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Glenroy Series #1
The Art of the Engine Driver
On a hot summer's night in the 1950s, the old and the new, diesel and steam, and town and country all collide - and nobody will be left unaffected.
As a passenger train leaves Spencer Street Station on its haul to Sydney, a family of three - Vic, Rita, and their son, Michael - are off to a party. George Bedser has invited the whole neighborhood to celebrate the engagement of his daughter. Vic is an engine driver, with dreams of being like his hero Paddy Ryan and becoming the master of the smooth ride.
As the neighbors walk to the party, the story delves into the lives of a bully, a drunk, a restless girl, and a young boy forced to grow up before he is ready.
As a passenger train leaves Spencer Street Station on its haul to Sydney, a family of three - Vic, Rita, and their son, Michael - are off to a party. George Bedser has invited the whole neighborhood to celebrate the engagement of his daughter. Vic is an engine driver, with dreams of being like his hero Paddy Ryan and becoming the master of the smooth ride.
As the neighbors walk to the party, the story delves into the lives of a bully, a drunk, a restless girl, and a young boy forced to grow up before he is ready.
278 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2001
17 people are currently reading
526 people want to read
About the author
Steven Carroll
16 books32 followersSteven Carroll is an Australian novelist. He was born in 1949 in Melbourne, Victoria and studied at La Trobe University. He has taught English at secondary school level, and drama at RMIT. He has been Drama Critic for The Sunday Age newspaper in Melbourne.
Steven Carroll is now a full-time writer living in Melbourne with his partner, the writer Fiona Capp, and their son. As of 2019, he also writes the non-fiction book review column for the Sydney Morning Herald.
Steven Carroll is now a full-time writer living in Melbourne with his partner, the writer Fiona Capp, and their son. As of 2019, he also writes the non-fiction book review column for the Sydney Morning Herald.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
November 17, 2020
Setting: Melbourne, Australia; 1952. This is the first book in a series subtitled The Glenroy Trilogy.
The book introduces us to the three main characters - husband and wife Vic and Rita and their 8-year-old son Michael - all quite familiar to me as I inadvertently read the second book first before realising there were other books!
As with Book 2 (The Gift of Speed), I love the wonderful characterisation and the great descriptions of the suburb, the houses and the local landscape - all just come to life for me, right down to the descriptions of the paddocks (having lived in Australia probably helped). All the 'action' takes place on a Saturday evening and Sunday morning, mostly the former, as Vic, Rita and Michael go to an engagement party at the Bedsers' home - during their walk down and back and at the party itself, we get multiple scenarios detailing the thoughts of the main characters and also the viewpoints of many of the neighbours, which together build a picture of the suburb and its community.
This book reminded me a bit of Elizabeth Strout's writing, particularly the Olive Kitteridge books, where it is all about the characters and, although nothing much happens, it is all about the lives of the characters and their reactions to things that happen to them and around them that the reader gets totally involved in. Really looking forward to reading the third book in the series although I may have to skim-read the second one again - 9/10.
The book introduces us to the three main characters - husband and wife Vic and Rita and their 8-year-old son Michael - all quite familiar to me as I inadvertently read the second book first before realising there were other books!
As with Book 2 (The Gift of Speed), I love the wonderful characterisation and the great descriptions of the suburb, the houses and the local landscape - all just come to life for me, right down to the descriptions of the paddocks (having lived in Australia probably helped). All the 'action' takes place on a Saturday evening and Sunday morning, mostly the former, as Vic, Rita and Michael go to an engagement party at the Bedsers' home - during their walk down and back and at the party itself, we get multiple scenarios detailing the thoughts of the main characters and also the viewpoints of many of the neighbours, which together build a picture of the suburb and its community.
This book reminded me a bit of Elizabeth Strout's writing, particularly the Olive Kitteridge books, where it is all about the characters and, although nothing much happens, it is all about the lives of the characters and their reactions to things that happen to them and around them that the reader gets totally involved in. Really looking forward to reading the third book in the series although I may have to skim-read the second one again - 9/10.
January 14, 2011
This is fabulous! The fifties superbly evoked, just as those of us who weren't really there 'remember' it. It matches my childhood memories and the TV images I've seen satirised: a time of innocence, limited choices, community life and over-reactions to sexual scandals. A time when women lived so differently that maybe - out of pity - one might well choose to stay with a drunk.
