Helpful Score: 13
This is one the most painful books I have ever read! Wally Lamb takes you into the life of a very unruly 13 year old girl with a vicious mouth who eats because she is so unhappy and is even more distraught when she balloons up to 267 pounds by the time she goes to college. At times, her bad behaviour was shocking. And then I would want to cry with her when she was heart-broken. This book is about life; the good, the bad and the ugly.
Helpful Score: 12
I read this book to my husband on a 7 day road trip and we both loved it. Lamb with with rare insight into women and into the human condition. A story about incest, mental illness, divorce, attempted suicide and finally a happy ending that comes at just the right time. The story is a little long but very well worth the read!
Helpful Score: 12
This is, hands-down, my favorite book ever! Told in first person, you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll feel like you REALLY know Dolores and everyone she encounters. Wally Lamb has an amazing way of writing so you can see, feel, taste, smell the environment! It's painful, it's heart-wrenching, it's uplifting...it's just one of the best books I've ever read.
As much as I LOVE PBS, you will never see this book posted by me - I love it too much!
As much as I LOVE PBS, you will never see this book posted by me - I love it too much!
Helpful Score: 11
Unbelievable author; disturbing, funny, heartbreaking -- how this author gets into the head of an adolescent girl, I don't know. A must read.
Helpful Score: 10
I wanted to like this book, and I think I kind of did in the ending? Bottom line is, page after page had me raising an eyebrow or shaking my head. Some of was just too strange and unbelievable. Other times it just seemed a bit forced. Yet, imagine my surprise, when the ending sucked me in and had me rooting for Dolores.
So, was I entertained by this book? Yes. Would I recommend it to others? No.
So, was I entertained by this book? Yes. Would I recommend it to others? No.
Helpful Score: 8
I loved this so much I read this multiple times. Told in first person, Dolores Price (the main character) is so heartbreaking and believable I had to keep looking at the cover to remind myself that a man wrote this book. That's how convincing the writer is. You will love this book!
Helpful Score: 8
I found this book to be way over-hyped. I expected something deep, touching, amazing; what I found instead was a book I wish I hadn't bothered reading. I found this book disturbing, unsettling, and unrewarding. Yes, many people rave about this book but I am not one of them. As much as I adore Oprah, I find that I do not enjoy many of her "book club" selections...
Helpful Score: 7
Not as good as "I Know This Much is True" but still a very good read. The main charachter is Dolores Price, a morbidly obese woman, who transforms her life and body...she is a funny heroine. A good read.
Helpful Score: 5
Great story...troubling and a page turner at the same time. Prepare to feel uncomfortable, but unwilling to put it down!
Helpful Score: 4
This is about a girl coming to terms with who she is and finding that person within herself, a very complex novel and written well
Helpful Score: 4
This book changed my life.
I love Wally Lamb this was the second book of his that I read and I cannot get over how wonderful he writes. I hope he writes more soon.
This book moved me, its full of dark humor, stirring events and so much emotion.
This book moved me, its full of dark humor, stirring events and so much emotion.
Helpful Score: 4
I just couldn't put this book down! The characters are very interesting and likable. The story of this young woman is one I just won't forget!
Helpful Score: 3
Excellent, engaging read. For anyone who has ever struggled with weight, or with an eating disorder of any kind, this is an especially good book. About a young woman who is trying to find herself through her depression and overeating issues, there is something in this story we can all relate to.
Helpful Score: 3
Based on recommendation from an online friend, I ordered this book through PBS. It was a most amazing book, truly touched my soul. I had a hard time putting it down once I started reading. Lamb is a compelling writer and goes into such detail about this young girl's life - almost as if it were first person.
I highly recommend She's Come Undone - as well as Lamb's other book, which I'd already ordered through PBS and had to read as soon as I finished this one.
I highly recommend She's Come Undone - as well as Lamb's other book, which I'd already ordered through PBS and had to read as soon as I finished this one.
Helpful Score: 3
I loved this book. I read it in two days, couldn't put it down.
Helpful Score: 3
This book wasn't my style. I guess I was one of the ones who found it "depressing"
It did have good insight into how your past dramatically affects your future.
It did have good insight into how your past dramatically affects your future.
Helpful Score: 3
I expected not to like it -- I was very wrong!
Helpful Score: 2
This book, to me, represented life, and it's dark side. Wally Lamb did a wonderful job of developing the characters. You saw this girl come of age, and the things she did to try to preserver. It was quite an emotional ride, but sometimes, we all need a good cry. I wouldn't recommend reading this book if you were depressed, but I definitely thought it was worth the time and deserving of the Oprah's Book Club pick.
Helpful Score: 2
One of my all time favorite books! I think I've read it about 6 times so far. Dolores is a very intriguing and complex character who goes through a whole array of trials and tribulations in her life, including rape, obesity, abuse, and mental illness, yet still manages somehow to overcome. You won't want to put it down.
Helpful Score: 2
I just, no matter how hard i tried, could not get into this book. I can honestly say--i just hated it. I wanted to like the book, but there just wans't anything to like really. I'm glad some others did like it, as i am now turned off on Wally Lamb as an author--don't think i'll waste my time trying him again.
Helpful Score: 2
I picked this up merely because of the Oprah's Book Club endorsement. I had no idea what the story was about. I LOVED this book-- it was coming of age novel meets Augusten Burroughs' Running with Scissors... it has a little bit of everything-- family drama, relationship mania, weight gain and loss, mental breakdown... and it is all done with real wit and a completely unexpected plot line. I really appreciate a book that keeps me interested and isn't exactly what you expect around every turn. This story really fills that bill. The main character is a female, but this story would be great for any reader-- it definitely isn't Chick Lit.
Helpful Score: 2
An Oprah's Book Club pick and in my opinion one of the best books ever written. Wally Lamb always amazes me with everything he's written and/or helped write and I can't get enough of him. I would most definitely suggest anyone to read this or any of his books.
Helpful Score: 2
A great coming of age book. You really love and sympathize with the heroine.
Helpful Score: 2
This book is in the top 10 worst books I've ever read in my life. No kidding. Wally Lamb attempts to write in the voice of a woman, but it certainly doesn't ring true to how I understand women to think, and I've been one for 55 years. I would have thrown it at the wall after the first few pages, but it was the book my bookclub was reading that month, so I felt I had to finish it, then I threw it in the garbage with great satisfaction. What an insult to women! I kept finding myself thinking, "So she did WHAT? That doesn't even make sense!" For example, what woman do you know who would feel an irresistible urge to swim in the nude with the rotting corpse of a half-beached whale? Ok, she felt sorry for the whale... so she decided to take off all her clothes and swim with the decomposing thing? Has Wally Lamb ever even seen a decomposing whale? The stench alone would be intolerable, not to mention the chunks of dead whale flesh and skin floating around, and the things that had come to eat it. The heroine isn't even in the least bit likable. She gets mad at someone so she pours something into their fish tank to kill their fish? (again with the dead fish thing) Avoid this book at all costs.
Helpful Score: 2
I just love this book. There's something about Dolores that sticks in your mind. I've read it several times and love her more and more.
Helpful Score: 2
I really don't understand why this book was such a big seller. Personally, I found the characters annoying. Wally Lamb wants us to hitch a ride on a journey of love, pain and renewal with the most heartbreaking comical heroine.
