Every Body has a Story

by Beverly Gologorsky

As the Great Recession and the foreclosure crisis hit, four close friends who barely made it out of poverty in New York City’s South Bronx, suddenly find themselves caught up in the economic maelstrom. Lena, Zack, Dory, and Stu must reconcile their troubled past with an uncertain future in Beverly Gologorsky’s stunning new novel, a tapestry of working-class life in a world on the brink.

Genres: Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published July 3, 2018

Reviews

[Karla Strand · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book as part of my Haymarket Book Club subscription. I was excited by the description but didn't end up liking the book as much as I had hoped. I just never got into the story mainly because I found the characters and dialogue really unrealistic and not believable. The story was focused on two heterosexual couples and I found the men especially unrealistic. I just have never heard any men have discussions like these two characters had. When the dialogue doesn't match the characters, I find it very distracting. Not only was this an issue but the characters weren't developed very well and I was uncertain who they were.

Themes of this book include family, relationships, trust, poverty, work insecurity, and communication.

[Peggy Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful story about two couples struggling to live and support each other through a terrible depression that plunges them and their families into economic crisis.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a bit of trouble getting into this book...it was a slow start for me. Its about a family that falls on hard times and I won't go any further than that to explain it. I felt like there was too much disconnect between both sets of spouses. Not by the author...the story line was good and so were the characters but more on a personal level. One couple was childless and one had two children who seemed to kinda do what they wanted to do regardless of the wishes of the parents. I just don't get people like this.

[Luke Hillier · Rating 2 out of 5]

As is often the case with quintessential "3-star reviews," this one is a bit challenging to review. I certainly appreciate what it sets out to do in offering one incredibly plausible story that enfleshes the 2008 foreclosure crisis with names and faces of a family that was impacted. Likewise, I enjoyed reading a story with a clear attention to class, with working class characters who are slowly making their assent (at the start of the novel, at least). However, I'm not sure if a lot of the dialogue and characterization rang true in that regard, so it sorta cancels out. In part, the characters felt mostly interchangeable, which is especially frustrating given that the book is in some ways very character-driven. It's particularly unfortunate that they were all so similar to each other because, truth be told, I -really- did not enjoy getting to know essentially everyone in this book aside from Dory and, to a lesser degree, Lena. There are moments for each of them that feel so off-putting and gross, and while you can credit Gologorsky for allowing her characters to reach those depths, the moments often didn't feel earned to me, nor did I consider them redeemed after. Without giving too much away, a lot of the book centers around characters acting atrociously selfish, stupid, and/or self-pitying (and the latter of which is least true for the one facing the most devastating circumstances, and most true for the fifteen year old whose response is simply egregious). There was also a strange repetitiveness to the plot, which featured a constant cycle of the four leads drinking together in rotating configurations separated by instances where they go out look for one of their children. While all of that is pretty critical, I was still impressed with Gologorsky's technical writing abilities throughout. I wolfed the book down in three days and can say that I enjoyed my time reading it, although I certainly won't be missing any of the characters now that its done.

(Post-Script: a month later, I can't really remember any strong highlights and am bumping this to two stars.)

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captivating and raw...I wanted to see the characters succeed (and fail)...

[Ana Abreu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tale about two bronx families, which I feel bad for both. The good thing is one will abandon no child and the other's children will never abandon them!!