Engine driving is celebrated here as never before, and I'll never think of it as unskilled again. The tragedy of a heart attack at the wheel can't happen today because there are safety mechanisms in place, but there is still potential for human error and its corollary - skill and bravery.
Likewise today there are still bad marriages and their impact on children, and there's a need for women to choose between charming adventurous types and the sensible boring ones!
Carroll's writing style in sheer poetry in some passages, a great writer indeed.
Engine driving is celebrated here as never before, and I'll never think of it as unskilled again. The tragedy of a heart attack at the wheel can't happen today because there are safety mechanisms in place, but there is still potential for human error and its corollary - skill and bravery.
Likewise today there are still bad marriages and their impact on children, and there's a need for women to choose between charming adventurous types and the sensible boring ones!
Carroll's writing style in sheer poetry in some passages, a great writer indeed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2015
Evocative: that single word greatly describes Steven Carroll’s book, The Art Of The Engine Driver, because, for the older reader, it evokes long-held memories of Australian society sixty years ago. Contextual might be a better word for the younger reader.
We intrude on the lives of folk residing in a single street within a relatively new and still developing outer Melbourne suburb for just one evening. We meet the members of each household as they walk to an engagement party at the far end of their street. There is a secondary story that makes several appearances, one that appears to link in some way with the main story; this all becomes evident as the book draws to its conclusion.
Vic and Rita, with their son, Michael, step out into the hot evening air. As they walk to the party, we meet the other residents and observe, through their eyes, the spectacle of a passing comet. There is no explanation for the references to the comet; the underlying sense is that human life is ephemeral.
Vic is an engine driver with a dream and a potentially serious health issue, one he keeps secret from everyone, including his railway employer. He and his family are the conduit through which everything connects.
Beautifully crafted, we are provided often subtle renderings, everyday details of human emotions that engage us in the lives and relationships of the characters who are the story. This is a book with an ability to socially engage the reader in how its people are drawn, simply but profoundly. Its language is sublime, and yet we find ourselves drawn into people’s lives as if present.
The writing of a book such as The Art Of An Engine Driver requires a keen observer of human life, noting and understanding the strengths and the frailties of the human condition. Carroll achieves this with a combination of pathos, wit, humour and, where necessary, callous truth. He has an uncanny ability to make us believe in his people, albeit there are few we would ever truly like.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Steven Carroll, the first in a trilogy. Others titles are The Gift Of Speed and The Time We Have Taken. I will be seeking them out soon. I read The Art overnight. It drew me in and I could literally not put it down. It is a long time since a book had that effect on me.
A final word: Involving.
A brief note to the publisher: Is there no vetting? Although so well written, there are lapses in, I assume, transcription. Page 107 (in my copy) refers to ‘peddle the bike,’ repeated later as ‘peddling’ and ‘peddles.’ An odd grammatical error intrudes, such as, on p. 249, ‘…neither of us are…’ I don’t want to sound petty but in a work otherwise hewn from a block of granite, these are surprising flaws.
We intrude on the lives of folk residing in a single street within a relatively new and still developing outer Melbourne suburb for just one evening. We meet the members of each household as they walk to an engagement party at the far end of their street. There is a secondary story that makes several appearances, one that appears to link in some way with the main story; this all becomes evident as the book draws to its conclusion.
Vic and Rita, with their son, Michael, step out into the hot evening air. As they walk to the party, we meet the other residents and observe, through their eyes, the spectacle of a passing comet. There is no explanation for the references to the comet; the underlying sense is that human life is ephemeral.
Vic is an engine driver with a dream and a potentially serious health issue, one he keeps secret from everyone, including his railway employer. He and his family are the conduit through which everything connects.
Beautifully crafted, we are provided often subtle renderings, everyday details of human emotions that engage us in the lives and relationships of the characters who are the story. This is a book with an ability to socially engage the reader in how its people are drawn, simply but profoundly. Its language is sublime, and yet we find ourselves drawn into people’s lives as if present.
