Hidey Ho, Bookworms!
Shortly after BEA, some of my blog pals who had been lucky enough to attend the conference o’ bookish goodness and starting chatting about what ARC’s they were excited to have picked up. One of these books was We Are Not Ourselves
We Are Not Ourselves begins with a young Eileen Tumulty. The daughter of Irish immigrants, Eileen’s life is marked by family strife and alcoholism. She dreams of living a more prosperous life, and eventually meets a young scientist named Ed Leary who is refreshingly different than the other men in her neighborhood. Sadly for Eileen, she soon learns that Ed isn’t motivated by the American Dream and a desire to become a social climber.
Eileen’s obsession with bigger homes, better friends, and higher paying jobs begins to drive a wedge between her and Ed. As time passes, Eileen and her son Connell begin to notice that Ed is exhibiting some disturbing behavior, behavior that can’t be easily explained away. When confronted with a devastating diagnosis, the family tries desperately to hold together.
This book is epic in scope. It’s a bit of a chunkster (600+ pages) and covers decades of the American experience. It’s got humor, it’s got heartbreak, it’s got a little bit of everything. I find myself without the appropriate words to describe how I feel about this book, so I’m resorting to comparisons. Cool? Cool. Okay. If you liked Angela’s Ashes
Tell me Bookworms. Do you dig sweeping family epics?
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Andi (@estellasrevenge)
Ooohh, you and Shannon are split on this one. I have no idea if I’ll like it, but I have a big beautiful copy of it that I’ll be diving into soon. And this! “I am a cantankerous old mule whose opinions will not be tamed.” Totes LOLed.
Words For Worms
Shannon made some really good points in her review, and I can see where she’s coming from. I still liked it, obviously, so I’ll be interested to see where you fall. And I can’t help but speak the truth. My mule-ish-ness knows no bounds.
Shannon @ River City Reading
I think I’m split with everyone on this one – maybe I’m the cantankerous old mule 😉 I am happy to see it come up positive for so many other people, though, because I wanted to like it so much.
Kelly
Well shoot. I loved ALL THREE of those novels. So I guess I better get on this one!
Words For Worms
I’ll be interested to hear what you think!
Monika @ Lovely Bookshelf
Hmmmm after reading your review and Shannon’s, I’m thinking I’d enjoy this one but the timing would need to be juuuuust right.
Words For Worms
Timing can have so much to do with whether or not I enjoy something. Weird how that happens!
Sarah @ Sarah's Book Shelves
This one got off to a slow start for me, but I ended up loving it. It was incredibly emotional and powerful….even if I was a bit drained by the end (some parts are just tough to read!). Though I loved it, I did agree with some of Shannon’s points…particularly that the section on Eileen’s childhood was too long and I couldn’t really see the point of it.
Words For Worms
Yeah, I was hoping they’d follow some of the characters from Eileen’s childhood more. Like cousin Pat. I mean, we know he didn’t die, but we really didn’t get any detail about how he turned out. Bummer.
tanya (52 books or bust)
I haven’t read this one, but i might be with Shannon. Given the books you compare it to, i’m only luke warm about reading it. And the cover puts me off. It just does.
Words For Worms
If it doesn’t strike your fancy, move on guilt free!