 10 days during which time she made 4 new best friends, had life changing experiences, and still waxes nostalgic over that worn out bra. Give me a break.
2. We are all going to die. Anyone in their 50's should have come to some level of exceptance of that fact. So it seems extremely arrogant of Annie (in her 50s) to think that her death gives her the right to demand that 5 friends drop everything in their busy lives and jump through her hoops for 10 days. Annie is supposed to be wonderful and amazing. Her last act before dying seems manipulative and self-absorbed.
3. I don't buy the premise that the women on this trip all become best friends. Mature people have mature relationships. Friendships of 25+ years have been built on a history of sharing 25+ years of happiness, heartbreak, fear and trembling, etc. While we still meet people who are interesting that we want to include in our lives and they may become best friends in time, the term "best friend" is earned. Best friend is not a label to slap on someone that you have spent 10 days with. Well, unless you have really pathetic people in your life that you have been calling best friends. How sad would that be.
4. In conclusion, this book has the feel of one of those books that got a lot of undeserved hype from the publishing world in an effort to increase revenue and now book clubs across America are reading it. There are so many GOOD books that I will never have time to read, I see no reason to waste any more time reading this sappy drivel.
November 1, 2010
The road to a bad novel is paved with good intentions. Nine times out of ten, when a novelist wants to do me good, or inspire me, or teach me, I end up hating the book. I won't rule out the possibility that I am just a nasty, negative person, but I will go out on a limb with this book and say it's not me, it's Kris Radish. This novel is bad.
The premise is cute: Annie Freeman, who dies of cancer, asks a group of her women friends to scatter her ashes in various American locales that held special meaning for her. None of these women know each other, but while on the trip, they bond with each other based on their love for Annie. Each of them is inspired to change her life for the better, based on Annie's wisdom and example.
Annie is incredibly wise, dynamic, funny, altruistic, intelligent, loving. So we are told, over and over and over again. But we never meet Annie in flashback. The author does not give us a chance to form our own opinion of Annie. We are simply told how wonderful she is, and how wonderful her friends are, and how all the strangers they meet along the way are astounded by their love and their womanly womanness. It gets very tedious very fast.
The women on the funeral trip all sound alike, except for the one woman with a penchant for scatological slang. Their conversation reads like a transcript from a feminist group-therapy session: "'I feel ready to open up the boundaries of my own world,' Balinda confesses." These women continually profess their love for Annie and for each other, in a highly romanticized depiction of female relationships, but we never feel what they feel.
My library has a nice section of "how to write" manuals, and I'm sure most of them include some variation of the old advice, "show, don't tell." This novel is a perfect - negative - example for that advice.
The premise is cute: Annie Freeman, who dies of cancer, asks a group of her women friends to scatter her ashes in various American locales that held special meaning for her. None of these women know each other, but while on the trip, they bond with each other based on their love for Annie. Each of them is inspired to change her life for the better, based on Annie's wisdom and example.
Annie is incredibly wise, dynamic, funny, altruistic, intelligent, loving. So we are told, over and over and over again. But we never meet Annie in flashback. The author does not give us a chance to form our own opinion of Annie. We are simply told how wonderful she is, and how wonderful her friends are, and how all the strangers they meet along the way are astounded by their love and their womanly womanness. It gets very tedious very fast.
The women on the funeral trip all sound alike, except for the one woman with a penchant for scatological slang. Their conversation reads like a transcript from a feminist group-therapy session: "'I feel ready to open up the boundaries of my own world,' Balinda confesses." These women continually profess their love for Annie and for each other, in a highly romanticized depiction of female relationships, but we never feel what they feel.
My library has a nice section of "how to write" manuals, and I'm sure most of them include some variation of the old advice, "show, don't tell." This novel is a perfect - negative - example for that advice.
February 8, 2017
A truncated review:
I did not finish this book. While the premise is loaded with potential, the book waxes far too philosophical to be enjoyed (at least by me). The author's narration consistently interrupts and overshadows the action, and every moment in the book is supposedly filled with deep and life-changing meaning, which is obviously not possible. Moreover, the book is full of curse words, some of which are out-of-place and forced. Many sentences are repetitive ("She would have loved..."), and there are some glaring inconsistencies in the narration (example: Over and over again, the characters who are supposed to have known Annie so well state that Annie would have loved something, but then they consistently discover things they never knew about her and/or are surprised to learn something HUGE that none of them knew about her--possible but highly unlikely and therefore forced and failing to suspend disbelief.)