Helpful Score: 2
I guess I must be in the minority but I agree with those who did not care for the book. I very much disliked the main character, so it was difficult to feel any sympathy or empathy towards her. Her choices were odd and silly. That she could stalk a man and move next door to him, set up meeting him, hit it off with him on their first meeting like magic, then actually marry him, simply did not ring true. It all seemed so fabricated, not at all plausible. I read a review that said the last few pages were a two Kleenex tear jerker. I did not find this so. I was happy to be done with her.
Helpful Score: 2
I couldn't put this one down!! How a man can write this well about a women's point of view, I will never understand lol ... but he does this so well that you find yourself relating to this character! This is one of the best books I have ever read, and because I loved it so much... I will read every book Wally Lamb ever writes!!! :)
Helpful Score: 2
This book was FANTASTIC!!!
Helpful Score: 2
What was Oprah thinking? This book did not make an impression on me, and it makes me wonder what other people got out of the book. I just couldn't identify with the character or find anything intriguing in the story.
Helpful Score: 2
Coming of Age book - easy read, good characters.
Helpful Score: 1
A very good book about coming of age and personal image. It centers on a "fat girl" named dolores. The story follows her through high school and university and afterwards. I couldn't put it down!
Helpful Score: 1
A friend of mine recommended this book to me before I even knew it was on Oprah's book club list.
Dolores is an absolutely remarkable character. Wally Lamb is a remarkable writer who has an extraordinary gift with character development. Once I started reading this book, I could not put it down.
It is interesting to read about a character who becomes enlightened before the reader's eyes. Dolores deals with so many trials and tribulations that it is hard to believe that she survived to be an adult.
For anyone who wants a good book to read, this is the book. Dolores will touch your heart.
Dolores is an absolutely remarkable character. Wally Lamb is a remarkable writer who has an extraordinary gift with character development. Once I started reading this book, I could not put it down.
It is interesting to read about a character who becomes enlightened before the reader's eyes. Dolores deals with so many trials and tribulations that it is hard to believe that she survived to be an adult.
For anyone who wants a good book to read, this is the book. Dolores will touch your heart.
Helpful Score: 1
One of the best books I've read!! I could not put it down. Takes you on an emotional journey of sadness, hurt, betrayal, and hope. Stongly recommend this book!
Helpful Score: 1
An amazing ride through a woman's life from the age of 4 to 40.
Helpful Score: 1
One of my favorite books of all time. First and foremost I must say that the author (being that he is a man) did an excellent job writing from a woman's point of view. This heartbreaking story will have you laughing and crying as you are lead through the main characters' (Dolores') life long struggle with weight, self esteem, and relationships with men, women and herself. The book shows the heartbreaking effect divorce and lack of a stable positive father figure and emotionally unavailable mother can have on a little girl. Ultimatly the events of Dolores' childhood lead her to a downward spiral into depression and self loathing. Sadly it takes her many decades to finally face the root of the issues that have wreaked havoc on her life and relationships. However, when she finally does face her inner most demons she begins to "come undone" and heal. I have read this book about 6 or 7 times and each time i am overcome with emotion for this girl. An excellent read; as are all of Wally Lamb's books (unfortunatly there arent too many of them!) I would reccomend this to anyone and everyone! Well done!!!
I loved this book and it was hard to believe that a man wrote such a convincing female character.
Helpful Score: 1
An excellent read, and quite profound in it's insights, but if you don't like reading about the perils of dysfunctional family systems or graphic sexual abuse than you most likely will not enjoy this book.
Good ending and one you will enjoy.
Good ending and one you will enjoy.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was terrific! She's Come Undone is a powerful epic, an emotional journey in the life of Dolores Price. Wally Lamb's Dolores is a perfectly flawed character and easy to get attached to. Brilliant writing, a fabulous point-of-view of a female told through the hand of a male. How did he do it with such spot-on honesty?
She's Come Undone begins in the year 1956 when Dolores is 4 and her family gets a brand new television. Soon, this seemingly normal life begins to unravel, leaving Dolores the product of a marriage gone wrong. While reading this book, I feel this moment of her parents' divorce became the crucial building block of Dolores's downward spiral. And while I do not want to spoil the plot for you, I will say that Dolores lives through some of the most terrible events, and desperately struggles (though at times seems indifferent) to regain the normalcy she once had.
Vivid and emotional, this wild ride pulls your heartstrings and strikes your nerves, sometimes within the same sentence. Pages full of pain and sadness, but also sprinkled with a snappy attitude that had me laughing in my seat. I felt a certain kinship, an almost sisterly devotion toward Dolores, and I praise Wally Lamb for creating this wonderfully real and troubled character.
She's Come Undone begins in the year 1956 when Dolores is 4 and her family gets a brand new television. Soon, this seemingly normal life begins to unravel, leaving Dolores the product of a marriage gone wrong. While reading this book, I feel this moment of her parents' divorce became the crucial building block of Dolores's downward spiral. And while I do not want to spoil the plot for you, I will say that Dolores lives through some of the most terrible events, and desperately struggles (though at times seems indifferent) to regain the normalcy she once had.
Vivid and emotional, this wild ride pulls your heartstrings and strikes your nerves, sometimes within the same sentence. Pages full of pain and sadness, but also sprinkled with a snappy attitude that had me laughing in my seat. I felt a certain kinship, an almost sisterly devotion toward Dolores, and I praise Wally Lamb for creating this wonderfully real and troubled character.
Helpful Score: 1
A thoroughly enjoyable book. It is fascinating how Lamb- a man- can capture the thoughts and feelings of a teenage girl as she develops into a young woman.
Helpful Score: 1
Yes, this book is long and at times unbearably sad. It is still work reading; the author did a top notch job at developing characters that were real and that you can't help but care about. He did an incredible job of making the reader believe just want it felt like to be that 10 year old, or teenage girl.
I would have given it a 10 rating except it was just a little too long.
I would also recommend Lamb's follow up book "This Much i know is True".
I would have given it a 10 rating except it was just a little too long.
I would also recommend Lamb's follow up book "This Much i know is True".
Helpful Score: 1
Great book, Wally Lamb is the best especially when it comes to creating real characters with real mental health issues. Some parts were a little slow but necessary and most parts I couldn't put down. All I know is I want to know more about Delores and certainly didn't want the book to end.
Helpful Score: 1
I couldn't finish this book... the rape scene was too graphic and disturbing to me.
Helpful Score: 1
I read this book while I was in the hospital my freshman year of higschool...it was incredibly funny with vivd characters! I read this book one time and the story has stuck with me that should tell you something GREAT READ!
Helpful Score: 1
This is a very good book. I was really surprised because my taste in books is much different from Oprah's. But this book has a great story (sad) but great.
Helpful Score: 1
I didn't know what to expect when I started reading this book. The book is a coming-of-age story of a girl, who through many numerous ordeals doesn't seem to get it together. She keeps on going on a downward spiral of bad judgment, bad luck, and worse self esteem and no support system to get her through it. At first I felt it was slow or maybe I kept missing where the story was going, but halfway through it got better and by the end I couldn't stop reading and rooting for the character. I enjoyed reading this book, but it is not necessarily a story that will stay with you.
