I loved this author's writing. There were parts of the book that I thought were a little far-fetched, but I never stopped enjoying the writing or the story. Quite charming and it certainly makes me want to read more Auster.

I read Drowning Ruth and loved it so much I had to go out and read Christina Schwarz's other book All is Vanity. I enjoyed it although I thought the first half was a little slow but it picked up about half way through.

Margaret, an English teacher in a New York private school, makes the brash decision to leave her position and spend the next year writing a novel. In her infinite wisdom, she believes this will be an easy task despite never having published as much as a short story before. She has illusions of grandeur, that her best-selling novel will show the world how brilliant she truly is and turn her into the talk of the town. After spending several months having a great amount of difficulty "getting started" - she has no direction for her book and she procrastinates her time by doing a million other absolutely necessary things such as painting the room her computer is in a soothing color more condusive to writing - she realizes that she is in big trouble, especially since she's been lying to her husband and everyone else around her that the novel is going great and is halfway finished.

Meanwhile, in L.A., her best friend Letty, the two of them inseparable since grade school, is having troubles of her own. Her husband has recently secured a position with the famous Otis museum, and Letty, who has been raising a family of four on a modest budget in a modest home,] is trying to transform herself into fitting her new "affluent" social position. She buys a house in the right part of town, near Beverly Hills, and then gets caught up with redesigning and redecorating the house in a way that keeps up with the Joneses, even though she finds the whole idea of that ridiculous on many levels. The two friends correspond via email and as Letty describes the daily "hardships" of purchasing the right club chairs and hiring the right gardener, Margaret finds inspiration in Letty's life. She begins writing a novel that mimics her best friend's new reality, urging Letty into financial burdens and social situations for which she is not suited or which she cannot afford just so that her novel has the necessary heightened tension and drama.

The book mostly alternates between Margaret's narrative and Letty's email letters, and Schwarz gives us an entertaining (and on some level, horrifying) glimpse into the pretensions of the upper middle class, the folly of ambition, and the precarious bonds of friendship. Darkly comic and often clever, this novel is written briskly and lively enough to be effective for the story it's telling. If you're looking for a deep meaningful book, look elsewhere. Or, if you're one who has to like the
characters in order to enjoy a book, this might not be a good choice either. Because, certainly, it is difficult to like either of these women, but as a pair they serve up plenty of light entertainment.

Owen Meany has to be one of the most memorable characters in 20th century fiction. I think this is one of John Irving's best!

In the summer of 1953, two 11-year-old boys--best friends--are playing in a Little League baseball game in New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills his best friend's mother. Owen Meany believes he didn't hit the ball by accident. He believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after 1953 is extraordinary and terrifying. He is a most heartbreaking hero. I love this book -- there are moments of laugh-out-loud silliness and Owen's character is outstanding.

This is one of the best books I have ever read and I found that it was rated among the top 100 books ever written (voted by readers, not critics). I can't imagine ANYone being able to bring this story to life. Owen Meany -- never a character like this before and never will be again! Amazing characterizations, amazing writing, amazing story, amazing ending!

I really loved this book. The story was so compelling. Irving's writing is so masterful - he inserts a fairly innocuous literary device and returns to it time and time again as he builds his story and the device builds in relevance. The character of Owen Meany is a fantastical, lovable but annoying hero. John Wheelwright, Owen's best friend and the book's narrator, flashes back and forth across time by segue of political ranting (which seems uncommonly timely given current political happenings). I thought this was a sweet and tragic book. Highly recommend.

Although we know at the beginning how this book is going to end, Ann Patchett has drawn us so deeply into the story of her friendship with poet & writer Lucy Grealy that I could not help crying. Lucy had struggled so hard since the age of 10 to overcome her cancer that it was refreshing to read about all the happy times she & Ann spent together & also all the positive things that had gone on in her life. Yet she was never able to completely overcome her disfigurement, like grief it had become a part of who she was & eventually she becaame too worn down to continue the struggle. Ann Patchett treads very lightly in this portrayal of their friendship but her sense of loss is still evident.

Heart-wrenchingly painful to read - but also brilliant.

I started out reading a few pages every night before bed and, about a third of the way through, sat down and read the whole thing. It was a good read - evoked all kinds of emotions and stayed with me for a long while after I read it. Certainly it gave me some insight into the politics of Afghanistan but, more, it was a wonderful, if sad, story about human nature.

This is a wondeful story that gives insight into the culture of Afghanistan. It is a sad and meaningful story that also shows us something of an immigrants experience in the US. We need more books like this in the US today.

This book was excellent. I loved it, all the way until the end, when it was completely ruined for me. It's too bad, because until the last couple of minutes, I was loving the story.
It's very well told, even if parts of it are exceedingly unbelievable (a bit too much coincidence for my taste). I couldn't put it down, but the end just made me feel sick and made me regret reading it. Just months after finishing it, I can barely remember anything about the book that I liked, just that I liked it in general. All I can remember is how horrified I was at the end. It really wasn't necessary.

I love stories of enduring friendship and this is a classic. Two boys from two different worlds although they live together -- drawn together by circumstances and then pushed apart by similar circumstances. Includes favoritism, betrayal, retribution, redemption -- and a bit of history about the Sunnis and the Shiites. Recommended for mature readers -- rape scene; severe beating scene.

"The past claws its way out." (p.1)

"When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness." (p.18)

"Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them with your favourite colors." (p.21)

"Better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie." (p.58)

"What happens in a few days, sometimes even in a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime." (p.142)

"It always hurts more to have and lose than to not have in the first place." (p.211)

"The desert weed lives on, but the flower of spring blooms and wilts." (p.249)

Let me begin by saying…..WOW!
This is a powerful book, sometimes overwhelming and painful to read, but so well written and enticing that it is difficult to put down. It was illuminating and emotionally charged.

After the roller coaster ride, the ending left me satisfied, but wanting to learn more about the author.

I loved this book -- until the end. But until then, it was wonderful.

This novel relates the demise of friendship and the precipitous decline of Afghanistan at the end of the 20th century. Amir, a Pashtun, and his Hazara servant, Hassan, have grown up not only as master and servant but also as inseparable friends. Yet Amir is jealous of his father's affection for Hassan, who, though poor and illiterate, has many talents. Amir abandons Hassan at a time of extreme need and then, motivated by guilt, brutally betrays him. After he and his father escape to the United States following the Russian invasion, Amir continues to suffer from regret and guilt. In the latter half of the novel, Amir returns to Afghanistan and begins to atone for his childhood mistakes. Although the narrative suffers from an overreliance on coincidence, it provides a vivid glimpse of life in Afghanistan over the past quarter century. The characters of Amir and his father, their relationship, and the relationship of Hassan and Amir are all carefully and convincingly described and developed. Hosseini, now a doctor in California, is possibly the only Afghan author writing in English.

One of my favorite books, if not the best I've read in a long long time. It's a fairly long book, but it flies by. Hosseini has a way of relating to the reader, even people who have no idea what it is like to grow up 50 years ago in Afghanistan. Hosseini makes the reader relate and understand. Superb character development, and an honest look at life. A must read!

Am I the only person who found this book completely predictable and unworthy of such high public praise?

Khaled Hosseini is a wonderful author; so much takes place in his novels that is often impossible to foresee. Hosseini captures the attention of a lot of people; proof: There were so many requests at the library for the book that I waited for months before it became available.