I did not finish this book. While the premise is loaded with potential, the book waxes far too philosophical to be enjoyed (at least by me). The author's narration consistently interrupts and overshadows the action, and every moment in the book is supposedly filled with deep and life-changing meaning, which is obviously not possible. Moreover, the book is full of curse words, some of which are out-of-place and forced. Many sentences are repetitive ("She would have loved..."), and there are some glaring inconsistencies in the narration (example: Over and over again, the characters who are supposed to have known Annie so well state that Annie would have loved something, but then they consistently discover things they never knew about her and/or are surprised to learn something HUGE that none of them knew about her--possible but highly unlikely and therefore forced and failing to suspend disbelief.)
August 1, 2011
This book made me laugh and cry all while pondering how ironic life can be! It made me want to write a letter to all of my girlfriends - new and not-so-new - telling them all how much they mean to me. We are so lucky to be women...we can talk and share, laugh and act goofy and carry each other through the rough times. No wonder men are so dark and brooding - societ tells them to deal with all that on their own, not to share their 'feelings', as if that was somehow a weak thing to do! But women have each other. We see in our girl friends a reflection of our own struggles (how the heck am I going to fit ALL this into my schedule??), our small victories (today, my husband put his socks in the hamper instead of on the floor!), our dreams (Christmases at home with beautful children and an adoring husband) and all the things that make us care-givers, wifes, sisters, daughters...FRIENDS.
April 16, 2009
Probably my favorite fiction read of the year (which also means of the decade since I've already read almost as much fiction in 2009 as in the last decade). A fun "chick" read which someone at book group said sounded like a multi-cache funeral procession that goes around the country with a group of women all of whom were close to the person who died which as it turns out is the person who arranged for the traveling funeral. All of which sounds morbid but I found it thoroughly entertaining, and wondered where they would go next, what interesting adventures would be waiting for them, etc. It's not 100% believable, but then again fiction's not supposed to be 100% believable, just believable enough for the story to work within itself.
June 9, 2009
First book I've read by this author, but one I will search out in the near future. This book was a wonderful, quick read...and kept me alternating between laughing and crying! We all need girlfriends like the ones portrayed in this book!
Annie of course, if you can't guess by the title, has died of cancer...and which she has many friends, they don't know each other...Annie is the common bond between them all. Before Annie dies, she comes up with a very unique way to pull these women, her girlfriends together! She succeeds completely.
Definitely a feel-good book about the love and friendship we all need in life!
Annie of course, if you can't guess by the title, has died of cancer...and which she has many friends, they don't know each other...Annie is the common bond between them all. Before Annie dies, she comes up with a very unique way to pull these women, her girlfriends together! She succeeds completely.
Definitely a feel-good book about the love and friendship we all need in life!
Read
August 14, 2009Two words ~ DON'T BOTHER! It's rare when I won't finish a book, even a bad one, but I just couldn't do it. It was just too painful. It must have even hurt the printing press when it was published. What self-indulgent drivel. I hate that I even have to waste my time warning readers off this junk. NO STARS! If you could give negative stars I'd gladly give 100 of those. I'm so glad that I didn't actually spend any of my own money on this. If I could sue the author for for lost time and pain and suffering, I would.
August 18, 2009
I've been reading such good books lately that I was bound to stumble on a dud. I was hoping for a good, fun, late summertime read. This isn't it!
It earns its one star for its creative premise (5 women who barely know each other travel together to scatter the ashes of their departed friend). The dialogue is contrived, descriptions are overwrought, and the writing just plain annoying.
Skip this maudlin drivel and watch the movie _Last Orders_ for a much finer execution of the interwoven themes of friendship and bereavement in the form of traveling ashes.
It earns its one star for its creative premise (5 women who barely know each other travel together to scatter the ashes of their departed friend). The dialogue is contrived, descriptions are overwrought, and the writing just plain annoying.
Skip this maudlin drivel and watch the movie _Last Orders_ for a much finer execution of the interwoven themes of friendship and bereavement in the form of traveling ashes.
October 15, 2010
Virtually unreadable chick lit. The pastel cover with ladies' appendages flailing about in a convertible is a big clue. But since it's a book group choice, I delved in. The first chapter was about a woman's relationship with her tattered bra, and all of the life events it had supported her through. I put it down, picked it up again and thumbed through to see if it would get better. It doesn't. From what I can tell, women travel across the country, drink champagne, bond and gurgle up sentimental maxims. As John Stewart would say, "Whyyyy?"
April 22, 2011
So it's not really fair for me to review this book since I didn't get anywhere close to finishing but it is a rare book that I put down, never to have any interest in picking up again.
Within 50 pages I was so sick of these women and their worship of their friend that had died. And I truly, truly don't mean to be insensive but how many times do I have to read what an amazing woman this amazing woman was and all the amazing things she did in her amazing life.
Nothing engaging about this book, at all.
Within 50 pages I was so sick of these women and their worship of their friend that had died. And I truly, truly don't mean to be insensive but how many times do I have to read what an amazing woman this amazing woman was and all the amazing things she did in her amazing life.
Nothing engaging about this book, at all.
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