Helpful Score: 1
Wally Lamb is becoming a favorite of mine - this book was hard to put down!
Helpful Score: 1
I first read this book in 1997 and have read it several times since. Wally Lamb writes this female character so well, I had to keep checking that it was in fact written by a man! Great book!
Helpful Score: 1
Loved this book!
Helpful Score: 1
Wow...I believe I must be one of the very few who was not impressed with this book. Good if you're a fan of melodrama.
Helpful Score: 1
I just wanted to say that this is such a GOOD book. While it was graphic in parts, and depressing and disturbing in others- it was just so well written. I flipped back and forth to the front thinking, "A man wrote this??" It writing was so VIVID. I didn't want to put it down, and I found myself rushing to hop in bed to read more. I'm sad that I'm done with it. Delores is such a great character becuase inspite of her issues, her sarcasm and wit just make you love her.
I truly enjoyed this book, and I feel it overshadows so many books I have read recently.. I will be keeping my beat up copy to read again and again!
I truly enjoyed this book, and I feel it overshadows so many books I have read recently.. I will be keeping my beat up copy to read again and again!
Helpful Score: 1
Wow!!!One of the best books I,ve read. I read the whole 465 pages in an afternoon!!!!
Helpful Score: 1
This is one of the funniest and most touching books I've read in a long time. Dolores is a unique, yet somehow strikingly familiar, heroine. I don't know if she reminds me of someone else, or could it be ... me?
Helpful Score: 1
Wonderful book! Greatly enjoyed it. A true life lesson.
Helpful Score: 1
Suprising, funny, sad, infuriating, disgusting and wonderful, all in the same book. My absolute favorite author, and the best book I have ever read.
Helpful Score: 1
What a roller coaster! Growing up with Dolores, starting at age 4. This book starts out funny, but gets pretty serious. It has some really sad parts. Some really funny ones, too. But in the end I think you'll be happy you picked it up!
Helpful Score: 1
This was very strange, but you felt so hopeful for the character. Sometimes you are discouraged by her, but that what makes people unique.
Helpful Score: 1
A well written story with humor, grief, sadness, love, mental illness, obesity and so much more. So good it is hard to put down. You fall in love with the characters.
Helpful Score: 1
This is an extremely well written and intense book about life, loss, and moving on. I highly recommend this book.
Helpful Score: 1
I read this book in college and loved it. It is essentially a story about coming of age as a girl. Wally Lamb is a remarkable author.
Helpful Score: 1
A great story, although quite depressing at times. I felt like I really knew her!
Helpful Score: 1
One of the only books that I have re-read several times. The story is funny, sad, and makes you angry all at once.
Helpful Score: 1
This is one of my favorite books of all time. It is written in the first person about a young girl, but Wally Lamb is the author. It is amazing to me that a man could write a book so in tuned with female thoughts and feelings. The girl is troubled and the book leads you through her life of desperation and how she overcomes all the horrible things that happens to her.
Helpful Score: 1
It's eerie how well Wally Lamb writes from a woman's perspective. This is a really incredible page-turner that started his career.
Helpful Score: 1
Wally Lamb is a TOUGH read. BUT!!!! very well worth it. His characters are real!!! This is NOT his best work.
Helpful Score: 1
Recently read this for a second time.
Follows Dolores Price's journey from adolescence to adulthood.
Follows Dolores Price's journey from adolescence to adulthood.
Helpful Score: 1
It was a beautiful book a a girl overcoming obstacles in her life. Good ending.
Helpful Score: 1
I read this book many years ago, but loved the story. It was heartbreaking, twisted, funny, and real. Good read for anyone
Helpful Score: 1
When I first started reading this book, I found it to be very strange. The characters are intriguing throughout the book. It was heartwrenching at times, but in the end a very enlighting book.
Helpful Score: 1
ok book. I found it at a flea market and had been wanting to read it for a while. I thought it was going to be a little better than it turned out to be but i digres.
Helpful Score: 1
This is one of my favorite all time books. I cried through most of it. You really get inside this girl's head!
Helpful Score: 1
Although I tend to be a typical historical reader..I found this book amazing! I'm not sure if it is due to the fact I could relate to the characters and their often wacky upbringing...but I found myself laughing out loud, cheering, wanting more of Wally Lamb..he really got into my brain with this one and I found myself wondering if he somehow had the ability to look into my own early years......A favorite!
Helpful Score: 1
Dolores is a character you will never forget. You cheer for her, cry for her, hope for her. Wally Lamb has made the characters so real that you feel a part of their lives.
Helpful Score: 1
I read this as an older teenager and really got sucked into the story at the time. It was strange, but I think the character's flaws are what make it so endearing. I think it is a story that you either love or you hate, as there is a lot of tough subject matter and the majority of the characters are not very likeable. But all in all I did enjoy it and it comes up in conversation now and then and I always recommend it.
Helpful Score: 1
This is one of my favorite books. It's interesting to see how people who appear "normal" otherwise become so obese.
Helpful Score: 1
The story of this young woman will shock you. It will make you laugh, cry and gasp out loud... It will just plain run you through an emotional wringer.
Helpful Score: 1
When I read this, I forgot that the writer was a male. That is an accomplishment. Loved this book, although his second is better.
Helpful Score: 1
I hated the main character so much in this book that I wanted bad things to happen to her. I'm shocked by how many people loved this book.
Helpful Score: 1
Loved this. I plan to read another one by this author.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book. The style in which it was written put me in mind of The YaYa Sisterhood books. I felt it had the same humor and ease of reading, although the tone of She's Come Undone was darker and more sad. Can't wait to read more of Wally Lamb's work.
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent book! I have actually read this book more than once because it was that good.
Helpful Score: 1
pretty good - kind of frustrating to see a character i liked make bad choices but i guess that just means i got into it!
Helpful Score: 1
I really enjoyed this book.Often tragic,often funny,often so real,it makes you wonder. Growing up wasn't easy for Delores Price but she finally came thru it alright ,it just took a very long time.Definitely a great book.
Helpful Score: 1
Anyone who remembers their family's first TV....I mean you were old enough to see it come in the door...this book will take you back to that time and the shows we watched growing up. I could not stop reading, even when the main character was being petulant and self destructive and I wanted just to shake some sense into her. It keep drawing me in and taking me along for a bumpy ride at times, at other times it jarred my memory and I had to stop and cherish moments that I had completely forgotten.
Helpful Score: 1
In this extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years.
Meet Dolores Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Stranded in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before she really goes under. This supremely touching journey to adulthood may remind you of The World According to Garp and other sagas of emotional liberation.
Meet Dolores Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Stranded in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before she really goes under. This supremely touching journey to adulthood may remind you of The World According to Garp and other sagas of emotional liberation.
Helpful Score: 1
This book follows the remarkable journey of a young woman through the ups and downs of life. I found it very heart warming.
Helpful Score: 1
I really liked this book. Not very realistic but interesting all the same. The mental health care system isn't nearly as efficient in reality. That doctor must not have had too many patients!
Helpful Score: 1
I hated, hated, HATED this book. It could have been a hundred pages shorter, I didn't sympathize with any of the characters except the husband, and the metaphors were so obvious that I felt that the writer was hitting me over the head with a ball-peen hammer.