The writing of a book such as The Art Of An Engine Driver requires a keen observer of human life, noting and understanding the strengths and the frailties of the human condition. Carroll achieves this with a combination of pathos, wit, humour and, where necessary, callous truth. He has an uncanny ability to make us believe in his people, albeit there are few we would ever truly like.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Steven Carroll, the first in a trilogy. Others titles are The Gift Of Speed and The Time We Have Taken. I will be seeking them out soon. I read The Art overnight. It drew me in and I could literally not put it down. It is a long time since a book had that effect on me.
A final word: Involving.
A brief note to the publisher: Is there no vetting? Although so well written, there are lapses in, I assume, transcription. Page 107 (in my copy) refers to ‘peddle the bike,’ repeated later as ‘peddling’ and ‘peddles.’ An odd grammatical error intrudes, such as, on p. 249, ‘…neither of us are…’ I don’t want to sound petty but in a work otherwise hewn from a block of granite, these are surprising flaws.
October 11, 2017
A family of 3 (Vic, Rita, and their son, Michael) is walking down the road to an engagement party hosted by one of their neighbours. As they're walking down the road, the book delved into the family's past, their current situation & predicament, and even where they will be in the future though of course, the characters themselves do not currently know of their futures. Then as they walk past each house in the neighbourhood, the book also delved into each neighbour, their past, current situation, and future. The book culminated at the party and subsequent consequences of events. The language is evocative as I can truly imagine the sticky Australian summer's night but it was hard keeping up with who's who except for the main family.
November 20, 2008
I met Steven at the recent Brisbane Writers' Festival where I bought the 'trilogy'. My first experience of reading him and I'm very impressed with his style and execution. Lovely characterisation and good use of structure to deliver a charming and wistful capture of an era.
February 2, 2018
A really good book that is really about the inevitability of the choices we make.great conrrast between the optimism of Michael and his dream of bowling the perfect ball, and the resignation of many other characters in the book
January 13, 2019
Knowing that a new novel in Carroll's Glenroy series is imminent, I have decided to re-read the novels in publication sequence. (I didn't read them in order the first time.) I didn't write a review on my first reading of The Art of the Engine Driver but what I remembered was:
- how well it captured the atmosphere of the suburban fringe of Melbourne in the 1950s (I lived in a well established suburb but much of the novel was evocative of what I knew of my developing city);
- how Carroll used the collision of a Melbourne-Sydney passenger train with a goods train as a thread in the story (the actual collision - which I remember in shocking detail - was some years later, but is well integrated here with the theme of skilled railwaymen);
- an unadorned, at times flat style, that surprises with its sudden insights into the lives of ordinary families (I'm reminded of Kent Haruf's 'precious ordinary');
- the characters of Vic and Rita, the focus of the story (the attraction of Vic for Rita and her disillusionment with the easy drunk he has become).
Each of these elements pleased me again on re-reading the novel. What I had forgotten was the way Carroll captures the hopes, unfulfilled longings and hidden lives of the characters. I think this is not the strongest novel of the series and I probably didn't love it as much as on a first reading but I certainly appreciated Carroll's skills at evoking an era, paying respect to the 'art' of train driving and bringing everyday characters to life.
- how well it captured the atmosphere of the suburban fringe of Melbourne in the 1950s (I lived in a well established suburb but much of the novel was evocative of what I knew of my developing city);
- how Carroll used the collision of a Melbourne-Sydney passenger train with a goods train as a thread in the story (the actual collision - which I remember in shocking detail - was some years later, but is well integrated here with the theme of skilled railwaymen);
- an unadorned, at times flat style, that surprises with its sudden insights into the lives of ordinary families (I'm reminded of Kent Haruf's 'precious ordinary');
- the characters of Vic and Rita, the focus of the story (the attraction of Vic for Rita and her disillusionment with the easy drunk he has become).
Each of these elements pleased me again on re-reading the novel. What I had forgotten was the way Carroll captures the hopes, unfulfilled longings and hidden lives of the characters. I think this is not the strongest novel of the series and I probably didn't love it as much as on a first reading but I certainly appreciated Carroll's skills at evoking an era, paying respect to the 'art' of train driving and bringing everyday characters to life.
