About this title: In this new work by the bestselling author of "Three Junes," Greenie Duquette, the fiery proprietor of her own Greenwich Village pastry business, becomes the personal chef for the governor of New Mexico, setting in motion a period of adventure and upheaval that culminates in the tragedy of 9/11.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780375422744ISBN:0375422749
Description: Very good in good dust jacket. Pages in nearly like new condition but have yellowed slightly. DJ sahows some wear. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780375422744ISBN:0375422749
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. First Edition. Stated 1st Edition, 1st Printing Nice clean copy! May have price sticker on cover and minor shelfwear. Overall a very good book! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780375422744ISBN:0375422749
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. First Edition. Stated 1st Edition, 1st Printing; Nice clean copy! May have price sticker on cover and minor shelfwear. Overall a very good book! read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Purchasing this DVD supports the North Central Regional Library. Thriftbooks and NCRL have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Library ID found on DVD and case. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780375422744ISBN:0375422749
Description: Good in Good jacket. 95-W-Add: Ex-library. Books rated "Good" may have some notes, underlining, or highlighting. These books also may contain the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription, or may be library discards. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780375422744ISBN:0375422749
Description: Acceptable in Acceptable jacket. 155-W Books rated "Acceptable" may have significant wear & tear; may have significant amounts of underlining, highlighting, or notes; may have moderate stains, creases, or tears; may have cracked spines or loose pages; may have the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription; or may be library discards. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
"What a disappointment. I loved her previous book, Three Junes, but from start to finish this book annoyed me. I almost didn't finish it, it's soooo unnecessarily long, but I brought it all the way to Germany, so damnit it was getting read. The author tries to build a web of interconnected characters and trace their lives over the course of about a year (including, gratuitously, Sept. 11). But, perhaps because she has so many characters, none of them were particularly gripping or vivid to me. I found them unlikeable and boring. The writing itself was too visible. With every word I really noticed that I was reading. Probably the writing distracted me because its flaws were the same that bother me most in my own writing. Too overwrought, overdone analogies, everything overly explained to make sure the reader didn't miss any of the imagery and symbolism. Thus, in what should have been a character-driven story, the characters were flat and lost. And then after all 500+ pages, everything ends up where it was in the beginning!"
"What luck to read two wonderful novels in a row. The more I read, the more finicky it seems I am becoming. Well, what initially drew me to this novel were the realistic characters that Julia Glass brings to life within the first few chapters. Greenie is a woman a bit lost in her sedated marriage. Walter, my favorite of the characters, is candid and quirky and someone I knew I could be friends with. He struggles in his search to find love. Saga is a sweet and naive character that needs to find her strength. Alan is the character that I did not immediately relate to but began to understand as the story progressed. These lives, and others, are woven into the pages of this novel.
Some people sing in the shower. I however seem to think about whatever I am most currently reading. After finishing this beautiful, yet sad and wonderful story, I couldn't get it out of my head. As I showered, I realized that many of the characters in this book explore the idea of foresight and hindsight, at times related to superstition. One of the characters looks back on a failed relationship, asking what small things might have changed the outcome if done differently. Another character becomes superstitious, finding answers in minute details. For example, if it rains then my answer is "yes", if it does not rain my answer is "no". I suppose what I found most interesting about this concept was that the things they wished to change or looked to for answers were not major. No one mentioned the existential questions. The things they looked to were as simple as crossing the street or choosing rice instead of potatoes.
This got me to thinking about the idea of fate. In hindsight, a million and one different possibilities can account for the way things turn out. By changing order or existance of those possibilities, one must wonder if the outcome remains the same?
In recommending this book, I would also note that one should not read the description on the inside cover, as it gives to much away from the start. Simply pick it up and begin. Enjoy!! Side note... this book makes many references to coconut cake. If anyone has any good recipes for such a cake, please let me know. Cheers."
"Who are you? Are you the same person you were when you were 17? Has being married changed you in a fundamental sense? Has parenthood? Has love or the lack of? These are the undercurrents of themes Julia Glass embroiders around her characters in "The Whole World Over," which is a great follow-up to "The Three Junes."
In TWWO, Glass builds storylines around a handful of Manhattanites who are loosely connected through acquaintances and proximity in their neighborhood. In many ways, the cast of characters reminds me of those you'd see in a Maeve Binchy novel, except Glass is more nimble with place and time in her narrative, skipping forward and backward to flesh out particular nuances in character development as well as move the story forward with slogging the reader through a lot of dialogue.
This isn't a high-end literary read, but it is well written, tightly constructed and smart. By the book's end, you care about these characters.
My only complaint would be the heavyhanded use of nicknames among the characters to symbolize the morphing of identity. It gets a little overdone when at one point, a main character has tallied up not one or two, but four nicknames as she moves through the narrative. We get it. She's changed.
Otherwise, I recommend adding this one to your summer reading list."
"Contrary to most opinions, I didn't find this book as engaging or satisfying as Three Junes. It was beautifully written, the characters were well crafted and three dimensional, and the story moved along swiftly and movingly. But somehow I never really felt like I cared that much about the characters - particularly Greenie and Alan - nor the trials and tribulations they were facing in their lives, with the exception of Walter,the restaurant owner who is looking for love. Now there was a character I cared about, from his love for his dog The Bruce, to his passionate relationships that went nowhere, to the ultimate surprise of finding love where you least expect it, right in front of you."
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