On the other hand, this book brought about one of the best book-club discussions I've ever attended, because half the people there loved the book and the other half despised it. So you may like it after all.
On the other hand, this book brought about one of the best book-club discussions I've ever attended, because half the people there loved the book and the other half despised it. So you may like it after all.
Helpful Score: 1
A very good memoir- insight to Delores Price's world from age 4 to 40- tragic yet funny and moving. This is one journey you don't want to miss.
Helpful Score: 1
i think every girl over the age of 20 should read this book.
Helpful Score: 1
Well written book, funny and sad, often at the same time. I couldn't put it down. Lamb does a superb job of capturing 40 years in the main character's life!
Helpful Score: 1
I read it for a high school class. I found the story line to be incredibly depressing, but it can be refreshing to step out of the over glamorized life books and television and read something of a struggle. Although I think the author went too far with showing struggles to the point of being way unrealistic.
It was a long book, but a very fast read. It was a book I could not put down, even though parts annoyed me, but I had to know what happened next. Despite some changes I would make to the story line, this book drew me in and I was upset when it was over because I wanted more.
If you are looking for a depressing book that is addicting I suggest it.
It was a long book, but a very fast read. It was a book I could not put down, even though parts annoyed me, but I had to know what happened next. Despite some changes I would make to the story line, this book drew me in and I was upset when it was over because I wanted more.
If you are looking for a depressing book that is addicting I suggest it.
Helpful Score: 1
I liked this book, though I thought some parts of the protagonist's life were fast-forwarded while too much time was spent on others. I had a hard time visualizing her sometimes and her actions didn't always seem realistic. Overall, I enjoyed reading it, but I read it stop and go due to the inconsistancies.
Helpful Score: 1
This is an extremely well written story of life, loss, and moving on. Beautiful and powerful story. I highly recommend this book.
Helpful Score: 1
Kind of depressing - but didn't stop me from wanting to keep reading it!!
Helpful Score: 1
This got great reviews, but I did't like it all that much as a coming of age book.
I enjoyed this book. I read it several years ago and I like it a lot.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was just ok. I was hoping for something better, but it was kind of boring.
Helpful Score: 1
Compelling, touching novel about coming-of-age. "A journey of love, pain and renewal with the most hearbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years."
Helpful Score: 1
I read this book about 10 years ago. When asked what my favorite book is........This is it!!!! Laugh out loud funny but also sad at times. Get this book!
Helpful Score: 1
A very sweet, touching story.
Helpful Score: 1
loved it!!!
Helpful Score: 1
This was so poignantly and flawlessly crafted in the perspective of a woman by one of the most talented male authors I have ever stumbled upon, I had to flip it over to check again and again if it really was written by a man.
Helpful Score: 1
Engrossing novel on the life history of a confused woman.
Helpful Score: 1
I found this book a compeling read, however, too many things happened to the main character to be believable.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was almost painful to read, but still excellent. I couldn't put it down, even though I was wincing in pain for all the anguish poor Delores was enduring.
Helpful Score: 1
Dolores lived a childhood and life that taught me, enlightened me, scared me, made me laugh, cry and ultimately feel trimphant with her as she makes "undone" all that transpired in her life and is able to fully and beautifully accept "the love that is offered her." It kept me reading!
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent!! Excellent Read!!! A bit of a train wreck, but extremely well written!!
Helpful Score: 1
This is probably the longest book I've ever made it through. I love how the author wrote from her childhood through adulthood. Very well written.
loved it- identified with plot!
Well written story of little girl. I enjoyed getting to know the charactors and
background.
background.
I loved this book. I am from the area that Wally Lamb writes about in his books, so it is fun to guess which streets or businesses he is talking about.
Wonderful book. Very true to its time.
Excellent read! From the back cover: "In this extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain and renewal with the most hearbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years."
Dolores Price is one of my most favorite fictional characters. Flawed, funny, endearing, and yes, loveable.
great book!
Love this book, read it numerous times. Can hardly believe it was written by a man. Very good.
Wally Lamb does not get any better than this!
Excellent book! Hard to believe the writer is a male because his write his heroine's point of view so well.
This is written by the author of my favorite book ever, I Know This Much Is True. This is a great story and Wally Lamb does an amazing job bringing the characters to life for the reader.
This was a great book!
This is a great story. Lamb writes so well from a female perspective.
This book was a quick read
This is a wonderful book, great story told by a master.
Fabulous. Funny and moving.
Kind of like a Bell Jar, closer to the surface.
very good-oprah book club selection-heavy but good...
An all time favorite!
I thought this was a fantastic book! There is so much going on and it kept my attention the whole way through.
One of my favorite books of all time. I will read this one again some day soon. I loved everything about this book. Has whatever you could possibly want from a book and more. Bravo!
Amazing book!
This is a great story of a girl coming of age and overcoming a VERY difficult childhood and young adulthood. Both sad and funny, it's a wonderful story of triumph! Great book!
Great book! Typical of this author!
One of my all time favorite authors!
I enjoyed this book. I like the symbolism that the author included. And I could identify with the main character.
the author writes so convincingly in the voice of a female trcing her life from 4 to 40, a very funny book
This book was very odd.
A very good read.
I read this book twice- the first time I read it, I was in college and I really liked it. The second time I read it with an older perspective, I thought that Delores was whiny and brought a lot of her problems on herself. I was also disturbed by how Thayer seemed like an abusive user and Delores was so obsessed she didn't care. I think that this novel unfortunately is pretty truthful about how some women will do anything for a man, no matter how much it belittles or hurts them.
This is such a bizarre and seemingly unlikely story, yet I couldn't put it down. It's the story I wanted to hate but couldn't. Some events in the story have you thinking, "What? That couldn't happen!" or even make you depressed, but the main character is so human. Despite her abrasive nature you find yourself wanting to know her whole story. Not in love with this novel, but it's a good read.
At times it was hard for me to continue reading the book. It is a good story and I am glad that I stuck with it to the end. Many elements of the human conditions are discussed, so it also had heart-wrenching moments. It was good; not sure i would recommend it.
Wow! What can I say about this book. It was fantastic. What a powerful story. I was so overwelmed by this that I couldn't stop reading it. What a heartfelt story of a girl growing up in such horrid conditions and the story that was told well into her adult life. This poor girl didn't have a chance. I also had a hard time believing that the author was a man. Unbelievable well-written and a truly heartbreaking story. I absolutely loved this book. Two thumbs up!!
This story was heart-breaking as I went through the tragedies of "life" with this teenage character. The author easily sweeps you up into the emotional roller coaster of this kid's life.
I am officially a huge Wally Lamb fan. I had read I Know This Much is True last summer and recently read The Hour I First Believed but this one by far was my favorite. Once it started I couldn't not put it down and I read the Part 2 and 3 in one day, neglecting just about everything else because it was that good. The writing was so believable and I found myself rooting for the main character. When it was over, I wanted more.
Highly recommended read.....that is if your spouse and children don't mind being ignored.
Highly recommended read.....that is if your spouse and children don't mind being ignored.
A good book but not a great one. You can't help getting attached to the lead character and she's fascinating in a gruesome car wreck kind of way.