May 5, 2013
A book that tantalises and frustrates! Tantalising thumbnails of characters drifting through a season in their lives. The just outside Melbourne setting of the 1950's is like a weigh station - taking stock of past and present before moving on. Initially, the sense of place is beautifully described and quite haunting. The linking thread is an engine driver named Vic who hopes that his steam driving worlds may move on to the electric worlds of the Spirit of Progress. But his driving worlds are overlaid with fractured realities that haunt his dreams. And Vic himself is one of those fractured realities. He and those living in the same street are on their way to an engagement party. Like a Canterbury Tales scenario, these pilgrims bring their stories with them. But the frustrating element is the spasmodic reference to a comet in the skies...perhaps symbolic of an upheaval of life. And when the upheaval comes, the drama seems to confuse, the characters seem to fizzle and maybe peter out. The art of the engine driver seems to become a little weathered.
My poetic review is on my blog Songlines on the Winds
My poetic review is on my blog Songlines on the Winds
November 21, 2014
A funny kind of book
I can't say I enjoyed it as I was reading it, however, on reflecting on it afterwards I felt fondly towards it.
Nothing much happens, the descriptions are deep and detailed, and there is a real resonance among the characters.
There is a real bubbling undercurrent with the book, and a tension that is sensed but never spoken of, which builds the story gently towards the climax.
I almost feel I should read it again to fully appreciate it.
I can't say I enjoyed it as I was reading it, however, on reflecting on it afterwards I felt fondly towards it.
Nothing much happens, the descriptions are deep and detailed, and there is a real resonance among the characters.
There is a real bubbling undercurrent with the book, and a tension that is sensed but never spoken of, which builds the story gently towards the climax.
I almost feel I should read it again to fully appreciate it.
January 17, 2018
The 5th book of Steven Carroll's I've read and I've enjoyed 4 of them----all of a similar standard---good at describing ordinary situations---similar to Richard Russo and Kent Haruf---but not quite in their league. This is a simple story of working class people well told, set in an outer Melbourne suburb. The author knows his subjects well.
December 22, 2014
The detachment of the story telling and its many fragments was a novel way of telling a story about an evening and the lives intertwined within, it didnt hold my interest. It wasnt badly written and I'll still continue reading the trilogy.
September 17, 2021
‘They are walking down the old street again, Rita, Vic and Michael.’
A summer evening in the late 1950s, in a newly developing suburb of Melbourne. We join Rita, Vic, and Michael as they walk down the (unsealed) street to engagement party of Patsy Bedser at the home of her father George. And as we walk with Rita, Vic, and Michael, we meet the other neighbours and have glimpses into each of their lives. Michael dreams of the future, Vic wants to be the engine driver on the Spirit of Progress, and Rita wants change. As they walk, they see a comet overhead. As they walk, we learn more about the neighbourhood and its history, about the dreams and disappointments of those who live there. We learn a little about the past and see something of the future.
And later, after the party, after a train accident the consequences of which seem likely to cost Vic his dream, Rita makes a difficult decision.
‘Driving is a gift. Physical. Something you’ve either got or you haven’t.’
This is the first novel of the six books in the Glenroy Series and for some reason, I read the last four first. So, I am heading back into the past, to the beginning of the story. It’s like catching up on the family history of old friends and revisiting familiar territory. I didn’t grow up in Melbourne, but I grew up in a similar new suburb on the (then) outskirts of Launceston in the early 1960s. New suburbs, new dreams, old secrets. Somehow, Mr Carroll manages to hold the story in the present while referring to the past and providing glimpses into the future. And while I know how the Glenroy Series ends, I need to read ‘The Gift of Speed’ to see what I have missed.
If you have not read this series, I recommend it. And, if you can, read the novels in order. These are beautifully written contemplative novels.
‘What happens to all that life? All that time? Where does it all go? One moment you feel like you’ve got all the years in the world to live, and the next you feel like you’ve lived them.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
A summer evening in the late 1950s, in a newly developing suburb of Melbourne. We join Rita, Vic, and Michael as they walk down the (unsealed) street to engagement party of Patsy Bedser at the home of her father George. And as we walk with Rita, Vic, and Michael, we meet the other neighbours and have glimpses into each of their lives. Michael dreams of the future, Vic wants to be the engine driver on the Spirit of Progress, and Rita wants change. As they walk, they see a comet overhead. As they walk, we learn more about the neighbourhood and its history, about the dreams and disappointments of those who live there. We learn a little about the past and see something of the future.
