Rate this book

All Together Now (2008)

by Monica McInerney(Favorite Author)

3.64 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1921518049 (ISBN13: 9781921518041)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Penguin Books

review 1: I've had this sitting in the to-read pile for quite some time - I've always liked McInerney's work and I like to support her, as she comes from my home state of South Australia.This is a collection of her short stories (including the novella "Odd One Out") which marked the beginning of her writing career. Having read her more recent work, it's interesting to see where she has started from, and where she has progressed since then. I can see a lot of the same themes (the large family of brilliant people with the seemingly under-achieving unremarkable main character) that come up in her other work, and the beginnings of her best known characters (such as Lola.)The stories are okay, however I find a lot of "chick lit" has at its centre the concept of problem solving (woman has... more a problem, sorts problem or solution to the problem comes her way) - so in this shorter form I found some of the solutions came a little quickly or easily. I am also not really a fan of the use of male characters - I just find they only exist for the convenience of plot, and so it makes possible romance directions about as subtle as a shovel to the face, especially when they are really only described in terms of their appearance.This is a nice collection - and I wish I'd begun here with McInerney's stories, however I'm now eager to read further into what she's done.
review 2: Review for the unabridged audio version.I listened to this book, narrated by Catherine Milte, through Audible. It was enjoyable enough, well read, but mediocre. Fine for listening to while doing mundane tasks like the laundry, but sadly, it really didn't do anything more to grab my attention.It comprised a number of short stories and one novella, two of which were original to the book but the remainder of which had been previously published elsewhere.Of these, my favourite was the first, Hippy Hippy Shake, a short comment on radical clothing fads, with a clever twist at the end. The other one that stuck with me was Sweet Charity, centring around another dressing disaster, Lola, the outrageously clad granny who runs a charity shop, and her sense of justice.Unfortunately, not a collection to get excited about. less

Download links for: All Together Now

Advertising