Utterly endearing. Top dog book of the century—so far.
Beautifully barked diary of a dog as taken down by his Man and a natural for Britain's Whitbread Prize, although the poor dog will never pry it loose from the hands of London's literati.
Buster's Man Hattersley was responsible for that endless Hattersley family novel (608 pages), The Maker's Mark (1991), a well-written but poorly focused history of the Hattersleys. And that's enough about him. Yes, the Man and his ilk may call Buster a German shepherd. But where the Man may trace his line back to Adam, Buster traces his back to his mother, period. Father unknown. And she died, bitten by a rat, within a week of giving birth to Buster and his long-lost brother. Buster first wound up living on the rough in Paddington Park, falling victim to the Dangerous Dogs Act, then being passed around from orphanage to orphanage, until the Man took him up, abandoning his yearly trip to Italy to let Buster train him. It's stupefying how much training a Man needs but Buster is a cheery, bottom-wagging dog and seldom snappish—though a few nips do arise, one in the pant leg to a ticket taker, the other on the neck to a big goose waddling about St. James Park and fearlessly ignoring Buster until he teaches her a thing or two. This turns out to be the Queen's goose. Journalists get after this sweet little story, of course, and soon the Man is fined 275 pounds for the dead goose, though it also leads to great fame for Buster and a trip to Buckingham Palace. Another time Buster falls ill from swallowing plastic wrap from a chicken. The cure for colon blockage, however, is better left out of our present hagiography. As is Buster's love life.
Utterly endearing. Top dog book of the century—so far.Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2000
ISBN: 0-446-52662-2
Page Count: 187
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000
A fat pancake of a novel, the author's second hardcover production tells the life story of one Ruby Blue—from an abused childhood and youth, to years as wife of a Marine, personal liberation, life in the world of industry, and her golden years in a rural retreat. Throughout the career of Ruby Blue, monster men abound. There's Papa George in their Pennsylvania home, a slasher, smacker, and wife beater, who requires that his daughters repay him, in bucks, for the cost of raising them. Then there's Ruby's husband, Andrew (met in those WW II glory days in D.C.), who is heavy on the verbal abuse and generally amoral. Ruby's lifelong friend Dixie is regularly slugged mercilessly by husband Hugo. Ruby's longtime true love, Calvin, is a gentle soul, but his wife, Eva, is as lethal as the men; fortunately for Calvin, she lacks the biceps. Ruby weathers life with Andrew at Marine bases and puts up with his callous treatment of their two children, but after Andrew admits to having gambled away their son's college money she finally decamps to New Jersey. Ruby soldiers on with Dixie, and their kitchen cookie business goes international in no time. As for the men, they'll get theirs: Papa George is Bobbittized with scalding grape jelly; the late Hugo's ashes get lost in traffic; and Ruby dumps Calvin. But Andrew sees the light. Glop. However, bear in mind the author's smashing success in paperback, including her Texas saga (5 million sold).
Pub Date: April 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-345-36774-X
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1994
Honeyman’s endearing debut is part comic novel, part emotional thriller, and part love story.
A very funny novel about the survivor of a childhood trauma.
At 29, Eleanor Oliphant has built an utterly solitary life that almost works. During the week, she toils in an office—don’t inquire further; in almost eight years no one has—and from Friday to Monday she makes the time go by with pizza and booze. Enlivening this spare existence is a constant inner monologue that is cranky, hilarious, deadpan, and irresistible. Eleanor Oliphant has something to say about everything. Riding the train, she comments on the automated announcements: “I wondered at whom these pearls of wisdom were aimed; some passing extraterrestrial, perhaps, or a yak herder from Ulan Bator who had trekked across the steppes, sailed the North Sea, and found himself on the Glasgow-Edinburgh service with literally no prior experience of mechanized transport to call upon.” Eleanor herself might as well be from Ulan Bator—she’s never had a manicure or a haircut, worn high heels, had anyone visit her apartment, or even had a friend. After a mysterious event in her childhood that left half her face badly scarred, she was raised in foster care, spent her college years in an abusive relationship, and is now, as the title states, perfectly fine. Her extreme social awkwardness has made her the butt of nasty jokes among her colleagues, which don’t seem to bother her much, though one notices she is stockpiling painkillers and becoming increasingly obsessed with an unrealistic crush on a local musician. Eleanor’s life begins to change when Raymond, a goofy guy from the IT department, takes her for a potential friend, not a freak of nature. As if he were luring a feral animal from its hiding place with a bit of cheese, he gradually brings Eleanor out of her shell. Then it turns out that shell was serving a purpose.
Honeyman’s endearing debut is part comic novel, part emotional thriller, and part love story.Pub Date: May 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2068-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
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