And later, after the party, after a train accident the consequences of which seem likely to cost Vic his dream, Rita makes a difficult decision.
‘Driving is a gift. Physical. Something you’ve either got or you haven’t.’
This is the first novel of the six books in the Glenroy Series and for some reason, I read the last four first. So, I am heading back into the past, to the beginning of the story. It’s like catching up on the family history of old friends and revisiting familiar territory. I didn’t grow up in Melbourne, but I grew up in a similar new suburb on the (then) outskirts of Launceston in the early 1960s. New suburbs, new dreams, old secrets. Somehow, Mr Carroll manages to hold the story in the present while referring to the past and providing glimpses into the future. And while I know how the Glenroy Series ends, I need to read ‘The Gift of Speed’ to see what I have missed.
If you have not read this series, I recommend it. And, if you can, read the novels in order. These are beautifully written contemplative novels.
‘What happens to all that life? All that time? Where does it all go? One moment you feel like you’ve got all the years in the world to live, and the next you feel like you’ve lived them.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
August 5, 2019
Depressing
A bit repetitive over a not always convincing psychology. The episodes about train driving was informative and enjoyable, but tale of ordinary suburban lives may only be of interest to those whose life is anything but ordinary and suburban.
I read the book immersively with audio narration and I probably would have put it aside otherwise. The multi-speaker narration helped negotiate those sudden changes of voice that may have been difficult to pick up when only reading the text - the bits that may make you wonder who the hell's talking now!
Not sure whether to continue reading this author.
A bit repetitive over a not always convincing psychology. The episodes about train driving was informative and enjoyable, but tale of ordinary suburban lives may only be of interest to those whose life is anything but ordinary and suburban.
I read the book immersively with audio narration and I probably would have put it aside otherwise. The multi-speaker narration helped negotiate those sudden changes of voice that may have been difficult to pick up when only reading the text - the bits that may make you wonder who the hell's talking now!
Not sure whether to continue reading this author.
March 22, 2021
I feel it would have worked better as a play: a bunch of motley neighbours gathered for a engagement party in 1950s Melbourne. The characters reflect fairly worn out Australian characters: the heavy drinking passionate man, the disillusioned suffering housewife, the traumatised migrant. Descriptions felt a little heavy-handed as everything from the way a character walked to the way people hold their beer gets a big write up. Would have liked deeper exploration of characters, less focus on property and appearance.
December 13, 2025
Die Geschichte hätte nach 100 Seiten schon zu ende sein, aber auch noch 100 Seiten weitergehen können. Menschen tauchen auf und verschwinden wieder und dazwischen wird ihr Leben erzählt, auch wenn sie mit Vic, Rita und Michael nur indirekt zu tun haben. Aber genau das macht den roman aus: es beschreibt den Alltag und der ist manchmal interessanter als mancher Krimi.
November 21, 2023
A great read, with the title becoming clearer towards the end of the book, even though the main focus is the walk down the street one evening to a neighbour's daughter's engagement party, that takes up most of the book, with snippets of the past of all the people in each chapter.
November 25, 2017
A good read, interesting the way it was written over 24 hours.
March 24, 2019
A meditative read...not sure if I’ll read the rest in the series
March 11, 2020
Real characters.
A down to earth story of ordinary people, beautifully written. A story of small town aspirations and disappointments. I recognise these people.
A down to earth story of ordinary people, beautifully written. A story of small town aspirations and disappointments. I recognise these people.
May 5, 2021
Beautifully written ig somewhat prosaic.
December 18, 2025
perfect.
November 3, 2011
Am Abend der Verlobungsfeier von Patsy Bedser macht sich die gesamte Nachbarschaft auf den Weg zum Hause von Patsy und ihrem Vater George. Auch Rita, Vic und Michael sind eingeladen. Während sie am Weg dorthin sind, werden in Rückblenden viele Episoden aus dem Leben der drei, aber auch ihrer anderen Nachbarn, erzählt. Jede Figur wird dadurch dem Leser vorgestellt.