I had a difficult time getting into this book, but once I did I was amazed. Wally Lamb does a beautiful job of relating the trials and victories (albeit, seemingly small victories) of Delores. I found myself wanting to get back to this book to find out what became of the tragic, lonely, and often defiant lead character.
First Wally Lamb book I've read. I did like it but it felt like I was reading a story with a few sequels. LONG. Well written though but such sad things. I enjoyed it having a decent ending.
I have read this book about 5 times, and every time I get something else out of it. Such a great coming of age novel.
great book,funny and witty
Very powerful. Hard to put down.
I still don't know how he can do it...How Wally Lamb can write a book that is obviously not based on his own experience, but make it come out so real and believable!
Loved this book. Want to read more by this author
One of my all-time favorites---LOVE it!!
Wonderful book. In my opinion it is Wally Lamb's best by far.
LOVED IT!!!! Hit really close to home (just a different generation) HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
Great story. I enjoyed learning about the main character coming into her own.
This is one of those books you'll remember years after you read it. It's inventive, sharp and inquisitive. Smart writing and a great story. You will feel the characters and miss them after the 465 pages are completed.
Lamb is just a poetic writer....
This book is a little bit dark for me.
Very interesting book with great plot-emotional and a great look as a fat girl coming of age, and how she finds her own redemption, away from food.
I absolutely loved this book. It is a wonderful coming of age story. I didn't want it to end!
Delores is someone we have all known, and hope to never become. I wanted to love the book, but it depressed me mostly.
Really moving book.
A woman's journey through life. There are points where it seems to go on and on but I found myself wanting to hear about the rest of her life when it ended. Overall, a good book and inspirational.
fantastic book- was an oprah book club novel.
This took me a couple of chapters to really get into, but when I did it was hard to put down. This story follows a woman from childhood heartaches to adult heartaches and trials. Great story.
A bit depressing, but overall quite an interesting read.
love this book!
Excellent!!! I used this book for my psychology report. It was wonderful!!
One of THE BEST books EVER!!!
Survivor of a dysfunctional life.
Absolutely wonderful book! I have read it several times and love it each time! highly recommended!
Excellent. It is a little tough to read in an emotional sense, but gripping nonetheless.
An amazing, multifaceted read...will have you crying, laughing, shouting all in turns...I have read this book 4 times and it is never dull!!
I loved this book. The heroine is just so quirky and loveable...could not put it down. I highly recommend this book.
A coming of age story through comic routines from weight watchers.
Unbelievably great book. Wally Lamb is such a talented author that I am hoarding both this book, and his other well known "I know This Much is True", which I have read three time. A must read for any serious reader.
My goodness - this poor girl - was depressing at times but I couldn't stop reading it - had to know that she could 'overcome'!
Extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey of love, pain and renewal with the heartbreaking comical heroine to come along in years.
In his extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heronie to come along in years.
One of the best books written for women!
This author is great. I have a couple of his books, but am only willing to part with this one. :)
I LOVED this book!! Read it a couple of times!
liked it alot
Loved it. Couldn't put it down once I began reading it.
great book
Ditto what Kat said...its truly a wonderful read. Its all kinds of emotions wrapped up into one book. I fell in love with Delores, she won my heart. I felt her stuggles, her pain, and her joy. Bravo Mr. Lamb!!! (i read this years ago when it first came out and on rereading posted this review) You won't see it posted by me either..its a keeper!
Fantastic Book!
I havent read it I dont like oprah book club books
Fascinating book - - a great read
This is one of the best books I have read. This Author is just awesome! It is a must read!
I can't believe that this book was written by a man. It took me back to my growing up years - brought back lots of good memories. An excellent read.
Holy cow -- not what I expected, but I simply could not put it down!!!
Great Book!
You won't believe that it was written by a guy. I've never read anything so... written from inside a woman's head. Fantastic!
I LOVE this book. It's a book that always makes me think "awww, I loved that book!" when I hear someone mention the title. A great coming of age story with no fluff.
Sometimes depressing, sometimes funny. This girl just hardly ever got a break. Great book.
This was the first book by Wally Lamb I read. It was so sad, sometimes hard to read and I almost felt dirty by the end. But I think that's what makes a book so wonderful...when it draws you in and touches all those things you weren't expecting. Gread read.
This is one of the most amazing books I have ever read! I am in awe of Wally Lamb, he write so accurately as a woman. I could feel the pain of growing up a female. Excellent book!
This book was very good - a little sad at some places but very positive overall.
I've read this book a couple of times, and more than once had to look at the cover and remind myself a man wrote this book, not Dolores herself. Heartbreaking and believable, I read many of the pages with a lump in my throat.
This book had good parts and not so good parts. I liked the book. It got slow at times and some of the desicions the main character made I thought were strange...But it was a good read.
I have read both books by this author and have truly enjoyed them both!!
Great book, very empathetic towards the main character. You are really rooting for her, which makes the book hard to put down. For as many pages as there are, it is a fast read.
The book is so different that it is hard to think of it in a class with other books. It is quite blunt in a forward way. The girl that is the theme, starts in her childhood and is shown from her perspective which is really skewed. She has so much emotional baggage and is very much always upset. She gets pretty much straightened out in an institution. Every time she trusts someone and tries to get on her feet they let her down, again. Strange little book, but I am glad I read it.
Since I had read "I Know This Much Is True", I was expecting more. I'm sorry to say I was disappointed. I will say that Wally Lamb has a way of letting his characters go haphazardly through life. Sometimes wonderful, surprising things happen along the way, and sometimes not really - this book includes the latter, in my opinion. His second novel is definitely better.
All in all this is a good read, just didn't have much of a point in my opinion.
A little sad sometimes, a little happy sometimes. Overall liked it.
One of my all time favorites. Some good laughs
Great book about a girl dealing with things that have happened in her live.
I read this book several years ago. It is a very good read.
This was a wonderful read.
i think this was wally lamb's best book.
he really managed to get into the head of a teenage girl AND get it right!
he really managed to get into the head of a teenage girl AND get it right!
This is an excellent read!
how can a man convincingly write from the voice of a woman at several different stages of her life? i have no idea, but he pulls it off so believeably. you start off feeling sorry for delores, and it gets pretty depressing. but when she finally makes the decision to get her life together, you're right there beside her and feel her triumph as she comes out stronger for it. somebody left a copy at my workplace and i started reading it every day on my breaks. i got so into it that i started bringing it home overnight. nobody ever mentioned missing it, so i never returned it! SO engrossing, SO unique. an absolute pleasure
wonderful! a great read, over and over and over...
A book I still think about! Very good!
Coming of age story about a young girl. Wonderful book.
I couldn't put this book down while I was reading it!
What an awesome book!!
Well-written but kind of wierd and sad.
Funny read that delves into teenage life
In many ways this is a walk down memory lane for baby boomers. An interesting combination of humor and heartbreak.
Amazingly life like. I enjoyed this book very much.
When I first opened this book the only reason I was going to read it was because I was depressed and my ex husbands name was Wally...As I read into the book I got more depressed and then I became hopeful for Delores and then happy for her....I forgot for awhile that I was sad...I have read this book around 9 times and everytime it moves me!!!
Loved every page of this book! Couldn't put it down. Wally Lamb is brilliant!
I really enjoyed this very unusual book.
A fantastic read! I really enjoyed it!
What a wonderful book. This is one to read and re-read.
Great story. I find it hard to believe that the author is male. His grasp of the female mind at different stages of life is amazing.
Very good, but still a somber book.
I empathized with Dolores and her struggles to come to terms with her difficult childhood.
This male writes so convincingly as a female you have to keep looking at the jacket picture.
This was a surprising book, wrote in the person of a girl from childhood to adulthood, but by a man. I wondered several times during reading how he got into the head of a female! I enjoyed this book, but many times I did not like the heroine, nor her husband and mother and grandmother. Maybe that makes it true to life but all in all it was a good book.
I highly reccommend this book. It was even better the second time round. Trust my you will never forget Dolores Price. I still can't believe a man was able to write a female character so well.
Emotional coming of age story. You really get into the head of the character and feel what she feels. Loved it!
Loved this one. Dolores is fat, mouthy, and wonderful!
I thought this book was well written, but did not like the story. Seems like every male character Dolores came in contact w/ either raped her, wanted to rape her, or violated her in some way. Found the story to be depressing and unbelievable.
An Excellent story. You truly never forget about Dolores.
Excellent read!
Starts out slow, but then I couldn't put it down. Great read.
Very good book - I enjoyed this story.
Was a vacation book for me - kinda heavy and depressing, but still good.
This is the best book I've ever read. You will relate to the characters and wish they were real. I highly recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read it yet.
A fun read.
Very entertaining, touching and funny.
Excellent!
Loved this book!
Great book. Written with insight and compassion.
Wonderful story of a girl dealing with a difficult life - moving and touching, although I didn't find it "funny" as noted on the cover. Dolores is a character that I'll revisit in my head often, I'm sure.
Absolutely loved this book! Kept my copy!
Kept me reading to see what was going to happen next.
Very interesting read into someone else's life
Amazing book. I couldn't put it down and when I did after finishing it, I cried from sadness and happiness that the main character, Delores, brings to this masterpiece.
couldn't put it down! absolutely enthrawling!
Modern classic from Oprah's Book Club. Unbelievable writing! NYT #1 bestseller. Gritty, raw and poignant.
This book makes me happy
Good reading, A little slow in the begining.
At the time I read this, I had just found out that three out of my five daughters had suffered some sort of sexual abuse by a neighbor. So this book, although was very well written, and a very good story... hit to close to home for me. I guess it's a book about finding yourself, over coming some major obsticles... abuse, death of loved ones, betrayal, non-exceptance, suicide and learning where to find happiness.
This was my first Wally Lamb book. It was depressing at times, but so real! I felt like I knew the girl in the book.
It made me want to read more by Lamb.
It made me want to read more by Lamb.
Wally Lamb really makes your forget that he is a a man as he writes in the voice of a woman and takes you through her life as a young girl, a teenager and a finally a woman. The main character goes through many trials and tribulations. The brash and in your face language make this a book that you are either going to love or hate and it is the same way with the main character.
This was one of the best books I've ever read. Wally Lamb gripped me with the first paragraph and kept my interest up until the very end. AMAZING BOOK!
Very long. Good but somewhat strange and different which I like.
This is one of my favorite books I've ever read. I have read and re-read it several times in the eight years I've had it.
Liked the book, but always felt like something was missing from this book. Mr. Lamb's second and third books were alot better!
Excellent story!!
I loved this book. It was funny and a quick, easy read.
This book is heart wrenching but brilliant! I could not get over Lamb's ability to create a female character that is so real! This is an emotional story and has become one of my favorite books and authors of all time.
Great story of the resilience of a girl trying to cope with the life she's been given. Left quite an impression on me.
An excellent book that I simply could not put down.
Excellent read, rich, full story with a sad ending.
This story offers insights into addictive behavior; in this case, a girl overeats to compensate for the pain in her life. She deals with obesity.
Awsome book. can't put down.
Very interesting book.
Very good and thought provoking
amazing book.
an extraordinary coming of age story...
Wally Lamb's writing is always so insightful and unique. This story of craving, of coming-of-age, of a young woman who is overweight and quick-witted is bound to engage any reader. A satisfying read.
This was an excellent book.
I got to page 132/Chapter 9 and decided I wasn't interested in finishing it(total of 465 pages). It has gotten great reviews. It is one of Oprah's Book Club Books.
From Amazon.com
Oprah Book Club® Selection, January 1997: "Mine is a story of craving; an unreliable account of lusts and troubles that began, somehow, in 1956 on the day our free television was delivered." So begins the story of Dolores Price, the unconventional heroine of Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone. Dolores is a class-A emotional basket case, and why shouldn't she be? She's suffered almost every abuse and familial travesty that exists: Her father is a violent, philandering liar; her mother has the mental and emotional consistency of Jell-O; and the men in her life are probably the gender's most loathsome creatures. But Dolores is no quitter; she battles her woes with a sense of self-indulgence and gluttony rivaled only by Henry VIII. Hers is a dysfunctional Wonder Years, where growing up in the golden era was anything but ideal. While most kids her age were dealing with the monumental importance of the latest Beatles single and how college turned an older sibling into a long-haired hippie, Dolores was grappling with such issues as divorce, rape, and mental illness. Whether you're disgusted by her antics or moved by her pathetic ploys, you'll be drawn into Dolores's warped, hilarious, Mallomar-munching world.
Oprah Book Club® Selection, January 1997: "Mine is a story of craving; an unreliable account of lusts and troubles that began, somehow, in 1956 on the day our free television was delivered." So begins the story of Dolores Price, the unconventional heroine of Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone. Dolores is a class-A emotional basket case, and why shouldn't she be? She's suffered almost every abuse and familial travesty that exists: Her father is a violent, philandering liar; her mother has the mental and emotional consistency of Jell-O; and the men in her life are probably the gender's most loathsome creatures. But Dolores is no quitter; she battles her woes with a sense of self-indulgence and gluttony rivaled only by Henry VIII. Hers is a dysfunctional Wonder Years, where growing up in the golden era was anything but ideal. While most kids her age were dealing with the monumental importance of the latest Beatles single and how college turned an older sibling into a long-haired hippie, Dolores was grappling with such issues as divorce, rape, and mental illness. Whether you're disgusted by her antics or moved by her pathetic ploys, you'll be drawn into Dolores's warped, hilarious, Mallomar-munching world.
I loved this book.
A little slow at first... but turned out to be a good read. Also one in Oprah's book club.
I really loved this book and I am very impressed by Wally's Lambs writing. It's sometimes difficult for a man to really write a woman, but this was really believable. In addition I seem to be drawn to books with some seriously dysfunctional Character(s). Delores was doomed from the when she was very little. Her father was an ass who cheated on her mother and eventually left her. Her mother had a nervous breakdown and eventually wound up in a mental institution for some time. Therefore the only one left to raise her was her grandmother. Grandma was a bit old fashioned, but to me she was no different than my grandmother. Eventually her mother is released and she goes to live with them. Her grandmother takes in renter in the upstarirs apartment who eventually violently rapes her when she is 14. Now this is where everything goes to hell in a handbasket for Delores. Two weeks later she winds up telling her mom what happened with the help of a neighbor, but her mother does NOTHING! She thinks that by not doing anything that Delores will learn to forget about it. This is not what happens. This incident is what messes her mind up and causes Delores to become obese, anti social, depressed, angry, & suicidal. This is a really kick ass book. It's pretty long, but never did I once become bored in any way.
I enjoyed this book. It was his best.
Blech! This has become my all-time benchmark for "books I hated but read anyway". Getting to the end was an exercise in discipline without reward.
excellent novel by wally lamb
This book got much better as it went. I enjoyed the book much better once she went off to college.
I guess I can see why Oprah liked this book... but i didn't.
Once started, I had to force myself to finish it.
I just could NOT bring myself to like the main character. Most of the time I just wanted to smack her in the mouth.
Still, by the last few chapters I was actually rooting for her.
Did the end of the book make the rest of it worth my time?
No.
Once started, I had to force myself to finish it.
I just could NOT bring myself to like the main character. Most of the time I just wanted to smack her in the mouth.
Still, by the last few chapters I was actually rooting for her.
Did the end of the book make the rest of it worth my time?
No.
Funny, interesting. Great read for anyone who has ever had family or weight problems.
I did not enjoy this book, and yet it was a page-turner. The heroine, Dolores Price, was not only unliked through most of the book by many of the other characters she came in contact with, but she was unlikeable as well. I simply could not muster sympathy for her 90 percent of the time.
Worse, many of the scenarios seemed very forced to me, convenient set-ups by the author to direct the story as he wanted. (Which is what writers do, of course, but it shouldn't be as noticeable as it was here, or done so often). Dolores develops an unhealthy and rather creepy fixation on a college roommate's long-distance boyfriend. So eventually Dolores manages to not only track him down (thanks to an incredible stroke of pure luck), she furiously relocates, moves across the hall from him, meets him the very first day, beds him that very first night, and their love affair begins. I simply couldn't accept the logistics of this string of events as it all seemed so unbelievably orchestrated to me.
Later (and this book covers nearly 40 years of Dolores's long and so very unhappy life) Dolores's ceiling caves in one day. Well, how convenient, the strange fellow she meets in class (who happens to have a crush on her, natch) is a contractor! Repairman to the rescue. Oh, and to another reluctant romance! Like I said, the pages kept turning, but it was mostly in contempt. Dolores's constant drum-beating of self-loathing, poor choices and mean words and deeds made me want to see how low she could go next time. Who else would disappoint her? Who else would she herself disappoint? The list on both sides was very long. In the end, this book was pointless to me. I gained no insight by reading it. Dolores doesn't learn much either. She just learns to plod along and stuff (mostly bad) happens.
Lastly, this book contained this: while having another bleak conversation with her deplorable husband, Dolores thinks this: "His words had burned me more times than they'd soothed me. I cautioned myself not to be taken in by this verbal Noxzema." I book marked that page because I didn't want to forget that passage. Now I wish I could.
* One star only, because I'll admit it was a page-turner.
But for all the wrong reasons.
Worse, many of the scenarios seemed very forced to me, convenient set-ups by the author to direct the story as he wanted. (Which is what writers do, of course, but it shouldn't be as noticeable as it was here, or done so often). Dolores develops an unhealthy and rather creepy fixation on a college roommate's long-distance boyfriend. So eventually Dolores manages to not only track him down (thanks to an incredible stroke of pure luck), she furiously relocates, moves across the hall from him, meets him the very first day, beds him that very first night, and their love affair begins. I simply couldn't accept the logistics of this string of events as it all seemed so unbelievably orchestrated to me.
Later (and this book covers nearly 40 years of Dolores's long and so very unhappy life) Dolores's ceiling caves in one day. Well, how convenient, the strange fellow she meets in class (who happens to have a crush on her, natch) is a contractor! Repairman to the rescue. Oh, and to another reluctant romance! Like I said, the pages kept turning, but it was mostly in contempt. Dolores's constant drum-beating of self-loathing, poor choices and mean words and deeds made me want to see how low she could go next time. Who else would disappoint her? Who else would she herself disappoint? The list on both sides was very long. In the end, this book was pointless to me. I gained no insight by reading it. Dolores doesn't learn much either. She just learns to plod along and stuff (mostly bad) happens.
Lastly, this book contained this: while having another bleak conversation with her deplorable husband, Dolores thinks this: "His words had burned me more times than they'd soothed me. I cautioned myself not to be taken in by this verbal Noxzema." I book marked that page because I didn't want to forget that passage. Now I wish I could.
* One star only, because I'll admit it was a page-turner.
But for all the wrong reasons.
a book that i realted too..loved it
A New york Times Notable book of the year.
A People Magazine Top Ten book of the year
A Los Angeles Times Book award finalist - Best First Novel of the year
In this extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years.
Meet Dolores Price. She's thirteen, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood good-bye. Stranded in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But theis time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before she really goes under.
A People Magazine Top Ten book of the year
A Los Angeles Times Book award finalist - Best First Novel of the year
In this extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years.
Meet Dolores Price. She's thirteen, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood good-bye. Stranded in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But theis time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before she really goes under.
This one of the most depressing books I've ever tried to read, I quit about midway
About a 13 year old girl with so many emotional issues, I found it just depressing on every page, after the rape it was more depressing, you have to remember this takes place in the 50's and 60's, but it just got sillier and more stupid as it went along
About a 13 year old girl with so many emotional issues, I found it just depressing on every page, after the rape it was more depressing, you have to remember this takes place in the 50's and 60's, but it just got sillier and more stupid as it went along
For anyone who has been hurt in their life, this book is relatable, touching, and leaves you feeling triumphant and not alone.
In his extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years.
Absolutely loved this book! I had to look at it twice and then again to believe it was a male author writing this!
Disappointing and silly. Other Lamb works take a much more realistic tone.
Great read!
The word that comes to mind when I think of this book is... disturbing. Not a book I EVER plan on reading again.
In this extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years.
Meet Dolores Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Stranded in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before she really goes under.
Meet Dolores Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Stranded in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before she really goes under.
"In his extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain and renewal with the most heartbreaking comical hroine to come along in years".
I read this book years ago, I thought it was very well written, very believable and moving, sad, but moving.
I read this book years ago, I thought it was very well written, very believable and moving, sad, but moving.
very good read, I enjoyed this book a lot. Recommended highly.
"Mine is a story of craving; an unreliable account of lusts and troubles that began, somehow, in 1956 on the day our free television was delivered." So begins the story of Dolores Price, the unconventional heroine of Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone. Dolores is a class-A emotional basket case, and why shouldn't she be? She's suffered almost every abuse and familial travesty that exists: Her father is a violent, philandering liar; her mother has the mental and emotional consistency of Jell-O; and the men in her life are probably the gender's most loathsome creatures. But Dolores is no quitter; she battles her woes with a sense of self-indulgence and gluttony rivaled only by Henry VIII. Hers is a dysfunctional Wonder Years, where growing up in the golden era was anything but ideal. While most kids her age were dealing with the monumental importance of the latest Beatles single and how college turned an older sibling into a long-haired hippie, Dolores was grappling with such issues as divorce, rape, and mental illness. Whether you're disgusted by her antics or moved by her pathetic ploys, you'll be drawn into Dolores's warped, hilarious, Mallomar-munching world.
Wasn't able to get into the book so i'm passing it on.
One of my all time favorite books - I've read it dozens of times! Excellent!
In his extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years.
Meet Dolores Price. She's thirteen, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood good-bye. Stranded in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nouriihing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before she really goes under.
Meet Dolores Price. She's thirteen, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood good-bye. Stranded in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nouriihing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before she really goes under.
One of my favorite books, I've read it over and over again.
such a real and heartbtreaking character
I THOUGHT THIS BOOK WAS WELL WRITTEN WITH CHARACTERS YOU CAN RELATE TO.
From the back cover: In his extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain and renewal with th emost heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years.
Read this a few years ago.
It was pretty good.
Have enjoyed other books by Lamb
It was pretty good.
Have enjoyed other books by Lamb
LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT!!!! this is my new favorite book. it's about a girl's struggles through life- dealing with rape, death, obeseity, love and heartache, depression, her family, pretty much how to cope with everything that happens in life. it's amazing how a male author can write from the point of view of a young girl growing into a woman. his voice and narative are amazing. it's as if you are expereincing her life with her. just a great book. it's as wonderful as everyone says- if not better!
One of my absolute favorite books
I love Wally Lamb's books! I have this book in hardback. I picked up this copy up at a garage sale, and it looked like it hadn't been read.
"A heroine to cheer for... This supremely toughing journey to audlthood may remind you of The World According to Garp and other sagas of emotional liberation."-Glamour
From Kirkus Reviews
A tremendously likable first novel about the catastrophe- marked childhood, youth, and mangled adulthood of a tough-fibered woman who almost beaches herself in guilt and grief. Terrible things are about to happen to Dolores Price, only child of brittle, vulnerable Bernice and weak, randomly abusive Tony. Tony leaves Bernice sometime after the stillbirth of their son, and after a week playing with little Dolores in a new backyard pool, when the child expects a lifetime of floating with Daddy. Then Bernice completely flips out and goes to a mental hospital; Dolores is taken to live with Grandma in Rhode Island on Pierce Street (which ``smelled of car exhaust and frying food. Glass shattered, people screamed, kids threw rocks\'\'). Later, Ma returns and works collecting tolls on the Newport Bridge, while friendless Dolores attends a corrosive parochial school. But all welcome Grandma\'s new tenant, dazzling Jack, a radio DJ who, when Dolores is 13, rapes her in a dog pound. The person Dolores runs to is heart-of-gold Roberta, empress of the Peacock Tattoo Emporium across the street. In spite of the strangled but loyal love of Ma and Grandma, the palship of Roberta, and the kindness of a gentle gay guidance-counsellor, Dolores is about to go under. She becomes a mountain of fat, and soon is convinced that she\'s responsible for the death of Jack\'s baby--but also of Bernice, who\'s killed by a car. At a Pennsylvania college, Dolores knows that her destiny is to ``kill what people love.\'\' There\'s some good psychiatry and a bad marriage before the peaceful and upbeat close. Lamb has a broad satiric touch with some satisfying fat targets (the warfare of Pierce Street, etc.). And in spite of hard, hard times and crazy coincidences, Dolores\' career is a pleasure to follow, as she barrels through--with a killer mouth and the guts of a sea lion. A warmblooded, enveloping tale of survival, done up loose and cheering.
A tremendously likable first novel about the catastrophe- marked childhood, youth, and mangled adulthood of a tough-fibered woman who almost beaches herself in guilt and grief. Terrible things are about to happen to Dolores Price, only child of brittle, vulnerable Bernice and weak, randomly abusive Tony. Tony leaves Bernice sometime after the stillbirth of their son, and after a week playing with little Dolores in a new backyard pool, when the child expects a lifetime of floating with Daddy. Then Bernice completely flips out and goes to a mental hospital; Dolores is taken to live with Grandma in Rhode Island on Pierce Street (which ``smelled of car exhaust and frying food. Glass shattered, people screamed, kids threw rocks\'\'). Later, Ma returns and works collecting tolls on the Newport Bridge, while friendless Dolores attends a corrosive parochial school. But all welcome Grandma\'s new tenant, dazzling Jack, a radio DJ who, when Dolores is 13, rapes her in a dog pound. The person Dolores runs to is heart-of-gold Roberta, empress of the Peacock Tattoo Emporium across the street. In spite of the strangled but loyal love of Ma and Grandma, the palship of Roberta, and the kindness of a gentle gay guidance-counsellor, Dolores is about to go under. She becomes a mountain of fat, and soon is convinced that she\'s responsible for the death of Jack\'s baby--but also of Bernice, who\'s killed by a car. At a Pennsylvania college, Dolores knows that her destiny is to ``kill what people love.\'\' There\'s some good psychiatry and a bad marriage before the peaceful and upbeat close. Lamb has a broad satiric touch with some satisfying fat targets (the warfare of Pierce Street, etc.). And in spite of hard, hard times and crazy coincidences, Dolores\' career is a pleasure to follow, as she barrels through--with a killer mouth and the guts of a sea lion. A warmblooded, enveloping tale of survival, done up loose and cheering.
"Meet Dolores Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood good-bye. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly up.
In his extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years. At once a fragile girl and a hard-edged cynic, so tough to love yet so inimitably lovable, Dolores is as poignantly real as our own imperfections. 'She's Come Undone' includes a promise: you will never forget Dolores Price."
In his extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years. At once a fragile girl and a hard-edged cynic, so tough to love yet so inimitably lovable, Dolores is as poignantly real as our own imperfections. 'She's Come Undone' includes a promise: you will never forget Dolores Price."
For me, this didn't compare to I Know This Much is True. My sister and I read both these 2 books at the same time. She's Come Undone was the runaway hit for her and mine was the reverse. My book club is reading She's Come Undone next month, maybe I will look for the book on CD and give it another shot. It's been at least 10 years since I read this one and quite honestly, I don't remember that much about it.
Really well written.
This book is an incredible read! Do yourself a favor and get this book :)
From the back cover:
In his extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreaking comical heroine to come along in years. Meet Dolores Price. She's thirteen, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood good-bye. Stranded in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before she really goes under.
In his extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreaking comical heroine to come along in years. Meet Dolores Price. She's thirteen, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood good-bye. Stranded in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before she really goes under.
"Mine is a story of craving: an unreliable account of lusts and troubles that began, somehow, in 1956 on the day our free television was delivered...."
Meet Dolores Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallmomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly up.
In this extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years. At once a fragile girl and a hard-edged cynic, so tough to love yet so inimitably lovable, Dolores is as poignantly real as our own imperfections. She's Come Undone includes a promise: you will never forget Dolores Price.
Meet Dolores Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallmomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly up.
In this extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years. At once a fragile girl and a hard-edged cynic, so tough to love yet so inimitably lovable, Dolores is as poignantly real as our own imperfections. She's Come Undone includes a promise: you will never forget Dolores Price.
Meet Dolores Price. She's thirteen, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood good-bye. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly up.
Somehow I ended up with two copies...light read
Meet Dolores Price. She's 13, wise mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood bood-bye. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with mallomars, potato chips and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly up.
I haven't read this book, but it's had numerous positive reviews. The jacket describes the book as a coming-of-age odyssey of Dolores Price, a wise-mouthed thirteen year old.