Parallel zu den Geschehnissen in der Vergangenheit, auf dem Weg und bei der Party und teilweise Flashforwards in die Zukunft, wird auch die Geschichte von Patty dem Lokomotivführer erzählt. Er ist der beste seiner Zunft, auch Vic war schon sein Lehrling, und ist gerade mit der 'Spirit' unterwegs.
Am Ende steht ein großer Knall, im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes, der aber nur sehr kurz und rasch abgehandelt wird. Ich hätte mir vom bisherigen Storyverlauf dort viel mehr erwartet.
Parallel zu den Geschehnissen in der Vergangenheit, auf dem Weg und bei der Party und teilweise Flashforwards in die Zukunft, wird auch die Geschichte von Patty dem Lokomotivführer erzählt. Er ist der beste seiner Zunft, auch Vic war schon sein Lehrling, und ist gerade mit der 'Spirit' unterwegs.
Am Ende steht ein großer Knall, im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes, der aber nur sehr kurz und rasch abgehandelt wird. Ich hätte mir vom bisherigen Storyverlauf dort viel mehr erwartet.
December 28, 2024
Steve Carroll is a master storyteller, but not like George R R Martin, no grand complex epics, not Tolstoy or Henry James. Rather, Carroll can wring a story out of almost nothing. A short walk down a dirt road and home again one evening and a whole lifetime's tale is woven. No flowery words, but gorgeous simple prose, spare and beautiful. Simple Australian countryside in a small town. Slowly quietly gently.
December 3, 2008
Don't know why, but this doesn't show here in English, which was the way I read it. An Aussie book about the blokes that worked the trains. It has a real sense of a time and place. Either he knew this kind of community really well and is great at putting an image of it down on paper or he has a brilliant imagination and can make you believe that the people were like that.
April 16, 2022
MTABS
ANZLL discussion January 2003
Took a while to place the characters as the beginning was slow moving.
Themes: Australian suburban life in the 1950's, engine driving, working class life.
Vic - alcoholic, experiences grand mal seizure, petite mal after accident; alcohol excesses; engine driving and his passion for this.
Enjoyed the discussion more than the book.
ANZLL discussion January 2003
Took a while to place the characters as the beginning was slow moving.
Themes: Australian suburban life in the 1950's, engine driving, working class life.
Vic - alcoholic, experiences grand mal seizure, petite mal after accident; alcohol excesses; engine driving and his passion for this.
Enjoyed the discussion more than the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2012
The Art of the Engine Driver by Steven Carroll is set in the 1950's in rural Melbourne. Vic, Rita and Michael are off to a party while the Spirit of Progress leaves Spencer St Station. It is a night when everything will collide. Carroll is a genius who uses words to create still images that haunt you long after you have finished reading.
February 8, 2015
Steven Carroll's writing is so smooth and easy that he is able to take the most ordinary family and situations and make them interesting, and in doing so make you appreciate your own seemingly mundane existance. His writing is also very Australian and it would be hard to imagine this book being a best seller in the USA because it talks so much about the ordinary. I really enjoyed this book.
May 17, 2015
This book is very enjoyable. The attribute, I feel made the text most enjoyable was the fact that it has a sense of reality about it.
Spoiler Alert: The fact that the characters lives were weary and somewhat miserable and that this situation did not change made me very happy. Life does not change automatically and this is what made the book for me.
Spoiler Alert: The fact that the characters lives were weary and somewhat miserable and that this situation did not change made me very happy. Life does not change automatically and this is what made the book for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 23, 2016
Melbourne Australia on a summer's night 60 years ago. The story tells of the people who live on a street in an outer working class suburb. There is an engagement party in the street and everyone has been invited.
Evocative, sensual and so real. The pace slower builds as the street unveils the unhappinesss and dreams of the old and young. A\
A brilliant book. As good as books get.
Evocative, sensual and so real. The pace slower builds as the street unveils the unhappinesss and dreams of the old and young. A\
A brilliant book. As good as books get.
September 9, 2014
Beautifully written. You feel as if you are right there under that peach colored sky. I love this book, it is a snapshot of a time long passed and a glimpse into the the railroad of Australia's past.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews